View source for Niagara Falls

{{Short description|Waterfalls between United States and Canada}}
{{about|the waterfalls on the Canada–United States border}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox waterfall
| name = Niagara Falls
| native_name =
| photo = File:3Falls Niagara.jpg
| caption = Niagara Falls seen from the Canadian side of the river, including three individual falls (from left to right): [[American Falls]], [[Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls)|Bridal Veil Falls]], and [[Horseshoe Falls]].
| alt = High view of Niagara Falls as viewed from the Canadian side of the river. The image includes American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Horseshoe Falls.
| image_size     = 250px
| location = [[Niagara River]] into the [[Niagara Gorge]] on the border of [[New York (state)|New York]] in the United States and [[Ontario]] in Canada
| coords = {{Coord|43.0799|-79.0747|display=inline,title|type:landmark|name=Niagara Falls}}
| watercourse = [[Niagara River]]
| type = Cataract
| height = {{convert|167|ft|abbr=on}}
| height_longest =
| number_drops= 3
| average_flow = {{convert|85000|ft3/s|abbr=on}}
| world_rank =
| pushpin map = Canada Southern Ontario#USA New York
}}

'''Niagara Falls'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|n|aɪ|ˈ|æ|ɡ|ər|ə|,_|-|g|r|ə}} {{respell|ny|AGG|ər|ə|,_-|grə}}}} is a group of three [[waterfall]]s at the southern end of [[Niagara Gorge]], spanning the [[Canada–United States border|border]] between the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province]] of [[Ontario]] in Canada and the state of [[New York (state)|New York]] in the United States. The largest of the three is [[Horseshoe Falls]], which straddles the [[Canada–United States border|international border]] of the two countries. It is also known as the Canadian Falls.<ref name="berton">{{cite book |last= Berton |first= Pierre |title= Niagara: A History of the Falls |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Rr06A2H6UC&pg=PA20 |access-date= December 1, 2010 |year= 2009 |publisher= SUNY Press |isbn= 978-1-4384-2928-1 |pages=1, 20–21}}</ref> The smaller [[American Falls]] and [[Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls)|Bridal Veil Falls]] lie within the United States. 

Formed by the [[Niagara River]], which drains [[Lake Erie]] into [[Lake Ontario]], the combined falls have the [[List of waterfalls by flow rate|highest flow rate]] of any waterfall in North America that has a vertical drop of more than {{convert|50|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. During peak daytime tourist hours, more than {{convert|168000|m3|e6ft3|abbr=unit}} of water goes over the crest of the falls every minute.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.niagaraparks.com/visit-niagara-parks/plan-your-visit/niagara-falls-geology-facts-figures/|title=Niagara Falls Geology Facts and Figures|work=Niagara Parks|access-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002171821/https://www.niagaraparks.com/visit-niagara-parks/plan-your-visit/niagara-falls-geology-facts-figures/|archive-date=October 2, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Bridal Veil Falls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by [[Goat Island (New York)|Goat Island]] and from American Falls by [[Luna Island]], with both islands situated in New York. Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by flow rate.<ref name="Niagafallstravelguide">{{cite web|url=http://gocanada.about.com/od/niagarafalls/tp/niagara_falls_travel_guide.htm|title=City Profile for Niagara Falls, Ontario|access-date=October 6, 2008|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921035116/https://www.tripsavvy.com/niagara-falls-canada-1481948|url-status=dead}}</ref> Niagara Falls is famed for its beauty and is a valuable source of [[List of Niagara Falls hydroelectric generating plants|hydroelectric power]]. 

Balancing recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century. Niagara Falls is {{convert|27|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Buffalo, New York]], and {{convert|69|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of [[Toronto]], between the [[twin cities]] of [[Niagara Falls, Ontario]], and [[Niagara Falls, New York]]. Niagara Falls was formed when [[glacier]]s receded at the end of the [[Wisconsin glaciation]] (the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]]), and water from the newly formed [[Great Lakes]] carved a path over and through the [[Niagara Escarpment]] en route to the Atlantic Ocean.

==Characteristics==
[[File:Canadian Horseshoe Falls with city of Niagara Falls, Ontario in background.jpg|thumb|left|Canadian [[Horseshoe Falls]] at right]]

The larger and taller Horseshoe Falls is about {{convert|57|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high,<ref>[http://www.niagaraparks.com/about-niagara-falls/geology-facts-figures.html ''Niagara Falls Geology Facts & Figures.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418000541/https://www.niagaraparks.com/about-niagara-falls/geology-facts-figures.html |date=April 18, 2017 }} Niagara Parks, Government of Ontario, Canada. Retrieved July 26, 2014.</ref> while the American Falls varies between {{convert|21 and 30|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in drop because of giant boulders at its base. Horseshoe Falls is about {{convert|790|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} wide, while the American Falls is {{convert|320|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} wide. The distance between the American extremity of Niagara Falls and the Canadian extremity is {{convert|1039|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

The peak flow over Horseshoe Falls was recorded at {{convert|6370|m3/s|ft3/s|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="History of Power">{{cite web | url = http://www.niagarafrontier.com/power.html | title = Niagara Falls History of Power – Historical and engineering data on the U.S. and Canadian power stations | access-date = September 24, 2006}}</ref> The average annual flow rate is {{convert|2400|m3/s|ft3/s|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Niagara Falls| World Waterfall Database">{{cite web | url = http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/waterfall/Niagara-Falls-106/ | title = Niagara Falls – World Waterfall Database | access-date = November 15, 2013}}</ref> Since the flow is a direct function of the [[Lake Erie]] water elevation, it typically peaks in late spring or early summer. During the summer months, at least {{convert|2800|m3/s|ft3/s|abbr=on}} of water traverse the falls, some 90% of which goes over Horseshoe Falls, while the balance is diverted to hydroelectric facilities and then on to American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. This is accomplished by employing a [[weir]] – the [[International Control Dam]] – with movable gates upstream from Horseshoe Falls. 
[[File:American Falls Niagara Falls USA from Skylon Tower on 2002-05-28.png|thumb|[[American Falls]] (large waterfall center-left) and [[Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls)|Bridal Veil Falls]] (right)]]
The water flow is halved at night and during the low tourist season in winter months, and only attains a minimum flow of {{convert|1400|m3/s|ft3/s}}. Water diversion is regulated by the 1950 Niagara Treaty and is administered by the International Niagara Board of Control.<ref name="IJC – International Niagara Board of Control">{{cite web |url=http://www.ijc.org/conseil_board/niagara/en/niagara_home_accueil.htm |title=(INBC) – International Niagara Board of Control |access-date=March 19, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090726231502/http://www.ijc.org/conseil_board/niagara/en/niagara_home_accueil.htm | archive-date=July 26, 2009 }}</ref> The verdant green color of the water flowing over Niagara Falls is a byproduct of the estimated 60 tonnes/minute of dissolved salts and [[rock flour]] (very finely ground rock) generated by the erosive force of the Niagara River.<ref name="Niagara Parks" /> 

The Niagara River is an [[important bird area]] due to its impact on [[Bonaparte's gulls]], [[ring-billed gulls]], and [[herring gulls]].<ref>{{cite web|title=GORGE-OUS GULLS OF THE NIAGARA IN WINTER|url=https://nystateparks.blog/2019/11/26/gorge-ous-gulls-of-the-niagara-in-winter/|website=New York State Parks|date=November 26, 2019 |access-date=July 11, 2023}}</ref> Approximately 100,000 seagulls winter in the region, with it being common to spot 20,000 to 30,000 individuals daily between November and January. The river and waterfalls appeal to the birds due to their position on migratory routes, foraging potential, and unlikeliness to freeze over compared to other bodies of water.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tidman |first1=Ryan |title=Wings over Niagara: the gulls of the falls |url=https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/wings-over-niagara-the-gulls-of-the-falls/ |website=Canadian Geographic |access-date=5 April 2025 |date=January 17, 2025}}</ref>

