1. NATIVE AMERICAN LANDING/FRENCHMAN’S LANDING
The original upper landing of the Niagara portage was located in whatis known now as Porter Park, about 0.75 miles above the falls. The Native Americans used it for thousands of years. The French used it during the first half of the 18th century. In 1750 the French moved the landing another 0.75 miles up river to avoid dangerous currents by the old landing.
THE BRITISH LANDING.
Shortly after the British took control of the portage in 1760 they decided to move the upper landing about 0.5 miles further upstream. There they constructed a dock and a fort called Schlosser. In 1763. They made the portage into a road.
2. BRITISH/AMERICAN LANDING.
After the end of the American Revolution the British held onto the portage. For 13 years. When they left in 1796 the American army occupied the fort. In 1805 the right to control the portage as a business was given by the State of New York to Porter, Barton and Company.
3. FORT LITTLE NIAGARA
The first Fort Little Niagara was built in 1745 by the first Frenchman’s Landing. It was a stone blockhouse. It’s purpose was to protect the increase in the fur trade and use of the portage. In 1750 the French built a much larger Fort Little Niagara by new location of the upper landing.
4. SITE OF MILL WHERE NIAGARA’S WATER POWER WAS 1st USED
The first use of the power of the Niagara River near the falls was made sometime in 1757 or 1758 by the Frenchman Daniel Joncaire. He built a short and narrow loop canal by what are now called the American Rapids. Then he built a sawmill by the canal.
5. FORT SCHLOSSER.
Named after the man who engineered its construction, Fort Schlosser was placed about two miles above the falls by the British in 1760. Outside the fort a large house was built for John Stedman, the wagon master of the portage. He was the man who gave Goat Island its name.
6. THE OLD STONE CHIMNEY
It is the second oldest masonry structure west of the Hudson River in New York State. Of the buildings once attached to it, the first, a French barracks, and the second, a house for the Stedman family, were the most important. Both were burned down during wars, the French and Indian and The War of 1812, respectively. The chimney was left behind each time; then was moved in 1902 and 1942.
8. PORTER PARK/ PORTER FAMILY
Porter Park is located on Buffalo Avenue by the John Daly exit of the Robert Moses Parkway. Originally known as the 10-rod Strip, the park was created in 1915 on land donated to the City of Niagara Falls by the Niagara Falls Power Company, and named after the Porter family, who established the village by the American Rapids and Falls early in the 19th century.
9. TESLA TRANSFORMER HOUSE/DEAN ADAMS POWER HOUSES 1 AND 2
Located fairly close to the upper landing of the portage, the Dean Adams Power Houses and Tesla Transformer House were built near the end of the 19th century and were the first alternation current hydroelectric center in the world.
10. ELECTROCHEMICAL AND METALLURGICAL INDUSTRIES
By the early part of the 20th century, industries needing cheap electricity and plenty of it came to Niagara Falls, New York to manufacture things like: graphite, silicon carbide (Carborundum), sodium, caustic soda, chlorine, aluminum, manganese, sulphur, etc. The Carborundum Company occupied the side of the upper landing of the Niagara Portage.
11. LOG WORK AND BLOCK HOUSES BUILT ALONG THE PORTAGE BY THE BRITISH
In 1764, to protect the portage from Native American ambushes, the British army constructed one log work and 10 blockhouses along the portage from Fort Schlosser to the top of the Niagara Escarpment.
12. THOMAS VINCENT WELCH HOUSE
This stone mansion was built in the 1890s by the man who led the movement to create Niagara Falls State Park, of which he was the first superintendent.
13. LAKE TONAWANDA SHORELINE
From the end of the Ice Age to about 3,500 years ago there was a shallow lake covering much of Niagara County, with an island between it and the Niagara River. Known as Lake Tonawanda, its shoreline is just east of the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center.
14.THE NACC
The Niagara Arts and Cultural Center occupies the former Niagara Falls High School. It is the largest multi-art center in New York State. It has two galleries, tow theaters, 75 leased art studios, a recording studio, and it is home to numerous painters, sculptors and musicians, some of whom teach classes and summer classes in the studios.
15. SCHOELLKOPF PARK/ SCHOELLKOPF FAMILY
Schoellkopf Park, on the corner of Pine Avenue and Portage Rd, was donated to the City of Niagara Falls, New York, in 1913 in memory of former mayor Arthur Schoellkopf by his son – Paul A. Schoellkopf. Arthur was a son of Jacob Schoellkopf.
16. MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER
Memorial accepted its first patients on November 1, 1897. It grew to three buildings by 1907. The first class of nurses was graduated in 1900. On September 6, 1901, a Dr. Park was called from the hospital to Buffalo to treat President McKinley after he was shot by an anarchist at the Pan American Exposition.
