Throughout the years Keefer Mansion has stood as a beautiful Memorial to heritage, history and development within Thorold. This elegantly designed three story building was built in 1886 and still stands excellently restored to this day. This building has been a home to rich business men, war veterians and historical developers before it had turned into local community hospital. This building has had quite a history, but it is significant to this particular tour because of its early owner George Keefer and his involvement in the creation of the Welland Canal.

Much like the Merritt Family the Keefer's were originally Loyalist living in New Jersey, in the United States. During the American Revolution the family remained loyal to the crown, as a result their farm had been confiscated by the government. In 1790 George and his younger brother set on foot, walking the native paths to the Niagara Region. When they arrived they were given a small land grant where they built their small log cabin. Over the new two years they would clear off the land and send back for the rest of their family in New Jersey. Later on George was offered a wider land grant of approximately 600 acres, which today is otherwise known as Thorold (H. V. Nelles, "KEEFER, GEORGE," 2016).

As George grew older, he began to develop himself as a business man, After the War of 1812, George opened a small store and built a grist-mill on Twelve Mile Creek, then married Jane Emory. In 1818 he and William Hamilton Merritt became business associates, both with invested interest in the establishment of the first Welland Canal. The overall goal was to establish a reliable source of water that would be year-round for the Mills. Together along with other local businessmen John DeCow, George and William planned out the water route of the Canal and often meet at the Keefer Mansion in order to discuss further movement of the project. The men had petitioned the provincial assembly for incorporation as a canal company, as well as organized local meetings to win public approval for the project. Keefer had been important to this project as he had influence among landowners, who had property that was along the proposed route of the canal (H. V. Nelles, "KEEFER, GEORGE," 2016).

Before Keefer Mansion ever existed, there stood a small wood cabin. This cabin had been built in 1792, has time moved forward the old home, began to look dated and was torn down in 1885. A little over a year later Keefer Mansion was built in its stead. The Mansion stands approximately with 9000 square feet of space and was built with meticulous details, that were unheard of during the time. These included indoor plumbing, central water heating system, extremely detailed wood work and a custom tunnel running to the Welland Canal (Keefer Mansion History. 2016).

Unfortunately a short 8 years later the house was was removed from the Keefer Family's custody and was returned to the state, as Hugh and John Keefer were unable to keep up with the regular tax payments. Throughout the following years the building had been adopted by several different tenants, these included large local business personals. Typically more wealthy individuals who could afford the property (Keefer Mansion History. 2016)..

It was not until 1934 that the Mansion was purchased by Mary J. Brittan, she and her family lived home, while converting the majority of the building into a hospital. This became a small community health care center for minor surgeries and births.

It cannot be expected that a building as old as Keefer Mansion would face no planning or construction threats over the years. The first major change proposed was in 1973 by the owner at the time Basil Griffs. He wanted to expand the Mansion by adding another story. At the time the home was considered a highly valued heritage property in the community, thus making it very difficult for Griffs to make any changes. After four years of court decision and appeals, Griffs had finally gotten the approval to make the changes to the building. Yet in the end no changes were made, as the Ministery of Health eventually refused his approval (Keefer Mansion History. 2016).

After that the building continued to operate as a small scale hospital from 1974 until 1999. As the year passed Griffs found that he could not make any changed or sell the property, so he applied for a demolition permit. The Mayor at the time Robin Davidson soon stepped in and denied the permit. Today the Mansion is now currently used as a symbol of inspiration and heritage within the community, as they continue to rejuvenate the downtown core (Keefer Mansion History. 2016).

The Keefer Mansion is located as the 7th destination on the Merritt Family Historical Tour.

H. V. Nelles, "KEEFER, GEORGE," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed April 3, 2016,http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/keefer_george_8E.ht....

Keefer Mansion Events Estate Inn, City of Thorold "History of Keefer Mansion". All rights reserved. 2016. http://www.keefermansion.com/History.html