==Geology==
The features that became the falls were created by the [[Wisconsin glaciation]] about 10,000 years ago.<ref name="TesmerBastedo1981">{{cite book|author1=Irving H. Tesmer|author2=Jerold C. Bastedo|title=Colossal Cataract: The Geologic History of Niagara Falls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IFDxu0oGQMC&pg=PA41|year=1981|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-87395-522-5|pages=41–44}}</ref> The retreat of the ice sheet left behind a large amount of [[meltwater]] (see [[Lake Algonquin]], [[Lake Chicago]], [[Glacial Lake Iroquois]], and [[Champlain Sea]]) that filled up the basins that the glaciers had carved, thus creating the Great Lakes as we know them today.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Larson |first=Grahame |author2=Schaetzl, R. |title=Origin and evolution of the Great Lakes |journal=Journal of Great Lakes Research |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=518–546 |year=2001 |url=http://www.geo.msu.edu/schaetzl/PDFs/Larson-Great_lakes.pdf |doi=10.1016/S0380-1330(01)70665-X |bibcode=2001JGLR...27..518L |access-date=March 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031073825/http://www.geo.msu.edu/schaetzl/PDFs/Larson-Great_lakes.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2008  | issn=0380-1330 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=InfoNiagara |url=http://www.infoniagara.com/other/history/geo.html |title=Niagara Falls Geological History |access-date=March 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006094115/http://www.infoniagara.com/other/history/geo.html |archive-date=October 6, 2014 }}</ref> Scientists posit there is an old valley, [[Saint David's Buried Gorge|St David's Buried Gorge]], buried by [[Drift (geology)|glacial drift]], at the approximate location of the present [[Welland Canal]]. 
[[File:Niagara Escarpment map.png|upright=1.4|thumb|[[Niagara Escarpment]] (in red). Niagara Falls is center-right between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.]]

When the ice melted, the upper Great Lakes emptied into the Niagara River, which followed the rearranged topography across the [[Niagara Escarpment]]. In time, the river cut a gorge through the north-facing cliff, or [[cuesta]].<ref name="Gayler1994">{{cite book|author=Hugh J. Gayler|title=Niagara's Changing Landscapes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2VTfqsdVa8C&pg=PA20|year=1994|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=978-0-88629-235-5|pages=20–}}</ref> Because of the interactions of three major rock formations, the rocky bed did not [[erosion|erode]] evenly. The caprock formation is composed of hard, erosion-resistant [[limestone]] and [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]] of the [[Lockport Formation]] (Middle [[Silurian]]). That hard layer of stone eroded more slowly than the underlying materials.<ref name="Gayler1994"/> Immediately below the caprock lies the weaker, softer, sloping Rochester Formation (Lower Silurian). This formation is composed mainly of [[shale]], though it has some thin limestone layers. It also contains ancient [[fossil]]s. In time, the river eroded the soft layer that supported the hard layers, undercutting the hard caprock, which gave way in great chunks. This process was repeated countless times, eventually carving out the falls. Submerged in the river in the lower valley, hidden from view, is the [[Queenston Formation]] (Upper [[Ordovician]]), which is composed of shales and fine [[sandstone]]s. All three formations were laid down in an ancient sea, their differences of character deriving from changing conditions within that sea.

About 10,900 years ago, the Niagara Falls was between present-day [[Queenston|Queenston, Ontario]], and [[Lewiston (town), New York|Lewiston, New York]], but [[erosion]] of the crest caused the falls to retreat approximately {{convert|6.8|mi|km|order=flip}} southward.<ref>Parker E. Calkin and Carlton E. Brett, "Ancestral Niagara River drainage: Stratigraphic and paleontologic setting", ''GSA Bulletin'', August 1978, v. 89; no. 8, pp. 1140–1154</ref> The shape of Horseshoe Falls has changed through the process of erosion, evolving from a small arch to a horseshoe bend to the present day V-shape.<ref name="TourNiagara">{{cite web
| url = http://www.tourniagara.com/geologynature/niagara-escarpment/geological-past/
| title = Geological Past of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Region
| access-date = December 21, 2008
| archive-date = August 4, 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200804122544/http://www.tourniagara.com/geologynature/niagara-escarpment/geological-past/
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Just upstream from the falls' current location, [[Goat Island (New York)|Goat Island]] splits the course of the Niagara River, resulting in the separation of Horseshoe Falls to the west from the American and Bridal Veil Falls to the east. Engineering has slowed erosion and recession.<ref>Irving H. Tesmer, Jerold C. Bastedo, ''Colossal Cataract: The Geologic History of Niagara Falls'' (SUNY Press, 1981, {{ISBN|0-87395-522-6}}), p. 75.</ref>

===Future of the falls===
The current rate of erosion is approximately {{convert|30|cm|in||abbr=off|sp=us}} per year, down from a historical average of {{convert|0.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} per year. At this rate, in about 50,000 years Niagara Falls will have eroded the remaining {{convert|32|km|mi|abbr=on}} to Lake Erie, and the falls will cease to exist.<ref name="Niagara Parks">{{cite web |title=Niagara Falls Geology Facts & Figures |url=http://www.niagaraparks.com/media/geology-facts-figures.html |publisher=[[Niagara Parks]] |access-date=April 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719093559/http://www.niagaraparks.com/media/geology-facts-figures.html |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="m457">{{cite web | title=Niagara Falls | website=The New York State Museum | url=https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/resources/niagara-falls#:~:text=And%20by%20some%20estimates%2C%20the,very%20slowly%20drain%20Lake%20Erie. | access-date=2024-08-18}}</ref><ref name="p436">{{cite web | title=Niagara Falls is Moving | website=International Joint Commission | date=2018-11-15 | url=https://www.ijc.org/en/niagara-falls-moving | access-date=2024-08-18}}</ref>

===Preservation efforts===
In the 1870s, sightseers had limited access to Niagara Falls and often had to pay for a glimpse, and industrialization threatened to carve up Goat Island to further expand commercial development.<ref name="Macleans">{{cite news |last1=McLeod |first1=Duncan |title=Niagara Falls Was a Hell Raising Town |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1955/11/26/niagara-falls-was-a-hell-raising-town |publisher=Macleans |year=1955 |access-date=February 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026201939/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1955/11/26/niagara-falls-was-a-hell-raising-town |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other industrial encroachments and lack of public access led to a conservation movement in the U.S. known as Free Niagara, led by such notables as [[Hudson River School]] artist [[Frederic Edwin Church]], landscape designer [[Frederick Law Olmsted]], and architect [[Henry Hobson Richardson]]. Church approached [[Lord Dufferin]], governor-general of Canada, with a proposal for international discussions on the establishment of a public park.<ref name="Revie2010">{{cite book|author=Linda L. Revie|title=The Niagara Companion: Explorers, Artists, and Writers at the Falls, from Discovery through the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWE9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|year=2010|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-1-55458-773-5|page=144}}</ref>
[[File:Review of reviews and world's work (1890) (14784784605).jpg|thumb|right|Damage from wind and ice on [[Goat Island (New York)|Goat Island]], 1903]]

Goat Island was one of the inspirations for the American side of the effort. [[William Dorsheimer]], moved by the scene from the island, brought Olmsted to Buffalo in 1868 to design a city park system, which helped promote Olmsted's career. In 1879, the New York state legislature commissioned Olmsted and James T. Gardner to survey the falls and to create the single most important document in the Niagara preservation movement, a "Special Report on the preservation of Niagara Falls".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/Niag/GardRep/index.htm|title=THE GARDNER REPORT|website=www.mobot.org}}</ref> The report advocated for state purchase, restoration and preservation through public ownership of the scenic lands surrounding Niagara Falls. Restoring the former beauty of the falls was described in the report as a "sacred obligation to mankind".<ref>Laura Wood Roper, ''FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted''. Baltimore: [[Johns Hopkins University Press]] (1973), pp. 378–81</ref> In 1883, New York Governor [[Grover Cleveland]] drafted legislation authorizing acquisition of lands for a state reservation at Niagara, and the Niagara Falls Association, a private citizens group founded in 1882, mounted a great letter-writing campaign and petition drive in support of the park. Professor [[Charles Eliot Norton]] and Olmsted were among the leaders of the public campaign, while New York Governor [[Alonzo Cornell]] opposed.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Niagara: Tourism, Technology, and the Landscape of Niagara Falls, 1776Ð1917|year = 1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yarkTJGfL2IC&pg=PA74|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=0-271-04222-2|pages=74–76}}</ref>

