From Hennepin to hydro
From the Niagara Falls Review (including a video):
The area around Niagara Falls was to be preserved as “a mecca of peace” for the “millions of overworked and tired humanity” to enjoy, according to John Langmuir, the second chairman of the Niagara Parks Commission.
A century and a quarter after it was created, the parks commission is still meeting that objective, said historian Sherman Zavitz, who quoted Langmuir’s vision during a walking tour of Queen Victoria Park Sunday.
“He thought about that for a while before he wrote those lines,” Zavitz said.
Sunday’s tour was one of the events marking this year’s 125th anniversary of the Niagara Parks Commission’s creation in 1885. Zavitz will lead a second free tour Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., leaving from the parks police station.
Related posts:
- Park poised for 125th anniversary From the Buffalo News: Dignitaries from around the nation and...
- $850 K for historic Hydro landmark From Niagara This Week: A total of $850,000 will soon...
- More reporting about “Niagara Miracle” I linked to an article last week about the 50th...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Falls State Park parade celebration
The Buffalo News has some pictures from the Niagara Falls State Park 125th Anniversary parade…
Related posts:
- State parks loving parade? From the Niagara Gazette: City tourism officials expressed support on...
- Park poised for 125th anniversary From the Buffalo News: Dignitaries from around the nation and...
- Dedication to mark Falls park’s anniversary From the Buffalo News: The yearlong celebration of the 125th...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Dedication to mark Falls park’s anniversary
From the Buffalo News:
The yearlong celebration of the 125th anniversary of Niagara Falls State Park — the oldest state park in the nation — will reach a climax on Thursday when State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash dedicates Heritage Park, a refurbished “pocket park” at Main Street and the Robert Moses Parkway, just outside the main park.
Ash will be joined by relatives of Thomas V. Welch, who was the first superintendent of the state park, for the 1:30 p. m. ceremony.
July 15, 1885, was the date on which then-Gov. David B. Hill officially opened the park to the public. Once privately owned, the park property had become a state reservation in April 1885 when Hill signed the necessary bond issue.
Related posts:
- Park poised for 125th anniversary From the Buffalo News: Dignitaries from around the nation and...
- Niagara Falls State Park Named Top ‘Green’ Destination in New York From a press release found on Hospitality-1st.com: Niagara Falls State...
- Falls State Park offers photo focus in highlighting ‘Beyond the Barrel’ From the Buffalo News: It took Kenn Morgan more than...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
More reporting about “Niagara Miracle”
I linked to an article last week about the 50th anniversary of Roger Woodward going over the Falls. Here is some more coverage of the anniversary:
- Toronto Star – Fifty years since the ‘Niagara miracle’
- WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo - Anniversary of death-defying plunge
- Niagara Falls Review – Miracle of Niagara
Related posts:
- Recalling ‘Niagara Miracle’ 50 years later From the Tonawanda News: Roger Woodward still remembers how bored...
- Winter fun at Snow Park From WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo (the short article is...
- Truck crash at Fallsview Casino entrance You may have heard about this on the news this...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Recalling ‘Niagara Miracle’ 50 years later
From the Tonawanda News:
Roger Woodward still remembers how bored and lonely he was that day, July 9, 1960, until a family friend invited him for a boat ride on the upper Niagara River.
Seven years old then, he didn’t even know where he was going, but he was sure it would be a good time.
Roger’s sister, Deanne, was celebrating her 17th birthday and James Honeycutt, 42, a family friend, thought the Woodward children would enjoy an outing in his 12-foot aluminum boat with the 71?2 horsepower motor.
It would be a tension-filled day they’d never forget.
Related posts:
- Every Day Is a Miracle: Tripping in Toronto–Part 2, Niagara Falls Someone with a Blogger blog reminisced about a trip and...
- Twitter updates for 2009-09-10 @Hilton_Niagara The Roger Woodward article you linked to is almost...
- Niagara riverman Ken Sloggett dead at 93 From the Niagara Falls Review: If it was anything even...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
History of falls rife with high-wire stunts
From the Buffalo News:
For 150 years, stunt performers have been drawn to Niagara Falls to test their courage, showmanship and sense of balance on a thin wire suspended far above the powerful currents.
Tightrope walking is rare today and has been banned over the falls by governments on both sides of the border.
