- Mid-1790s – Lt. Governor Simcoe named the townships in Niagara, including Pelham and Thorold, based loosely on place names or prominent people in his home county of Lincolnshire, England. Previously, the townships were numbered only. Thorold was #9 and Pelham was #10.
- 1780 – 1850 – Early homesteaders began small settlements, usually centred at a crossroads, mill or bridge. Beckett’s Mills (Effingham), Brown’s Bridge, Chantler, Cook’s Corners (North Pelham), Diffin’s Corners (Fenwick), Osborne’s Corners, Pelham Centre, Pelham Corners, Pelham Union, Reilly’s Bridge, Riceville, Sanderson’s Corners, South Pelham, and Steele’s Corners (Ridgeville) were examples.
- St. Johns / St. Johns West became a busy mill community in the Short Hills at the north-east corner of Pelham Township overlapping into Thorold Township in the 19th century
- 1821-1850 – Crossroads at Canboro and Haist was named Riceville and had a post office (named Pelham), a general store, forge and Eber Rice’s Tavern and nearby mill.
- Pre-1852 – for a time the corner of Pelham Street and Canboro was known as Osborne’s Corners
- 1852 – Dexter D’Everardo registered Thomas Canby’s plan for the town of Font Hill (aka Temperanceville)
- 1915 – Fonthill became a Police Village
- 1920 Fenwick became a Police Village
- 1922 – Village of Fonthill is incorporated with land in both Pelham and Thorold Townships
- 1970 – Township of Pelham, the Village of Fonthill and a small part of the Township of Thorold adjacent to Fonthill merged to form the Town of Pelham. Includes all of the unincorporated villages of Pelham
- Nearby Thorold villages included Turner’s Corners at Merrittville Highway & Hwy 20; Singer’s Corners at Cataract Road & Port Robinson Road; and St. Johns at Hollow Road and Orchard Park Drive.
Townships, Towns and Villages