Preservationists' efforts were rewarded on April 30, 1885, when Governor [[David B. Hill]] signed legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park. New York State began to purchase land from developers, under the charter of the [[Niagara Reservation State Park]]. In the same year, the province of Ontario established the Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park for the same purpose. On the Canadian side, the [[Niagara Parks Commission]] governs land usage along the entire course of the Niagara River, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.7202/1050723ar|title = The Court & the Cataracts|year = 2018|last1 = Wentzell|first1 = Tyler|journal = Ontario History|volume = 106|pages = 100–125|doi-access = free}}</ref>

In 1887, Olmsted and [[Calvert Vaux]] issued a supplemental report detailing plans to restore the falls. Their intent was "to restore and conserve the natural surroundings of the Falls of Niagara, rather than to attempt to add anything thereto", and the report anticipated fundamental questions, such as how to provide access without destroying the beauty of the falls, and how to restore natural landscapes damaged by man. They planned a park with scenic roadways, paths and a few shelters designed to protect the landscape while allowing large numbers of visitors to enjoy the falls.<ref>New York (State). Commissioners of state reservation at Niagara. Albany: The Argus Company, printers, 1887</ref> Commemorative statues, shops, restaurants, and a 1959 glass and metal observation tower were added later. Preservationists continue to strive to strike a balance between Olmsted's idyllic vision and the realities of administering a popular scenic attraction.<ref>''The New York State Preservationist'', Vol. 6, No. 1, Fall–Winter 2002, "Falling for Niagara", pp. 14, 15</ref>

Preservation efforts continued well into the 20th century. J. Horace McFarland, the [[Sierra Club]], and the [[Appalachian Mountain Club]] persuaded the [[United States Congress]] in 1906 to enact legislation to preserve the falls by regulating the waters of the Niagara River.<ref>Burton Act</ref> The act sought, in cooperation with the Canadian government, to restrict diversion of water, and a treaty resulted in 1909 that limited the total amount of water diverted from the falls by both nations to approximately {{convert|56000|ft3/s|m3/s|order=flip}}. That limitation remained in effect until 1950.<ref>U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 34, Part 1, Chap. 3621, pp. 626–28. "An Act For the control and regulation of the waters of Niagara River, for the preservation of Niagara Falls, and for other purposes". H.R. 18024; Public Act No. 367</ref>

[[File:dryniagara.jpg|thumb|American and Bridal Falls diverted during erosion control efforts in 1969]]

[[Erosion control]] efforts have always been of importance. Underwater weirs redirect the most damaging currents, and the top of the falls has been strengthened. In June 1969, a temporary rock and earth dam was constructed, completely diverting the Niagara River from American Falls for several months.<ref name="Ice Jam">This remarkable event had occurred only once before, when an upstream ice jam stopped almost all water flow over Niagara Falls on March 29, 1848.</ref> During this time, two bodies were removed from under the falls, including a man who had been seen jumping over the falls, and the body of a woman, which was discovered once the falls dried.<ref name="Fischer">{{cite news| last1=Fischer| first1=Nancy| title=Niagara Falls is going to go dry – again| url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/niagara-falls-is-going-to-go-dry-again/article_4c277eb5-bb25-5cb7-806b-b89d20fb5144.html| access-date=August 16, 2021| work=[[The Buffalo News]]| date=January 23, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NFI">{{cite web| title=Niagara Falls Geological History – The American Dry Falls – Niagara Falls USA| url=http://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/history-item.php?entry_id=1251| website=niagarafallsinfo.com| access-date=January 24, 2016| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131084300/http://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/history-item.php?entry_id=1251| archive-date=January 31, 2016| df=mdy-all}}</ref> While Horseshoe Falls absorbed the extra flow, the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] studied the riverbed and mechanically bolted and strengthened any faults they found; faults that would, if left untreated, have hastened the retreat of American Falls. A plan to remove the huge mound of [[Scree|talus]] deposited in 1954 was abandoned owing to cost,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Department of State Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYtNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA346|year=1969|publisher=Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs|page=346}}</ref> and in November 1969, the temporary dam was [[dynamite]]d, restoring flow to American Falls.<ref name="CorriganNash2007">{{cite book|author1=Patricia Corrigan|author2=Geoffrey H. Nash|title=Waterfalls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8iUB6P8jk4C&pg=PA60|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0671-7|pages=60–}}</ref> Even after these undertakings, [[Luna Island]], the small piece of land between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, remained off limits to the public for years owing to fears that it was unstable and could collapse into the gorge.

Commercial interests have continued to encroach on the land surrounding the state park, including the construction of several tall buildings (most of them hotels) on the Canadian side. The result is a significant alteration and urbanization of the landscape. One study found that the tall buildings changed the breeze patterns and increased the number of mist days from 29 per year to 68 per year,<ref>{{cite web|title=What causes the mist rising from Niagara Falls?|url=http://opseu-217.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-causes-mist-rising-from-niagara_23.html|access-date=April 28, 2011|publisher=OPSEU-217|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805225024/http://opseu-217.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-causes-mist-rising-from-niagara_23.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Binns|first=Corey|date=July 18, 2006|title=Two Studies of Increasing Mist at Niagara Falls Find Two Different Culprits|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/science/18NIAG.html}}</ref> but another study disputed this idea.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bursik|first=Marcus|title=Temperatures, Not Hotels, Likely Alter Niagara Falls' Mist|url=http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=78970009|access-date=April 28, 2011|publisher=University at Buffalo}}</ref>

In 2013, New York State began an effort to renovate [[Three Sisters Islands (New York)|Three Sisters Islands]] located south of Goat Island. Funds were used from the re-licensing of the New York Power Authority hydroelectric plant downriver in Lewiston, New York, to rebuild walking paths on the Three Sisters Islands and to plant native vegetation on the islands. The state also renovated the area around Prospect Point at the brink of American Falls in the state park.

==Name==
Theories differ as to the origin of the name of the falls. The [[Native American languages|Native American]] word ''Ongiara'' means ''thundering water'';<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times]]
   |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/05/14/honeymoon-not-over
   |title=Honeymoon not over |date=May 14, 1995}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' used this in 1925.<ref name=Thundering/> According to [[Iroquois|Iroquoian]] scholar [[Bruce Trigger]], ''Niagara'' is derived from the name given to a branch of the local native [[Neutral Nation|Neutral Confederacy]], who are described as the ''Niagagarega'' people on several late-17th-century French maps of the area.<ref>Bruce Trigger, ''The Children of Aataentsic'' ([[McGill-Queen's University Press]], Kingston and Montreal, 1987, {{ISBN|0-7735-0626-8}}), p. 95.</ref> According to [[George R. Stewart]], it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called ''Onguiaahra'', meaning "point of land cut in two".<ref>[[George R. Stewart|Stewart, George R.]] (1967) ''Names on the Land.'' Boston: [[Houghton Mifflin Company]]; p. 83.</ref> In 1847, an Iroquois interpreter stated that the name came from ''Jaonniaka-re'', meaning "noisy point or portage".<ref>{{Cite book
  |last=Delâge |first=Denys |title=Aboriginality and Governance: A Multidisciplinary Approach
  |publisher=Theytus Books |year=2006 |isbn=1894778243 |editor-last=Christie |editor-first=Gordon
  |location=[[Penticton Indian Reserve]], [[British Columbia]]
  |pages=28 |chapter=Aboriginal Influence on the Canadians and French at the time of New France}}</ref>  To [[Mohawk people|Mohawks]], the name refers to "the neck", pronounced "onyara"; the portage or neck of land between lakes Erie and Ontario ''onyara''.<ref>[[Henry Schoolcraft|Schoolcraft, Henry R.]] (1847) ''Notes on the Iroquois.'' pp. 453–454.</ref> The modern [[Seneca language|Seneca]] name is Jo'sgöhsodö', meaning "the cliffs are standing."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://senecalanguage.com/wp-content/uploads/Seneca-Language-Learning-Map-Level-One-2013-1.pdf|title=Onödowa'ga:' Gawë:nö'|publisher=Seneca Language Department}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Chutes du Niagara par Hennepin.tiff|thumb|[[Louis Hennepin]] is depicted in front of the falls in this 1698 print.<ref>''Saut ou chute d'eau de Niagara, qui se voit entre le Lac Ontario, & le Lac Erié''.</ref>]]

