Pelham, Ontario

History

Pelham Township was part of the original Welland County since the late 1780s. The Town of Pelham derives its name from Pelham Township, which John Graves Simcoe named in the 1790s. In the beginning, the townships were only numbered and not named. The policy of Simcoe was to adopt township names from England. Pelham was named after the Pelham family though it is uncertain which particular Pelham family member it is attributed to - either Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton (nephew to 2 Prime Ministers and considered powerful and influential) or Charles Anderson Pelham (a quiet MP who spoke only once in 26 years in the House of Commons). But in fact, it turns out that it was named after early landowner Joshua Pell's family manor in Westchester County, New York—Pelham Manor—lost by the Loyalist Pells during the American Revolution (Pell went first in exile to Nova Scotia in 1783, before later being granted lands in the Niagara area after a direct appeal to George III.).

In 1922, the Village of Fonthill became a separate municipality by petitioning for land from the Township of Pelham and the Township of Thorold.

The current Town of Pelham was created in 1970 as part of area municipal restructuring through the amalgamation of the Township of Pelham, Village of Fonthill and a small portion of the Township of Thorold immediately adjacent to Fonthill.

Notable people from Pelham

• Dorothy Wetherald Rungeling, C.M. spent 106 years in this town.
• Steve Bauer grew up in Fenwick winning a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics in cycling and later became a professional cyclist.
• World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Marlene Streit also grew up in Pelham, belonged to the Lookout Point Golf and Country Club, and has a park in the Town's core named after her.
• CTV's morning show Canada AM's weather and sportsman, Jeff Hutcheson currently lives in Fenwick.
• Former NHL enforcer Matt Johnson was raised and lived in Fenwick, although his birthplace is listed as Welland as this is where the local hospital is located.
• Natalie Mastracci, Silver Medalist for rowing at the 2012 Olympic Games went to St. Alexander School in Fonthill, Ontario
• Lacrosse player Mike Accursi is from Pelham.

Government

The Town is divided into three wards, each of which elects two councillors to sit on Town Council for a period of four years. The Mayor is elected separately, serves on the Council of the Niagara Region, and (since 2006) also serves four years.

Mayors of the Town of Pelham

• 1970-1976: Harold Black
• 1976-1978: John Weldon
• 1978-1988: Eric Bergenstein
• 1988-1994: Marty Collins
• 1994-2003: Ralph Beamer
• 2003-2006: Ron Leavens
• 2006-2018: Dave Augustyn
• 2018–present: Marvin Junkin

Regional Councillors of the Town of Pelham

Regional councillors represent Pelham on Regional Municipality of Niagara Council.

• 2003-2018: Brian Baty
• 2018-2022: Diana Huson

Demographics

| 1971| 9997 | 1981| 11104 | 1991| 13328 |2001| 15272 |2006| 16155 |2011| 16598 |2016| 17110

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Pelham had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 126.35 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Sports and recreation

Pelham's sports include:

• Pelham Panthers

Climate

The city has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), due to the absence of a UHI to heat as in cities of latitudes equal or more to the north as Hamilton or Niagara Falls (in Dfa zone), but approaching this climatic category {{Weather box | Jan record high C =17.0 | Feb record high C =19.5 | Mar record high C =26.0 | Apr record high C =32.0 | May record high C =33.0 | Jun record high C =33.0 | Jul record high C =35.5 | Aug record high C =35.0 | Sep record high C =33.9 | Oct record high C =29.4 | Nov record high C =25.0 | Dec record high C =20.0 | Jan record low C =-25.5 | Feb record low C =-24.4 | Mar record low C =-21.0 | Apr record low C =-11.7 | May record low C =-3.5 | Jun record low C =2.8 | Jul record low C =5.0 | Aug record low C =5.0 | Sep record low C =1.1 | Oct record low C =-3.9 | Nov record low C =-12.2 | Dec record low C =-26.0 |access-date= May 22, 2019}}

Communities

• Effingham
• Fenwick
• Fonthill
• North Pelham
• Pelham Centre
• Pelham Corners
• Ridgeville

References

References

1. [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3526028&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=Pelham&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=3526028&TABID=1 2016 Census Profile]
2. Alun Hughes, [https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/geography/wp-content/uploads/sites/152/The-1855-Map-of-Welland-City.pdf The Naming of Niagara's Townships]; Brock University 2013 copyright
3. "Pelham Heritage Masterplan 2012".
4. The Pelham Historical Society. "Townships, Towns and Villages".
5. Statistics Canada: [[Canada 1996 Census. 1996]], [[Canada 2001 Census. 2001]], [[Canada 2006 Census. 2006]], [[Canada 2011 Census. 2011]], [[Canada 2016 Census. 2016]] census
6. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Ontario". [[Statistics Canada]].
7. "Pelham climate: Average Temperature, weather by month, Pelham weather averages - Climate-Data.org".