Effingham Ontario is a hamlet on the Twelve Mile Creek in the northern part of the Town of Pelham.

Short Hills Provincial Park is located close by.

One of the earliest settlers to the area was Butler Ranger and United Empire Loyalist, David Secord, brother in law to Laura Secord.

Arriving around 1783 he was entitled to a land grant of 400 acres. He developed a grist mill, only the second to be built in Upper Canada using power from the many spring fed creeks that intersected his property.

The area was soon settled by several Quaker families, the most noteworthy being Samuel Beckett, who purchased the property from David Secord and proceeded to build a sawmill and woolen factory.

The community soon became known as Beckett’s Mills. In 1850 a post office was established and the community named Effingham.

At this time the village consisted of a general store, post office, a blacksmith shop, a carriage shop, and a Quaker church.

Although at one time Effingham was a busy milling community there are no indications left today, other then the same picturesque rural countryside that lured the original pioneers to this area over 200 years ago.