Many figures have been suggested as the first to circulate a European eyewitness description of Niagara Falls. The Frenchman [[Samuel de Champlain]] visited the area as early as 1604 during his exploration of what is now Canada, and members of his party reported to him the spectacular waterfalls, which he described in his journals. The first description of the falls is credited to Belgian missionary Father [[Louis Hennepin]] in 1677, after travelling with the explorer [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]], thus bringing the falls to the attention of Europeans. French Jesuit missionary [[Paul Ragueneau]] likely visited the falls some 35 years before Hennepin's visit while working among the [[Wyandot people|Huron First Nation]] in Canada. [[Jean de Brébeuf]] also may have visited the falls, while spending time with the [[Neutral Nation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/relations_33.html |title=The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Volume 33 |publisher=Puffin.creighton.edu |access-date=October 16, 2010 |archive-date=March 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321002602/http://www.puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/relations_33.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Finland-Swedish naturalist [[Pehr Kalm]] explored the area in the early 18th century and is credited with the first scientific description of the falls. In 1762, Captain [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]], a British Army officer and artist, surveyed the area and painted the watercolor, ''[[An East View of the Great Cataract of Niagara]]'', the first eyewitness painting of the falls.<ref name="christie1">{{cite web| title=Captain Thomas Davies (1737–1812): An East View of the Great Cataract of Niagara| url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/captain-thomas-davies-an-east-view-5873997-details.aspx| publisher=[[Christie's]]| date=April 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Dickenson| first=Victoria| title=Drawn from Life: Science and Art in the Portrayal of the New World| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHET0UM9Q40C&pg=PA195| page=195| year=1998| publisher=University of Toronto Press| isbn=978-0-8020-8073-8}}</ref>

[[File:Horseshoe Falls from above, Niagara, ON, 1869.jpg|thumb|left|Horseshoe Falls, 1869]]

During the 19th century, tourism became popular, and by the mid-century, it was the area's main industry. [[Theodosia Burr Alston]] (daughter of Vice President [[Aaron Burr]]) and her husband [[Joseph Alston]] were the first recorded couple to honeymoon there in 1801.<ref>Sherman Zavitz (City of Niagara Falls Official Historian), "Niagara Falls Moment", CJRN 710 Radio, June 26, 2008,</ref> [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s brother [[Jérôme Bonaparte|Jérôme]] visited with his bride in the early 19th century.<ref name="Canadadacool">{{cite web | url = http://www.canadacool.com/COOLFACTS/ONTARIO/NiagaraFallsNapoleon.html | title = Niagara Falls is such a cool honeymoon destination even Napoleon's Brother chose it | access-date = September 24, 2006 | archive-date = November 27, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127015425/http://www.canadacool.com/location/niagara-falls-napoleons-brother/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> In 1825, British explorer [[John Franklin]] visited the falls while passing through [[New York (state)|New York]] en route to [[Cumberland House, Saskatchewan|Cumberland House]] as part of his second Arctic expedition, calling them "so justly celebrated as the first in the world for grandeur".<ref>{{cite book |last=Franklin|first=John|date=1828|title=Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33467/33467-h/33467-h.htm|publisher=Carey, Lea, and Carey|page=XV}}</ref>

In 1843, [[Frederick Douglass]] joined the [[American Anti-Slavery Society]]'s "One Hundred Conventions" tour throughout New York and the midwest. Sometime on this tour, Douglass visited Niagara Falls and wrote a brief account of the experience: "When I came into its awful presence, the power of description failed me, an irresistible power closed my lips."<ref>{{cite book| last = Douglass| first = Frederick| author-link = Frederick Douglass |date=2022 | orig-date = 1843| chapter = Niagara| title = The Frederick Douglass Papers| url = https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300266283-009/html?lang=en| location = New Haven, CT| publisher = Yale University Press| pages = 2–3| doi = 10.12987/9780300266283-009| isbn = 978-0-300-26628-3}}</ref> Being on the Canadian border, Niagara Falls was on one of the routes of the [[Underground Railroad]]. The falls were also a popular tourist attraction for Southern slaveowners, who would bring their enslaved workers on the trip. "Many a time the trusted body-servant, or slave-girl, would leave master or mistress in the discharge of some errand, and never come back."<ref>
{{cite book| last = Severance| first = Frank H.| author-link = Frank Severance| date = 1899|chapter= Underground Trails| title = Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PdZCAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA244| location = Buffalo, NY| page = 244}}</ref> This sometimes led to conflict. Early town father Peter Porter assisted slavecatchers in finding runaway slaves, even leading, in the case of runaway Solomon Moseby, to a riot in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.<ref>Strand, pp. 116-119</ref> Much of this history is memorialized in the [[Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center]]. After the [[American Civil War]], the [[New York Central Railroad]] publicized Niagara Falls as a focus of pleasure and honeymoon visits. After World War II, the auto industry, along with local tourism boards, began to promote Niagara honeymoons.<ref>Strand, p. 214</ref>

In about 1840, the English industrial chemist [[Hugh Lee Pattinson]] traveled to Canada, stopping at Niagara Falls long enough to make the earliest known photograph of the falls, a [[daguerreotype]] in the collection of [[Newcastle University]]. It was once believed that the small figure standing silhouetted with a top hat was added by an engraver working from imagination as well as the daguerreotype as his source, but the figure is clearly present in the photograph.<ref name=" NiagaraParks" /> Because of the very long exposure required, of ten minutes or more, the figure is assumed by Canada's Niagara Parks agency to be Pattinson.<ref name="NiagaraParks">{{cite web | url=http://www.niagaraparks.com/media/press-releases/daguerreotype-background.html | title=Backgrounder: Pattinson Daguerreotype | publisher=Niagara Parks, an agency of the Government of Ontario since 1885 |access-date=November 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228214832/http://www.niagaraparks.com/media/press-releases/daguerreotype-background.html |archive-date=December 28, 2010 }} The assumption explained on the web page is that as Pattinson had ample time to walk into the picture, he opened the shutter and then positioned himself at the chosen spot, keeping still there for some minutes.</ref> The image is left-right inverted and taken from the [[Canada|Canadian side]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2009.07-recovered-niagara-falls-1840-photograph/ |title=Photo: Niagara Falls, 1840 |publisher=[[The Walrus (magazine)|The Walrus]] |work=How academics found the first photograph to be taken in Canada |date=July–August 2009 |access-date=November 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129064747/http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2009.07-recovered-niagara-falls-1840-photograph/ |archive-date=January 29, 2012 }}</ref> Pattinson made other photographs of Horseshoe Falls; these were then transferred to engravings to illustrate [[Noël Paymal Lerebours|Noël Marie Paymal Lerebours]]' ''Excursions Daguerriennes'' (Paris, 1841–1864).<ref name="Newcastle">{{cite web |url=http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/collections/daguerreotypes/pattinson.php |title=Hugh Lee Pattinson |publisher=Newcastle University |year=2010 |access-date=November 29, 2012 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107112506/http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections//collections/daguerreotypes/pattinson.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Niagara Falls 1911.jpg|thumb|American Falls frozen over with people on the ice, 1911]]
[[File:Niagara Falls Canada NARA-68145149.jpg|thumb|Aerial photograph of Niagara Falls, 1931]]
On August 6, 1918, an [[Niagara Scow|iron scow became stuck on the rocks]] above the falls.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/shareable-stories/boat-trapped-on-rocks-above-niagara-falls-dislodged-after-101-years/1138391421|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104145527/https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/shareable-stories/boat-trapped-on-rocks-above-niagara-falls-dislodged-after-101-years/1138391421|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2019|title=Boat trapped on rocks above Niagara Falls dislodged after 101 years|date=November 2, 2019|publisher=KOAM|access-date=November 4, 2019}}</ref> The two men on the scow were rescued, but the vessel remained trapped on rocks in the river, and is still visible there in a deteriorated state, although its position shifted by {{convert|50|meters}} during a storm on October 31, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/11/02/iron-scow-niagara-falls-dislodged-severe-weather-after-101-years/4144104002/|title=Boat trapped for 101 years near edge of Niagara Falls moves after Halloween night storm|date=November 2, 2019|work=USA Today|access-date=November 3, 2019}}</ref> Daredevil [[William "Red" Hill Sr.]] was particularly praised for his role in the rescue.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://niagarafalls.ca/news/194-niagara-parks-hosts-centenary-of-the-iron-scow-rescue.news|title=Niagara Parks Hosts Centenary of the Iron Scow Rescue|date=July 19, 2018|publisher=City of Niagara Falls|access-date=November 3, 2019}}</ref>

