History of Niagara Falls, New York, USA

Niagara Falls, a city of New York, in Niagara co., embracing the former villages of Niagara Falls and Suspension Bridge, is situated on the Niagara River, at the £ from which it takes its name, 22 miles N.N.W. of Buffalo, and 13 miles S. of Lake Ontario. Several important rail roads converge here. The city contains about 15 churches, 6 banks, several savings- and loan-associations, 2 union schools, 2 parochial schools, a boys' school known as De Veaux College, a custom-house (port of entry Suspension Bridge), and printing-offices which issue 2 daily and 3 weekly newspapers. Two suspension-bridges and a cantilever bridge connect this city with a town of the same name (formerly called Clifton) on the opposite side of the river, in Canada. The city was incorporated in 1892, Pop. about 18,000.

By Associated Press

NIAGARA FALLS (N.Y.), Nov 14 - By the explosion of about thirty pounds of dynamite in the office building of Ed. Smith & Co., contractors in charge of the extension of the wheel pit and tunnel of the Niagara Falls Power Company, to-day, two men were instantly killed and one fatally injured. Three others were severely injured and several were cut and bruised by flying rocks and timbers. The office building, a frame structure forty by fifteen feet, was totally demolished, and windows for many yards distant were broken by the shock.

The dead are: Hakken Hammer, general manager, of Potsdam, N.Y., and Albert Reynolds, a negro workman.

The injured are: John Pickett, foreman, will die; John Rogers, M.E. Miles and George Barlow.

From what can be learned of the accident, Reynolds had just thawed out the dynamite in the powder house, some distance away, and brought it over to the office preparatory to blasting.

Reno Evening Gazette, Reno NV 24 Nov...

Telegraphing from Niagara Falls, the "Standard's" correspondent stated that recently pedestrians crossed over the river-bed, where human feet have never before trod. An ice jam near Goat Island had diverted the water to the Canadian side, and almost dried up the American rapids. Even residents thronged to witness a sight that they had never imagined possible. Above the ice jam the water was three feet higher that usual; below, it still ran close to the mainland, but practically the entire river-bed was bare. Men, women and children romped about, regardless of the possibility that the breaking of the ice jam might submerge them at any moment. Many momentoes were taken from spots not likely to be visible again.

Niagara Falls, a city of Niagara co., N.Y., is situated on the Niagara River, at the falls from which it takes its name, 22 miles NNW. of Buffalo and 13 miles S. of Lake Ontario, on the Erie, the New York Central and Hudson River and other railroads. It is the seat of Niagara University (Roman Catholic) and the De Veaux College, and has paper and other mills, reduction-works, manufactures of graphite, aluminum, carborundum, plated-ware, emery-wheels, hair-cloth, gas-machines, etc., and extensive electrolytic-works, which develop enormous horse-power from the cataract waters. Several bridges (suspension canti-lever, steel-arch) cross the river at this point. A New York State Reservation, including Prospect Park, was established here in 1885. Pop. in 1900, 19,457.

Special to The New York Times.

Niagara Falls, March 12. - An icicle that became detached from the high bank below the railway bridge at the Whirlpool Rapids this afternoon caused the death of JOSEPH MENZER, a conductor on a belt line car, injured Motorman HYATT, wreck the electric car, and injured these passengers: S. S. LINDSEY, Pittsburg, Penn., arm broken, and MRS. LINDSEY, badly shocked; DR. and MRS. J. E. NEWIG of Sioux City, Iowa, both shocked and bruised.

After the washout of last January the Gorge road opened a single temporary track along the rapids. At the upper end a switch opens to the old double track. Conductor MENZER went ahead to throw this switch, but as he found it clogged by ice, Motorman HYATT jumped off to help him. While they were clearing the switch the ice came rushing down the slope of the bank, which is very steep at that point. Both MENZER and HYATT ran to get away from the path of the ice, but MENZER was caught and crushed. HYATT had a narrow escape...

NIAGARA FALLS, Jan. 5. - Fire was discovered early to-day in the Columbia Hotel, a five-story brick structure. The seventy guests all got our safely but two employes, LYDA BILLINGS, an Indian, aged 21, and MARY SWIACZECK, aged 17, were found later lying unconscious in an alley where they dropped from a rope to descend from the fourth floor. Miss Billing's legs were broken and she was injured internally. Mary Swiaczeck was badly injured about the ankles and feet. William King was badly burned.

The fire was discovered by a man who registered as William Bailey but did not give his residence. He disappeared after giving an alarm and has not been seen since. The property loss is about $15,000.

THEY ATTEMPTED TO CROSS ICE BRIDGE, WHEN THE MASS BROKE AND THEY WERE CARRIED AWAY ON CAKES OF ICE.

Niagara Falls, N.Y., Feb. 5. - One woman and two men, who had ventured to cross the Niagara River near the falls on the ice bridge, were drowned in the whirlpool rapids, two miles below the falls, to which point they had drifted on the ice in full view of thousands who were helpless to render aid, though every effort was made.

