Nestled along the Lake Ontario shoreline, Orleans County is blessed with natural beauty, quaint Victorian villages and a rich history. From the Erie Canal and the Seaway Trail, to railroading history, farm markets and world-class sport fishing on the Oak Orchard River, you'll find good times around every bend, and just 45 minutes from the mighty Niagara Falls.

In 1824, when it was decided to carve a new county from the northeastern section of the Holland Land Purchase, a dispute arose over the name it was to bear. The Whigs chose Adams, namesake of their leader, John Quincy Adams, while supporters of Old Hickory preferred Jackson. A compromise was struck in 1825 with the Old World name of Orleans.

That same year, the Erie Canal was completed, opening commerce with America's west. From agrarian roots grew quaint villages along "Clinton's Ditch," as a string of pearls threaded together by lush rural landscapes crossing the 23-mile breadth of the county.

Today, you can savor its history with a visit to a museum recalling the cobblestone architecture era, a guided tour of a memorial cemetery, or a sampling of the harvest of farms settled nearly 200 years ago. Orleans County will renew your appreciation of nature with canoeing, bicycling, birding, biking, camping and the venerable traditions of hunting and fishing.

Orleans is a small county, so attractions are conveniently close together. And it's just beyond the mist of the mighty Niagara Falls.