After the [[World War I|First World War]], tourism boomed as automobiles made getting to the falls much easier. The story of Niagara Falls in the 20th century is largely that of efforts to harness the energy of the falls for [[hydroelectric power]], and to control the development on both sides that threaten the area's natural beauty. Before the late 20th century, the northeastern end of Horseshoe Falls was in the United States, flowing around the Terrapin Rocks, which were once connected to Goat Island by a series of bridges. In 1955, the area between the rocks and Goat Island was filled in, creating [[Terrapin Point]].<ref name="berton"/> In the early 1980s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers filled in more land and built [[diversion dam]]s and [[retaining wall]]s to force the water away from Terrapin Point. Altogether, {{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} of Horseshoe Falls were eliminated, including {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} on the Canadian side. According to author Ginger Strand, the Horseshoe Falls is now entirely in Canada.<ref name="strand">{{cite book |last= Strand |first=Ginger |title=Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies |year= 2009 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-4657-3 |page= 195 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=obXliU3-7WcC&pg=PA195| access-date= December 1, 2010}}</ref> Other sources say "most of" Horseshoe Falls is in Canada.<ref name="vanderwilt">Vanderwilt, Dirk (2007). ''Niagara Falls: With the Niagara Parks, Clifton Hill, and Other Area Attractions'', p. 35. Channel Lake, Inc., {{ISBN|978-0-9792043-7-1}}</ref>

The only recorded freeze-up of the river and falls was caused by an ice jam on March 29, 1848. No water (or at best a trickle) fell for as much as 40 hours. Waterwheels stopped, and mills and factories shut down for having no power.<ref>{{cite news|last=Alfred|first=Randy|date=March 30, 2010|title=March 30, 1848: Niagara Falls Runs Dry|work=Wired.com|url=https://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/03/0330niagara-falls-stops|access-date=October 16, 2010|id=This Day in Tech}}</ref> In 1912, American Falls was completely frozen, but the other two falls kept flowing. Although the falls commonly ice up most winters, the river and the falls do not freeze completely. The years 1885, 1902, 1906, 1911, 1932, 1936, 2014, 2017 and 2019 are noted for partial freezing of the falls.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.niagarafallsmarriott.com/niagara-seasons/does-niagara-falls-freeze-in-the-winter/|title=Does Niagara Falls Freeze in the Winter?|date=December 15, 2016|website=Marriott Niagara Falls Hotel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/niagara-falls-frozen/|title=FACT CHECK: Do Photographs Capture Niagara Falls Frozen?|website=Snopes.com|date=January 23, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/does-niagara-falls-freeze-has-niagara-falls-frozen.html |title=Does Niagara Falls Freeze? Has Niagara Falls Frozen? |date=July 15, 2019 |publisher=World Atlas |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref> A so-called ice bridge was common in certain years at the base of the falls and was used by people who wanted to cross the river before bridges had been built. During some winters, the ice sheet was as thick as {{convert|40|to|100|ft|m|order=flip}}, but that thickness has not occurred since 1954. The ice bridge of 1841 was said to be at least {{convert|100|ft|m|order=flip}} thick.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-geology/ice-bridges-of-niagara/historic-niagara-ice-bridges/ |title=Ice Bridges of Niagara Falls |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Info Niagara |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref> On February 4, 1912, the ice bridge, which had formed on January 15 began breaking up while people were still on it. Many escaped, but three died during the event, later named the Ice Bridge Tragedy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.niagarafallstourism.com/blog/ice-bridge-tragedy/ |title=ICE BRIDGE TRAGEDY |date=February 22, 2018 |publisher=Niagara Falls Tourism |access-date=November 4, 2019 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024851/https://www.niagarafallstourism.com/blog/ice-bridge-tragedy/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Bridge crossings==
[[File:Rail Road Suspension Bridge Near Niagara Falls v2.jpg|thumb|left|Hand-colored lithograph of the (double-decked) Niagara Suspension Bridge, c. 1856]]
[[File:NU RM30 Niagara Cantilever Bridge.jpg|left|thumb|Niagara Cantilever Bridge, c. 1895]]

A number of bridges have spanned the Niagara River in the general vicinity of the falls. The first, not far from the [[Niagara Whirlpool|whirlpool]], was a suspension bridge above the gorge. It opened for use by the public in July 1848 and remained in use until 1855. A second bridge in the Upper Falls area was commissioned, with two levels or decks, one for use by the [[Great Western Railway (Ontario)|Great Western Railway]]. This [[Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge]] opened in 1855. It was used by conductors on the Underground Railroad to escort runaway slaves to Canada.<ref>Strand p. 114</ref> In 1882, the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] took over control of the second deck after it absorbed the Great Western company. Significant structural improvements were made in the late 1870s and then in 1886; this bridge remained in use until 1897.<ref name="auto1">{{cite news|title=THE LOWER NIAGARA BRIDGES|date=February 10, 2001|url=https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/ts4fsuww-yyl.aspx|work=Niagara Falls Museums|access-date=January 10, 2020}}</ref>
 
Because of the volume of traffic, the decision was made to construct a new arch bridge nearby, under and around the existing bridge. After it opened in September 1897, a decision was made to remove and scrap the railway suspension bridge. This new bridge was initially known as the Niagara Railway Arch, or Lower Steel Arch Bridge; it had two decks, the lower one used for carriages and the upper for trains. In 1937, it was renamed the [[Whirlpool Rapids Bridge]] and remains in use today. All of the structures built up to that time were referred to as Lower Niagara bridges and were some distance from the falls.<ref name="auto1"/>

The first bridge in the so-called Upper Niagara area (closer to the falls) was a two-level suspension structure that opened in January 1869; it was destroyed during a severe storm in January 1889. The replacement was built quickly and opened in May 1889. In order to handle heavy traffic, a second bridge was commissioned, slightly closer to American Falls. This one was a steel bridge and opened to traffic in June 1897; it was known as the Upper Steel Arch Bridge but was often called the [[Honeymoon Bridge (Niagara Falls)|Honeymoon Bridge]]. The single level included a track for trolleys and space for carriages and pedestrians. The design led to the bridge being very close to the surface of the river and in January 1938, an ice jam twisted the steel frame of the bridge which later collapsed on January 27, 1938.<ref name="auto">{{cite news|title=THE UPPER NIAGARA BRIDGES|date=February 10, 2001|url=https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/upperbridges.aspx|work=Niagara Falls Museums|access-date=January 10, 2020}}</ref>
[[File:15-23-0882, rainbow bridge from observation deck - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The [[Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)|Rainbow Bridge]], the first bridge downstream from the falls]]