Their names are MR. and MRS. ELDREDGE STANTON, of Toronto, Ont., and BURRELL HECOCK, of Cleveland, O.

A great mass of ice broke away and was swept by the current toward the rapids and pool. When the ice broke there were at least eight persons on the ice, but five of these are believed to have gained the shore in safety, some of them a mile below the falls and midway to the rapids.
Two men and a woman did not escape. One of the men floated on a cake of ice ahead of the other man and woman. When the jam started out the fact was phoned to the lower steel...

By Associated Press.
Niagara Falls, N.Y., March 7. - Fire, following several explosions, late tonight virtually destroyed the plant of the Niagara Electro-Chemical company, causing the death of one of the workmen, the injury of several others and property loss estimated at $250,000.

The first explosion was of great force, windows in nearly all buildings within the radius of a block being shattered. The subsequent explosions occurred after the firemen had turned water into the burning building and it believed to have been caused by chemical action. The police believe the first explosion was caused by dynamite.

Three weeks ago one of the walls of the Castnor Alkali company's plant was wrecked by an explosion and the police subsequently found several sticks of dynamite with fuses attached in other parts of the building. Both firs make bleaching powders.

CAR TURNED TURTLE IN 10 FEET OF WATER - MANY PINNED DOWN BY SEATS - REPORT SOME MISSING.

Niagara Falls, N. Y., July 1. - A Belt Line car on the Great Gorge Route left the rails, plunged down a twenty-foot embankment and turned over in ten feet of water on the edge of the whirlpool rapids at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon.

Eight persons are known to be dead. Two persons known to have been on the car have not been seen since the accident and are probably dead; an indefinite number, estimated at from two to ten, are reported missing, and more than a score are in the hospitals suffering from injuries received in the accident.

Following is a list of the dead, missing, and injured:

Dead.
HERON, ALEXANDER, Niagara Falls.
KENT, JAMES S., Scranton, Penn.
MUCK, J. R., Princeton, Ind.
PHELPS, HARVEY G., Schenectady.
RASTERY, MRS. B. M., Chicago.
SCHUMAKER, MARION LLOYD, Akron, Ohio.
SEASTROM, MRS. BERTHA, Jamestown, N. Y.
WALLACE, MRS. L. F., of Akron, Ohio.

Missing.
BROWN,...

Niagara Falls, N.Y., Sept. 6. - Two women and a man were crushed to death and two men were injured this afternoon when a slide of shale rock forced out a bridge leading to one of the stairways in the Cave of the Winds under Niagara Falls. A hundred or more tourists who were in the cave at the time had narrow escapes, many being bruised and cut by the falling rock.

The dead and injured were members of a party of tourists just completing a tour of the cave. It is the first accident since the cave stairway was built in 1880.

The dead were:
A. HARTMAN, Brooklyn.
His wife, LOUISE HARTMAN.
CLARA M. FAUST, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The injured are:
T. W. LEE, Pittsburgh.
FRANK E. HAEHLING, Detroit, Mich.

Niagara Falls, N. Y., Jan. 28 - (AP) - An international crowd of several thousand lined the lofty banks of Niagara Gorge today for a glimpse of twisted steel and concrete on the icy carpet far below - all that remained of America's famous 'Honeymoon Bridge.'

With a roar that drowned the cataract's thunder, the towering structure succumbed late yesterday to a 30-hour battering by the worst Niagara river ice jam in 30 years.

It was the second span on the side to fall from attacks by nature. In 1899 a giant suspension span was blown down in a gale.

Thousands watched the shiny tons of steel plunge 200 feet onto the grinding river ice, so thick that it prevented the shattered bridge remnants from sinking into the 175-foot depths of Niagara river.

Even the gigantic lights on the falls were out last night because the generating plant of the Ontario Hydro Electric commission was covered almost entirely by the ice jam and forced to close.

Company officials estimated damage at...

Niagara Falls State Park:

Start your visit at the Niagara Falls State Park, the oldest state park in the USA. It offers breathtaking views of the falls, walking paths, and various observation points.

Maid of the Mist:

Take a boat tour on the Maid of the Mist. It's an iconic experience that takes you close to the base of the falls, providing an exhilarating and wet adventure.

Cave of the Winds:

Put on your poncho and experience the power of Bridal Veil Falls up close. The Cave of the Winds tour takes you on a series of wooden walkways to the base of the falls.

Niagara Falls Observation Tower:

Head to the Observation Tower for stunning panoramic views of the falls. It's especially beautiful at night when the falls are illuminated.

Niagara Gorge Discovery Center:

Learn about the geological and natural history of the Niagara Gorge at the Discovery Center. Interactive exhibits and hiking trails provide an educational experience.

Aquarium of Niagara:

If...