Beamsville ( 2021 Urban area estimated population 13,323) is a community that is part of the town of

Lincoln, Ontario Lincoln is a town on Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. The town's administrative and commercial centre is in the community of Beamsville, Ontario, Beamsville. Geography Lincoln's loca ...

, Canada. It is located along the southern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

and lies within the fruit belt of the Niagara Peninsula. It contains century-old brick buildings, an old-fashioned downtown area with barbershops, women's dress shops, a bakery, a print shop, restaurants, banks and other businesses, and many

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s and

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...

, the main road that connects

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, has an interchange at Beamsville. Many tourists stop for something to eat at the many fast-food restaurants nearby.

Industry

Beamsville is in the heart of Ontario's wine country and contributes greatly to the wine industry in the Niagara Peninsula. Many wineries from the area have won top awards locally and internationally, including Grape King at the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival.

Alanson Harris Alanson ( ) is a village in Emmet County, Michigan, Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 778 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Alanson is in Littlefield Township, Michigan, Littlefield Township on U.S. Rou ...

operated a foundry making farm tools that became farm implements maker Massey Harris.

History

Beamsville was named after Jacob Beam (1723-1812), a

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

. Both of his homes—the original one, on Thirty Mile Creek, and the one near downtown Beamsville—are still intact. Jacob Beam (1723-1812), his wife Anna Catharine (Boughner) Beam (1737-1820) and their daughter Catharine (Beam) Merrell (1766-1842) and son-in-law Samuel Russell Merrell (1757-1835), emigrated to Canada from Hopewell, Sussex County, New Jersey in 1788, and founded Beamsville. RFC Canada Beamsville Plaque

By 1869, it was a village of 550 in the Township of Clinton, Lincoln County, on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. In 1898, hockey players in Beamsville were the first to use a hockey net. In 1917 the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

established a ''School of Aerial Fighting'' on the farmland immediately east of Beamsville. It consisted of a camp, an airfield, and a gunnery range over Lake Ontario. Today an historical plaque at 4222 Sann Road marks the geographical centre of the 300-acre school property. Adjacent to the plaque is an original hangar building. In 1970, the Town of Beamsville was amalgamated with Clinton Township and (half of) Louth Township to form the larger Town of Lincoln.

Education

Beamsville has two secondary schools (grades 9–12) and three elementary schools (Kindergarten to Grade 8).

District School Board of Niagara

Beamsville used to have a public secondary school, Beamsville District Secondary School. Beamsville District Secondary School, on Central Avenue, was established in 1888 and draws students from all over the Town of Lincoln. Its current principal is Mr. Miller, and the current student population is just over 400. There are two public elementary schools located in Beamsville, Senator Gibson Public School and Jacob Beam Public School.

Niagara Catholic District School Board

The Niagara Catholic District School Board has two elementary schools in Beamsville (St. Johns and St. Mark). St. Mark Catholic Elementary School was opened in 2001. It has undergone a large expansion in 2011, growing to 22 classrooms. The current enrollment at St. Mark is 541 students. St. Johns Catholic Elementary School was built in 1958 and the current enrollment is 346 students

Private schools

Great Lakes Christian High School is a private, four-year coeducational day and boarding Christian high school affiliated with the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

.Great Lakes home page

People

Beamsville is home to numerous Dutch and

families, as evidenced by its large number of Dutch Reformed and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches. William Fairbrother, inventor of the hockey net, lived in Beamsville. Bill Berg, formerly a hockey player for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and now an

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) broadcaster, was born, and continues to make his home in Beamsville. Paul Laus, a former

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

defenceman, and Ryan Christie, who played seven games with the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames, are also Beamsville natives. Another Beamsville native, Tonya Verbeek, earned an Olympic silver medal in women's wrestling at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, Greece. She won a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing, China, and another silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, England. Beamsville natives Ralph Reid and Lloyd Southward were Lancaster pilots during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and both received the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Another Beamsville native is former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) running back Andre Sadeghian, who was drafted in the third round of the 2007 CFL Draft by the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

and played four seasons with the Lions, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Evelyn Dick, known for the murder of her estranged husband John Dick, was born and lived in this town. Performance artist, writer and former sex worker Nina Arsenault grew up in a trailer park in Beamsville.

References

External links

Town of Lincoln website
{{RegionalNiagara Neighbourhoods in Lincoln, Ontario