Another Lower Niagara bridge had been commissioned in 1883 by [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] for use by railways at a location roughly approximately {{convert|200|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=1}} south of the Railway Suspension Bridge. This one was of an entirely different design; it was a [[cantilever bridge]] to provide greater strength. The [[Niagara Cantilever Bridge]] had two cantilevers which were joined by steel sections; it opened officially in December 1883, and improvements were made over the years for a stronger structure. As rail traffic was increasing, the [[Michigan Central Railroad]] company decided to build a new bridge in 1923, to be located between the Lower Steel Arch Bridge and the Cantilever Bridge. The [[Michigan Central Railway Bridge]] opened in February 1925 and remained in use until the early 21st century. The Cantilever Bridge was removed and scrapped after the new rail bridge opened.<ref name="auto1"/> Nonetheless, it was inducted into the [[North America Railway Hall of Fame]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://casostation.ca/mcr-cantilever-bridge/|title=MCR Cantilever Bridges|date=June 10, 2006|work=NARHF|access-date=January 10, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804130941/http://casostation.ca/mcr-cantilever-bridge/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/>

There was a lengthy dispute as to which agency should build the replacement for the Niagara Railway Arch, or Lower Steel Arch Bridge in the Upper Niagara area. When that was resolved, construction of a steel bridge commenced in February 1940. Named the [[Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)|Rainbow Bridge]], and featuring two lanes for traffic separated by a barrier, it opened in November 1941 and remains in use today.<ref name="auto"/>

==Industry and commerce==

===Hydroelectric power===
{{see also|List of Niagara Falls hydroelectric generating plants}}
[[File:Harnessing the Niagara River's power in Niagara Falls, New York, c. 1901.jpg|thumb|New York side of [[Niagara Gorge]], c. 1901]]

The enormous energy of Niagara Falls has long been recognized as a potential source of power. The first known effort to harness the waters was in 1750, when [[Daniel-Marie Chabert de Joncaire de Clausonne|Daniel Joncaire]] built a small canal above the falls to power his sawmill.<ref name="Eisenstadt2005">{{cite book|author=Peter Eisenstadt|title=Encyclopedia of New York State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmHEm5ohoCUC&pg=PA1110|date= 2005|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-0808-0|page=1110}}</ref> Augustus and Peter Porter purchased this area and all of American Falls in 1805 from the New York state government, and enlarged the original canal to provide [[hydropower|hydraulic power]] for their gristmill and tannery. In 1853, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Mining Company was chartered, which eventually constructed the canals that would be used to generate electricity.<ref name="Pool1897">{{cite book|author=William Pool|title=Landmarks of Niagara County, New York|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028832230|year=1897|publisher=D. Mason|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028832230/page/176 176]}}</ref> In 1881, under the leadership of [[Jacob F. Schoellkopf]], the Niagara River's first [[hydroelectric]] generating station was built. The water fell {{convert|86|ft|m|order=flip}} and generated [[direct current]] electricity, which ran the machinery of local [[watermill|mills]] and lit up some of the village streets.

The Niagara Falls Power Company, a descendant of Schoellkopf's firm, formed the Cataract Company headed by Edward Dean Adams,<ref>{{cite news|title=Honor for E.D. Adams: Engineers to Award the John Fritz Medal for Niagara Development|date=March 17, 1926|work=The New York Times|page=6|id={{ProQuest|119063396}}}}</ref> with the intent of expanding Niagara Falls' power capacity. In 1890, a five-member International Niagara Commission headed by [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Sir William Thomson]] among other distinguished scientists deliberated on the expansion of Niagara hydroelectric capacity based on seventeen proposals but could not select any as the best combined project for hydraulic development and distribution. In 1893, [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric]] (which had built the smaller-scale [[Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant]] near [[Ophir, Colorado]], two years earlier) was hired to design a system to generate [[alternating current]] on Niagara Falls, and three years after that a large-scale AC power system was created (activated on August 26, 1895).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PXpNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA719 "The electrical features of Niagara"]. ''The Electrical World'', Volume 29, 1897.</ref> The [[Adams Power Plant Transformer House]] remains as a landmark of the original system.

[[File:Westinghouse Generators at Niagara Falls.jpg|thumb|Ten 5,000 HP [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] generators at Edward Dean Adams Power Plant]]

By 1896, financing from moguls including [[J. P. Morgan]], [[John Jacob Astor IV]], and the [[Vanderbilt family|Vanderbilts]] had fueled the construction of giant underground conduits leading to turbines generating upwards of {{convert|100000|hp|MW|lk=on|order=flip}}, sent as far as Buffalo, {{convert|20|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} away. Some of the original designs for the power transmission plants were created by the Swiss firm Faesch & Piccard, which also constructed the original {{cvt|5,000|hp|MW|order=flip}} waterwheels. Private companies on the Canadian side also began to harness the energy of the falls. The [[Government of Ontario]] eventually brought power transmission operations under public control in 1906, distributing Niagara's energy to various parts of the Canadian province.

Other hydropower plants were being built along the Niagara River. But in 1956, disaster struck when the region's largest hydropower station was partially destroyed in a [[landslide]]. This drastically reduced power production and put tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs at stake. In 1957, [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed the Niagara Redevelopment Act,<ref>{{USStatute|85|159|71|401|1957|08|21|H.R.|8643}}</ref> which granted the [[New York Power Authority]] the right to fully develop the United States' share of the Niagara River's hydroelectric potential.<ref name="nypa" />

In 1961, when the Niagara Falls hydroelectric project went online, it was the largest hydropower facility in the Western world. Today, Niagara is still the largest electricity producer in New York state, with a generating capacity of 2.4&nbsp;GW. Up to {{convert|1420|m3/s|ft3/s}} of water is diverted from the Niagara River through conduits under the city of Niagara Falls to the Lewiston and [[Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant|Robert Moses]] power plants. Currently between 50% and 75% of the Niagara River's flow is diverted via four huge tunnels that arise far upstream from the waterfalls. The water then passes through hydroelectric turbines that supply power to nearby areas of Canada and the United States before returning to the river well past the falls.<ref name="NMAH">{{cite web| url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=251| title=Niagara Falls Original Turbines| publisher=[[National Museum of American History]], Smithsonian Institution| access-date=June 19, 2008}}</ref> When electrical demand is low, the Lewiston units can operate as pumps to transport water from the lower bay back up to the plant's [[reservoir]], allowing this water to be used again during the daytime when electricity use peaks. During peak electrical demand, the same Lewiston pumps are reversed and become generators.<ref name="nypa" />

[[File:Robert moses niagara power plant 01.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant]] in [[Lewiston, New York]]]]
To preserve Niagara Falls' natural beauty, a 1950 treaty signed by the U.S. and Canada limited water usage by the power plants. The treaty allows higher summertime diversion at night when tourists are fewer and during the winter months when there are even fewer tourists.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ytwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA115 "Niagara Power Goes Under Ground"] ''Popular Mechanics'', April 1952, p. 115.</ref> This treaty, designed to ensure an "unbroken curtain of water" flowing over the falls, states that during daylight time during the tourist season (April 1 to October 31) there must be {{convert|100000|ft3/s|m3/s|order=flip}} of water flowing over the falls, and during the night and off-tourist season there must be {{convert|50,000|ft3/s|m3/s|order=flip}} of water flowing over the falls. This treaty is monitored by the International Niagara Board of Control, using a [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]] gauging station above the falls. During winter, the Power Authority of New York works with Ontario Power Generation to prevent ice on the Niagara River from interfering with power production or causing flooding of shoreline property. One of their joint efforts is an {{convert|8800|ft|m|adj=mid|-long|order=flip}} ice boom, which prevents the buildup of ice, yet allows water to continue flowing downstream.<ref name="nypa">{{cite web |url=http://www.nypa.gov/facilities/niagara.htm |title=NYPA Niagara |publisher=Nypa.gov |access-date=October 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114025315/https://www.nypa.gov/facilities/niagara.htm |archive-date=January 14, 2009 }}</ref> In addition to minimum water volume, the crest of Horseshoe falls was reduced to maintain an uninterrupted "curtain of water".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Macfarlane|first1=Daniel|title=How engineers created the icy wonderland at Niagara Falls|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/01/07/how-engineers-created-the-icy-wonderland-at-niagara-falls|access-date=January 9, 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 9, 2018}}</ref>