17. OAKWOOD CEMETERY
It is the oldest cemetery in the City of Niagara Falls, New York. The Porter family donated the land for it in 1852, and many of them lie there in eternal peace. Also buried there are a few of the daredevils who challenged the river and its falls.
18. JAMES TROTT
James Fullerton Trott came to Niagara Falls, New York, from Boston Massachusetts in 1841. He was a descendant of Mary Chilton, who, in 1620 disembarked from the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. Trott ended up living in the Village of Suspension Bridge. He become a manager of the Cataract House Hotel and married a daughter of Parkhurst Whitney, owner of the hotel. Trott served on the board of education over 30 years.
19. NIAGARA FALLS PUBLIC LIBRARY
On November 30, 1894 a Free Public Library opened in the two-year-old City of Falls, New York. It was replaced by the Carnegie Building in 1904. Teenage boys delighted looking up at the glass floor or the second level of the Carnegie Building. The custom ended in 1974 with the opening of the Earl W. Brydges Library down the portage (Main Street).
20. CLARKSVILLE
This hamlet separated the Village of Niagara Falls from the Village of Suspension Bridge until the City of Niagara Falls, New York, was incorporated March 17, 1892.
Clarksville included the land north of Pine Avenue, west of the portage ( Main Street), and south of Pierce Avenue, and east of the Niagara River Gorge.
21. SUSPENSION BRIDGE
Called Bellevue before, the small village by the new railway suspension bridge to
Canada consisted of two to three farmhouses and was incorporated as Niagara City in 1874.
22. THE BOOK CORNER.
This is the longest lived independent bookstore in Western New York. It is the place
to find information about Niagara Falls published recently or years ago. A New York
Times reporter called the store a beacon of hope.
23. GAD PIERCE TAVERN
Gad arrived in Suspension Bridge in 1807. He became a farmer and innkeeper,as well
As supervisor of the Town of Niagara in 1819. In December of 1813 the British burned Pierce’s tavern and most of the rest of the Village of Manchester.
24. MONTEAGLE HOUSE HOTEL
It opened in 1855 and was an imposing facility located in Suspension Bridge. It’s stone tower gave it the appearance of a medieval castle. It was also convenient for visitors arriving at the nearby railway suspension bridge.
25. BUTTERY ELEVATOR.
J.M. Buttery built an elevator in 1869 to take people into the gorge by the Whirlpool Rapids. It was a single elevator at first, but later another was erected and two cars were installed. The elevators were removed by burning on April 18, 1901.
26. UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INTERPRETIVE CENTER.
Before slavery was ended in the United States, many slaves crosses the Niagara River seeking freedom in Canada. One of the places used was the railway suspension bridge. One of the conductors or people showing the slaves the way was Harriet Tubman. The customs house built by the bridge in 1863 will soon become the Underground Railroad Interpretive Center.
27. DEVEAUX WOODS STATE PARK/DEVEAUX SCHOOL
For nearly century a private boys school occupied the site of today’s park. To the west of the remaining school buildings are a rare urban old growth forest and Whirlpool State Park.
28. OLD GROWTH FOREST.
Continuing on the portage (Lewiston Road), enter Deveaux Woods State Park and head for the forest. It contains trees that predate the American Civil War, with trunks often more than 36 inches in diameter. The most ancient tree, a red oak, is 315 yrs. old.
29. WHIRLPOOL STATE PARK.
The Whirlpool was made about 4,000 years ago when the falls that began at Artpark reached a buried gorge made by another falls during Ice Age. When more water is in the river, the whirlpool spins counter-clockwise; the rest of the time, it goes clockwise.
30. DEVIL’S HOLE STATE PARK.
On September 14, 1763, a British wagon train stopped here to rest. This part of the portage came very close to the gorge. There was a stream nearby emptying into the chasm, a good source of water for the men and horses. All of a sudden, a large group of Seneca warriors attacked and killed all but two of the British. This event is known as the Devil’s Hole Massacre.
31. NIAGARA UNIVERSITY/CASTELLANI ART MUSEUM.
Hugging the portage(Lewiston Road) and providing a spectacular view of the gorge, since 1856 this catholic university has welcomed students from playing the work of local and national artists.
32. ROBERT MOSE’S POWER PLANT/POWER VISTA.
Since the early 1960’s the Robert Mose’s Power Plant has been producing electricity from water diverted above Niagara Falls. The Power Vista which sits on top of the power plant has been providing free exhibits and programs for visitors
33. FORT GRAY.
Built by the British in 1764, this fortification was nothing more than a blockhouse surrounded by a stockade.It was at the top of the Niagara Escarpment and was the last of eleven defensive structures the British placed along the portage from the upper landing to the lower landing.
34. THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT.
Called “Crawl-on-all-Fours” by the Native Americans, this east-west ridge was a challenge to climb,especially when carrying a canoe or other things. The lower landing of the portage was below the escarpment. Whoever controlled this strategic spot controlled trade with the Native Americans living to the west.
35. LEWISTON/QUEENSTON BRIDGE.
First there were two suspension bridges located below the escarpment from the Village of Lewiston to the Village of Queenston. The first one was built in 1851 and blown down by a storm in 1864. The second one was built in 1899 and taken down in 1962. The third bridge was built at the top of the gorge in 1962. It is the arch bridge still in use.
36. LEWISTON/QUEENSTON FALLS.
When the Ice Age ended about 12,300 years ago five falls poured over the Niagara Escarpment into a much deeper Lake Ontario. One by one the four falls to the east dried up leaving the one at Lewiston/Queenston with a height of about 50 feet. As Lake Ontario became more shallow and moved away from the escarpment, the falls eroded the bedrock and moved south.
37. MONTRESSOR’S TRAMWAY
In 1764 the British built this tramway from the lower landing of the portage to the top of the escarpment. It was the first railway in North America. It eliminated the need for hiring Native Americans to carry things up and down the ridge.
38. MAGAZIN ROYAL.
This means “The King’s Store.” It was built by the lower landing by the French in 1720. A log cabin with a stockade around it, it was supposed to be a trading post but could serve as a fort. It was later augmented by Fort Niagara and Fort Little Niagara.
39. THE LOWER LANDING OF THE NIAGARA PORTAGE.
Canoes and boats had to stop below the escarpment. It was impossible to go further up river because of the rapids and falls. Likewise,boats and goods had to be carried from before the upper rapids and the falls, around the gorge to the lower landing.
40. ARTPARK
Originally called Lewiston State Park, Artpark opened in 1974. Since then it has provided visitors and local residents with art and concerts and a hiking trail into the gorge.
41. VILLAGE OF LEWISTON.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, Lewiston has been a thriving suburb of Niagara Falls. All year long there are festivals of all kinds and places to shop and dine.
42. STELLA NIAGARA/FIVE MILE MEADOWS.
With an excellent private school, Center of Renewal and picturesque grounds; this place could be called Niagara’s own Shangri-La. A stroll to the chapel by the river and peaceful meadow belie the scene about 200 years ago when British troops gathered there to take Fort Niagara and burn American settlements by the river.
43. LA BELLE FAMILLE.
On the portage, about an eighth of a mile from Fort Niagara, this site dedicated to the Christian holy family was the site of the battle which decided the fate of the fort in July of 1759. Thus the British siege succeeded, and their control of the Niagara portage was finally achieved.
44. VILLAGE OF YOUNGSTOWN.
In 1808 Canadian John Young built a general store just south of Fort Niagara. As time went by Americans settled by the store forming a village named after Young. The portage (river road) passes through the village and ends at Old Fort Niagara.
45. WAR OF 1812 SALT BATTERY.
This battery was used during the American attack on Fort George in the spring of 1813. The battery was a hastily erected fortification composed of bags of salt and earthen mounds. It was over-run by the British.
46. FORT NIAGARA STATE PARK/ OLD FORT NIAGARA/ NEW FORT NIAGARA.
For thousands of years Native Americans camped by the mouth of the Niagara River on what is now the American side. Then came the French who built a small fort in 1679 which they abandoned the same year. They returned and built another fort which lasted from 1687 to 1688. Again they returned and built the castle in 1726. They expanded the fort and were thrown out in 1759 by the English, who were thrown out by the Americans in 1796. The British recaptured the fort in 1813 and gave it back to the Americans the following year. The American army occupied the old fort and added the new fort which became a state park in 1963.
47. WORLD WAR II PRISONER OF WAR CAMP.
During the war German soldiers were held in a camp where the soccer fields are now located in Fort Niagara State Park. The prisoners worked on local farms and were treated well.
48. COAST GUARD STATION.
Located next to the Old Fort Niagara, the station took care of the old lighthouse until it was decommissioned in 1993. The Coast Guard also prevents smuggling and rescues people on the lake or in the river.
49. MOUTH OF THE NIAGARA RIVER.
The Niagara River flows north starting at Lake Erie, it’s source. After flowing slowly,
Rapidly and falling a great distance, the river again flows again slowly and rapidly and enters deep Lake Ontario, dropping silt and sand that once was bedrock in the gorge. The water than goes through the St. Lawrence River and into the Atlantic Ocean.
50. LAKE ONTARIO.
Like the other four Great Lakes, Lake Ontariois the result of climate change and erosion. Together they hold about 20% of the liquid fresh water on Earth’s surface.