The following article was published in our NCGS January 1990 Newsletter. It was summarizing what was learned from a program meeting given by the presenter Marcia M. Rivers.

“At the January meeting of the N.C.G.S., Marcia M. Rivers (#204) gave a most interesting talk on PEKIN (Niagara County), New York.
Following is her information regarding early beginnings and settlers.

The first resident of Pekin was John Carney. In 1809, he looked for a farm on the Ridge Road. Not finding what he wanted, he made his way through the dense forest up the escarpment to where Pekin now stands. Here he bought 500 acres from the Holland Land Co. and erected a log house and brought his family to live. A village soon sprang up around them as more people came. The Carneys owned land on the Cambria (East) side of Pekin, and there is still a Carney Drive in Pekin.

In Nov. 1808 at a town meeting in Cambria (which was then ALL of Niagara County), the business was assigning cattle marks and offering bounties…$10 for killing wolves, “painters” $10, bears $5 and blackbirds 3¢.

In 1816, the mail came by stage from Batavia to Lewiston and Ft. Niagara twice weekly. These and Manchester (now part of Niagara Falls) were the only post offices in Niagara County. The characteristic westward migration moved many families in groups to Pekin in early 1800’s following the War of 1812. Also, by the 1840’s, the same westward migration as before took many of our families on to Michigan following a new frontier and the lumbering.

Dr. Myron Orton and his family came from Vermont and settled briefly in St. Lawrence Co.; Middlebury, NY and then to Genesee County (now Wyoming County), then to Cambria (Niagara County., Village of Pekin) March 1, 1816. In 1816 when Dr. Orton came, the forests were heavy and dense and were a great burden. They hung like a dead weight upon the poor settlers. There was no alternative but to resort to the all-conquering agent, fire, for aid and assistance. The roads were the trails of the Indian of the forest. Then the nearest grist mill, if any, would be a journey of 2 days. Early settlers pounded their corn for bread in mortars. Dr. Orton practiced medicine in and around Pekin and farmed for many years. He was one of the founders of the Niagara County Medical Society. In 1836 he built a fine house on the northeast corner of Lower Mountain and Townline Road. Helen Fuller Orton who wrote “Treasure in the Little Trunk” was a descendant of this Dr. Orton. ** See paragraph at end for further information**

In 1816, church services were conducted by circuit riders in homes and schoolhouses. The first Methodist missionaries were assigned in Niagara County in 1807. The Methodist Episcopal Society held their services in the schoolhouse until a wooden church was built in 1826 in the area of 5050 Townline Road. In 1856 the present-day stone church building was erected at the corner of Upper Mountain and Grove St. The construction of the large stone church must have created quite a stir in the town. The stone was quarried from the escarpment from the Stover and Mabon farms on the Upper Mountain Rd. The stones were hauled up a long steep grade on stone boats pulled by oxen or horses to the building site a quarter mile away. The original wooden church was used by many other groups and in 1865 was moved to Pearl St. in Sanborn and is presently known as the Sanborn Legion Hall.

The Pekin Methodist Church has an interesting history. In 1860 some of the congregation and the minister Rev. B. T. Roberts broke away and formed the Free Methodist Church.

More and more people came mainly from the east looking for land. Simon and Reuben Reynolds bought land in 1815 or before on the west side of Pekin (town of Lewiston).

In 1816 the village had stagecoach service. In 1822 the first post office opened in Mountain Ridge. John Jones was postmaster. So, you can see there must have been several people here by then. In 1831, Mountain Ridge became Pekin. Legend has it that during a town meeting someone peeked in the window and the group decided to re-name the town Pekin.

The Root family emigrated from England in 1634 and located in Connecticut and Massachusetts. By 1812 they came to Pekin. Thomas Root lived on Upper Mountain Rd. just east of the fire hall. He was active in the Underground Railroad hiding slaves in the basement of his barn as they were moved from Lockport to Lewiston.

There were many businesses in Pekin over the years. One report claims they had 13 saloons, but I haven’t been able to locate them. There were many taverns, but these were not saloons but a place to eat, rest or sleep along a stagecoach or train route. There was a cheese factory, ashery, 3 dryers for apples or other fruit, 2 sawmills, one belonging to Charlie Mabons, 1 at Amos Mabons farm, 2 hotels on north side of Upper Mountain Rd., 1 each side of where the Cut is today; plus several stores.

Pekin Cut or “The Cut” as natives call it is the underpass where Townline Rd. goes under the Upper Mountain Rd. In the early days, Townline was called Ontario St. It ended at Upper Mountain, then called Mountain Ridge Rd. The Old Pekin Hill Rd. was the way to get to the area below. At times there were 2 winding roads to the lower part of Ontario St. In 1914, a hole was cut through under the Upper Mountain Rd. The old passage was 22 feet wide and looked like a keyhole on the horizon. The project was done with steam and horsepower. A small trestle was built to move the rock, blasted from the cut to use to fill in the meadow below so as to build a gradual slope. The Pierce Arrow car, built in Buffalo, many times were tested on the .3 of a mile climb in the cut. Some had to lash concrete blocks to the chassis and test drivers were clothed in fur coats and mufflers. Many people backed cars up the incline.

The first burying ground was given by Samuel Carney to the Town of Cambria in 1830; the first burial being Henry Dill in 1817. Jonathan Belding, a Rev. War Soldier is also buried there as well as many of the Orton family. Mount View Cemetery on Upper Mountain Rd. was established in 1864. One of the very first Civil War monuments was placed there. It was originally close to the front, but some lot owners objected to people picnicking around the monument and on their family graves, so it was moved to a knoll at the back of the cemetery.

**Treasure in the Little Trunk** by Helen Fuller Orton…available from Niagara County Historical Society, 215 Niagara St. Lockport, NY 14094. This is an exciting story of pioneer life in the 1820’s, a covered wagon trip from Vermont to Western New York, the building of a cabin in the wilderness, adventures with wild animals and Indians, the opening of the Erie Canal… a Children’s Classic which has just been reprinted.” [We, in 2026, cannot guarantee this is still available at the Niagara History Center as this article is from 1990.]