In August 2005, [[Ontario Power Generation]], which is responsible for the [[Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations|Sir Adam Beck stations]], started a major civil engineering project, called the [[Niagara Tunnel Project]], to increase power production by building a new {{convert|12.7|m|adj=on}} diameter, {{convert|10.2|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} water diversion tunnel. It was officially placed into service in March 2013, helping to increase the generating complex's [[nameplate capacity]] by 150&nbsp;megawatts. It did so by tapping water from farther up the Niagara River than was possible with the preexisting arrangement. The tunnel provided new [[hydroelectricity]] for approximately 160,000 homes.<ref name="NiagaraFrontier-TechFacts">[http://www.niagarafrontier.com/tunneltechnical.html "Niagara Tunnel Project Technical Facts"], ''NiagaraFrontier.com'', updated November 2012.</ref><ref name="OPG-Website">{{cite web |url=http://www.opg.com/power/hydro/new_projects/ntp/index.asp |date=March 21, 2013 |title=Niagara Tunnel Now In-Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119130706/http://www.opg.com/power/hydro/new_projects/ntp/index.asp |archive-date=November 19, 2013 |website=Ontario Power Generation |access-date=April 11, 2013}}</ref>

===Transport===
[[File:Map of the Welland Canal.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Welland Canal]] connects [[Lake Ontario]] and [[Lake Erie]] through a series of eight locks, allowing ships to bypass the {{convert|51|m|ft|abbr=on}} high Niagara Falls.]]

Ships can bypass Niagara Falls by means of the [[Welland Canal]], which was improved and incorporated into the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] in the mid-1950s. While the seaway diverted water traffic from nearby Buffalo and led to the demise of its steel and grain mills, other industries in the Niagara River valley flourished with the help of the electric power produced by the river. However, since the 1970s the region has declined economically.

The cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and Niagara Falls, New York, United States, are connected by two international bridges. The Rainbow Bridge, just downriver from the falls, affords the closest view of the falls and is open to non-commercial vehicle traffic and pedestrians. The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge lies {{convert|1|mi|km|order=flip}} north of the Rainbow Bridge and is the oldest bridge over the Niagara River. Nearby [[Niagara Falls International Airport]] and [[Buffalo Niagara International Airport]] were named after the waterfall, as were [[Niagara University]], countless local businesses, and even an [[asteroid]].<ref name="Asteroid">Asteroid ''12382 Niagara Falls'' was named after the falls.</ref>

==Over the falls==
{{anchor|Over The Falls}}
{{see also|List of people who have gone over Niagara Falls}}

=== Jumps, plunges and walks ===
[[File:Annie Taylor.jpg|thumb|right|[[Annie Edson Taylor]] posing with her wooden barrel (1901)|upright]]

The first recorded publicity stunt using the Falls was the wreck of the schooner ''Michigan'' in 1827. Local hotel owners acquired a former Lake Erie freighter, loaded it with animals and effigies of people, towed it to a spot above the falls and let it plunge over the brink. Admission of fifty cents was charged.<ref>Strand, pp. 65-68</ref>

In October 1829, [[Sam Patch]], who called himself "the Yankee Leapster", jumped from a high tower into the gorge below the falls and survived; this began a long tradition of [[Stunt performer|daredevils]] trying to go over the falls. Englishman [[Matthew Webb|Captain Matthew Webb]], the first man to swim the [[English Channel]], drowned in 1883 trying to swim the rapids downriver from the falls.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html#WEBB |title=Niagara Falls Daredevils: a history |publisher=Niagarafrontier.com |access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref>

On October 24, 1901, 63-year-old Michigan school teacher [[Annie Edson Taylor]] became the first person to go over the falls in a barrel as a publicity stunt; she survived, bleeding, but otherwise unharmed. Soon after exiting the barrel, she said, "No one ought ever do that again."<ref>{{Cite news| last1=Thompson| first1=Carolyn| title=Seeking Out Death-- Or Defying It: For Niagara Falls, It's a Busy Season for Tourism, Suicide and Daredevils| newspaper=[[Sun-Sentinel]]| location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida| date=July 2, 2000|page=3A}}</ref> Days before Taylor's attempt, her domestic cat was sent over the falls in her barrel to test its strength. The cat survived the plunge unharmed and later posed with Taylor in photographs.<ref>Parish, Charles Carlin, ''Queen of the Mist: The Story of Annie Edson Taylor, First Person Ever to Go Over Niagara Falls and Survive'' (Empire State Books, Interlaken NY, 1987, {{ISBN|0-932334-89-X}}), p. 55.</ref> Since Taylor's historic ride, over a dozen people have intentionally gone over the falls in or on a device, despite her advice. Some have survived unharmed, but others have drowned or been severely injured. Survivors face charges and stiff fines, as it is now illegal, on both sides of the border, to attempt to go over the falls. [[Charles Stephens (daredevil)|Charles Stephens]], a 58-year-old barber from [[Bristol]], England, went over the falls in a wooden barrel in July 1920 and was the first person to die in an endeavor of this type.<ref>{{cite web|date=March 1, 2016|title=Charles Stephens|url=http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/charlestephens.aspx|access-date=November 4, 2019|publisher=Info Niagara|quote=THE FIRST DAREDEVIL TO LOSE HIS LIFE GOING OVER THE FALLS WAS CHARLES STEPHENS.}}</ref> [[Bobby Leach]] went over Horseshoe Falls in a crude steel barrel in 1911 and needed rescuing by [[William "Red" Hill Sr.]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Berton |first=Pierre |date=July 27, 2011 |title=Niagara: A History of the Falls |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Rr06A2H6UC&q=bobby+leach&pg=PA329 |location=Toronto |publisher=Anchor Canada |page=304 |isbn=978-0385659307 |author-link=Pierre Berton}}</ref> Hill again came to the rescue of Leach following his failed attempt to swim the [[Niagara Gorge]] in 1920. In 1928, "Smiling Jean" Lussier tried an entirely different concept, going over the falls in a large rubber ball; he was successful and survived the ordeal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/news/ultimate-guide-enjoying-niagara-falls-wbna19711796 |title=The ultimate guide to enjoying Niagara Falls |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Today |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref>
[[File:BobbyLeachNiagaraFalls.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bobby Leach]] and his barrel after his trip over Niagara Falls (1911 photo)]]

In the "Miracle at Niagara", on July 9, 1960, Roger Woodward, a seven-year-old American boy, was swept over Horseshoe Falls after the boat in which he was cruising lost power; two tourists pulled his 17-year-old sister Deanne from the river only {{convert|20|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} from the lip of the Horseshoe Falls at Goat Island.<ref name="Goat Island">{{cite web | url = http://www.wholesomewords.org/children/stories/overfalls.html | title = Over the Falls | access-date = September 24, 2006}}</ref> Minutes later, Woodward was plucked from the roiling plunge pool beneath Horseshoe Falls after grabbing a life ring thrown to him by the crew of the [[Maid of the Mist]] boat.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.infoniagara.com/history/rogerwoodward_miracle.aspx| title=Account of Roger Woodward's Niagara Falls incident| access-date=October 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nfpl.library.on.ca/nfplindex/search.asp?search=1&db=5&idx=ti&query=roger+Woodward| title=Pictures from the Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.) Includes a stamp issued to commemorate the event| access-date=October 3, 2008| archive-date=July 6, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192600/http://www.nfpl.library.on.ca/nfplindex/search.asp?search=1&db=5&idx=ti&query=roger+Woodward| url-status=dead}}</ref> The children's uncle, Jim Honeycutt, who had been steering the boat, was swept over the edge to his death.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/roger-woodward/ |title=Roger Woodward |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Info Niagara|access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.maidofthemist.com/the-maid-experience/maid-history/|title=Maid History &#124; Niagara Falls Boat Rides & Trips &#124; Maid of the Mist|date=April 8, 2022 }}</ref>