But the pastime enjoyed a heyday in the 1800s and early 1900s, and news of a planned Liberty Building walk is rousing memories of previous high-wire acts.
Related posts:
- Rainbows at night From the Niagara Falls Review: Many a tourist has returned...
- Suggestions for saving City of Niagara Falls The Buffalo News has an article about how to save...
- Today in History (June 30) According to the Minneapolis – St. Paul Star Tribune, on...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Autographs for the ages
From the Niagara Falls Review:
It’s a leather-bound relic stuck on the top shelf of a basement room at Oak Hall.
It’s tucked behind a sheet of plastic, barely noticeable among the binders, filing cabinets and film canisters.
But it just might be the most impressive autograph collection in Niagara Falls.
The first signature in the Niagara Parks Commission’s official guest book is illegible. It was someone from England who visited on Aug. 8, 1920. The next dozen or so pages are the same thing — quickly-scrawled names of people who passed through the Commission’s 62.2-hectare park named for Queen Victoria, which opened in May 1888.
It was an unremarkable tome, notable only to mark the distances people travelled to see Niagara Falls.
Then in 1923, former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George became the first famous visitor to sign the book. It wasn’t flashy — no witty message attached — but it was history.
Since then, the rich and famous alike have been jotting their names in the same book, compiling a roll call any autograph collector would covet.
Related posts:
- China makes it easier for citizens to visit Canada From the Niagara Falls Review: China has granted Canada a...
- Canada and Ontario Invest in Niagara People Mover Project From a Marketwire press release: he City of Niagara Falls...
- Wintergarden could see new life elsewhere From the Buffalo News: Window by window, the asymmetrical Wintergarden...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
March 30, 1848: Niagara Falls Runs Dry
I saw a few people tweet about this yesterday, but didn’t get a chance to retweet or blog about it.
From Wired.com:
1848: Niagara Falls stops. No water flows over the great cataract for 30 or 40 hours. People freak out.
The falls were already a tourist attraction by 1848, and villages had grown up on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the river to accommodate the sightseeing throngs. Residents also built waterwheels to harness the Niagara River’s power to run mills and drive machinery in factories.
An American farmer out for a stroll shortly before midnight on March 29 was the first to notice something. Actually, he noticed the absence of something: the thundering roar of the falls. When he went to the river’s edge, he saw hardly any water.
Came the dawn of March 30, people awoke to an unaccustomed silence. The mighty Niagara was a mere trickle. Mills and factories had to shut down, because the waterwheels had stopped.
The bed of the river was exposed. Fish died. Turtles floundered about. Brave — or foolish — people walked on the river bottom, picking up exposed guns, bayonets and tomahawks as souvenirs.
Was it the end of the world?
Related posts:
- Canadian Road Trip: Niagara Falls, Ontario Someone with a Blogger blog posted about a recent trip...
- How Bureacracy and Bickering Brought Down Niagara Falls From Governing.com: Down an overgrown path along the bluffs above...
- “Why I love Niagara Falls” winner So, a week ago I announced a contest in association...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
“1934 POSTCARD VIEW FROM CLIFTON HILL NIAGRA FALLS #1210″
An eBay user has an auction for a postcard from 1934 that shows the area that would be the current Maid of the Mist plaza (at the base of Clifton Hill) with the Falls in the background. Neat!
Related posts:
- Clifton Hill Resort Update – January 2010 Last Wednesday I received the latest newsletter from the Clifton...
- Clifton Hill Resort Update – February 2010 On Monday I received the latest newsletter from the Clifton...
- What is clifton hill in niagra falls? Someone asked this question on Yahoo! Answers, along with this:...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Feb. 10, 1961: Moses Parts the Waters at Niagara
From Wired.com:
Niagara Falls is a beautiful marvel of nature indeed, but urban planners were more interested in the falls’ potential to generate copious amounts of electricity.
Of course, to produce power, the project needed a reservoir with a pumping plant, which would require land. Robert Moses, a famously elitist urban planner, didn’t wish to burden the white residents of Lewiston, New York, with taxes and an enormous construction project. So for four years, he fought the Tuscarora Indians for their land instead.
Related posts:
- Group wants to remove part of Robert Moses Parkway From the Buffalo News: An environmental group wants to use...
- Falls to seek funds to redo parkway From the Buffalo News: The city will seek an estimated...
- Sailing through rough waters From the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal: This year, like so...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.