On July 2, 1984, Canadian [[Karel Soucek]] from [[Hamilton, Ontario]], plunged over Horseshoe Falls in a barrel with only minor injuries. Soucek was fined $500 for performing the stunt without a license. In 1985, he was fatally injured while attempting to re-create the Niagara drop at the [[Astrodome|Houston Astrodome]]. His aim was to climb into a barrel hoisted to the rafters of the Astrodome and to drop {{convert|180|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} into a water tank on the floor. After his barrel released prematurely, it hit the side of the tank, and he died the next day from his injuries.<ref name="KarelSoucek">{{cite web |url=http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/karel.html| title=Info Niagara Karel Soucek |access-date=February 8, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080109131113/http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/karel.html| archive-date = January 9, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-21-mn-14186-story.html|title=35,000 Watch as Barrel Misses Water Tank : 180-Ft. Drop Ends in Stunt Man's Death|agency=Associated Press|date=January 21, 1985|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 20, 2018 |issn=0458-3035}}</ref>

In August 1985, [[Steve Trotter]], an aspiring stuntman from [[Rhode Island]], became the youngest person ever (age 22) and the first American in 25 years to go over the falls in a barrel. Ten years later, Trotter went over the falls again, becoming the second person to go over the falls twice and survive. It was also the second "duo"; Lori Martin joined Trotter for the barrel ride over the falls. They survived the fall, but their barrel became stuck at the bottom of the falls, requiring a rescue.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html#TROTTER |title=Niagara Falls Daredevils: a history |publisher=Niagarafrontier.com |access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref>

On September 28, 1989, Niagara natives Peter DeBernardi and Jeffery James Petkovich became the first "team" to make it over the falls in a two-person barrel. The stunt was conceived by DeBenardi, who wanted to discourage youth from following in his path of addictive drug use. The pair emerged shortly after going over with minor injuries and were charged with performing an illegal stunt under the Niagara Parks Act.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html#DIBERNARDI |title=Niagara Falls Daredevils: a history |publisher=Niagarafrontier.com |access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref>[[File:Charles Stephens barrel 1920.jpg|thumb|Charles Stephens in his barrel, prior to his fatal July 1920 attempt]]

On June 5, 1990, Jesse Sharp, a whitewater canoeist from Tennessee paddled over the falls in a closed deck canoe. He chose not to wear a helmet to make his face more visible for photographs of the event. He also did not wear a life vest because he believed it would hinder his escape from the hydraulics at the base of the falls. His boat flushed out of the falls, but his body was never found.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Neill|first1=Michael|title=Tennessee Outdoorsman Jessie Sharp Challenged Niagara's Mighty Falls in a Tiny Canoe—and Lost – Vol. 33 No. 25|url=http://people.com/archive/tennessee-outdoorsman-jessie-sharp-challenged-niagaras-mighty-falls-in-a-tiny-canoe-and-lost-vol-33-no-25/|website=PEOPLE.com|access-date=August 20, 2017|date=June 25, 1990}}</ref> On September 27, 1993, John "David" Munday, of [[Caistor Centre, Ontario]], completed his second journey over the falls.<ref name="DaveMunday">{{cite web |url=http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/dave.html |title=Info Niagara Dave Munday |access-date=February 8, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071224025125/http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/dave.html| archive-date = December 24, 2007}}</ref> On October 1, 1995, Robert Douglas "Firecracker" Overacker went over the falls on a [[Jet Ski]] to raise awareness for the homeless. His rocket-propelled parachute failed to open and he plunged to his death. Overacker's body was recovered before he was pronounced dead at Niagara General Hospital.<ref name="DaveMunday2">{{cite web|url=http://www.viralnova.com/robert-overacker/|title=Info Robert Overacker|access-date=February 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224025125/http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/dave.html|archive-date=December 24, 2007}}</ref>

Kirk Jones of [[Canton, Michigan]], became the first known person to survive a plunge over Horseshoe Falls without a [[flotation device]] on October 20, 2003. According to some reports, Jones had attempted to commit [[suicide]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2017/06/16/kirk-jones-could-not-survive-falls-a-second-time |title=Kirk Jones could not survive Falls a second time |last=Law |first=John |work=[[Niagara Falls Review]] |date=June 16, 2017 |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616191616/http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2017/06/16/kirk-jones-could-not-survive-falls-a-second-time |archive-date=June 16, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but he survived the fall with only battered ribs, scrapes, and bruises.<ref name="KirtJones">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/10/22/niagara.falls.survivor.ap/ |title=Niagara Falls survivor: Stunt was 'impulsive' |access-date=February 8, 2008 |date= October 22, 2003|work= CNN| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080112032709/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/10/22/niagara.falls.survivor.ap/| archive-date = January 12, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/extreme/man-survives-plunge-over-niagara-falls| title=thesurvivorsclub.org| access-date=May 21, 2012| archive-date=January 2, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102155946/https://thesurvivorsclub.org/extreme/man-survives-plunge-over-niagara-falls| url-status=dead}}</ref> Jones tried going over the falls again in 2017, using a large inflatable ball, but died in the process.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/Kirkjones.aspx|title=Kirk Jones|date=July 11, 2007|publisher=Info Niagara|access-date=November 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/man-dies-after-going-over-niagara-falls-inside-inflatable-ball/ |title=Man dies after going over Niagara Falls inside inflatable ball |publisher=[[CTV News]] |agency=[[The Associated Press]] |date=June 16, 2017 |access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref> Later reports revealed that Jones had arranged for a friend to shoot video clips of his stunt.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/few-survive-plunging-over-niagara-falls/article599996/ |title=Few survive plunging over Niagara Falls |date=April 29, 2018 |work=Globe and Mail |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref>

On March 11, 2009, a man survived an unprotected trip over Horseshoe Falls. When rescued from the river he suffered from severe [[hypothermia]] and a large wound to his head. His identity was never released. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the man intentionally enter the water.<ref name="CBCSecondSurvivor">{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/man-survives-plunge-into-niagara-falls-1.782130?ref=rss |title=Man survives plunge into Niagara Falls |publisher= [[CBC News]] |date=March 11, 2009 |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="SecondSurvivor">{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/03/11/niagara.plunge | title=Man survives plunge over Niagara Falls | access-date=March 11, 2009 | date=March 11, 2009 | work=CNN | archive-date=September 15, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915045333/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/03/11/niagara.plunge/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> On May 21, 2012, an unidentified man became the fourth person to survive an unprotected trip over Horseshoe Falls. Eyewitness reports show he "deliberately jumped" into the Niagara River after climbing over a railing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/man-survives-plunge-over-niagara-falls-only-3rd-person-without-safety-device-to-survive/2012/05/21/gIQAMnR4fU_story.html|title=Man survives plunge over Niagara Falls; only 3rd person without safety device to survive|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Man Survives Plunge over Horseshoe Falls |url=http://niagara-gazette.com/local/x1968166742/Man-survives-plunge-over-Horseshoe-Falls |work=[[Niagara Gazette]] |date=May 21, 2012 |access-date=May 25, 2012 }}</ref> On July 8, 2019, at roughly 4 am, officers responded to a report of a person in crisis at the brink of the Canadian side of the falls. Once officers got to the scene, the man climbed the retaining wall, jumped into the river and went over Horseshoe Falls. Authorities subsequently began to search the lower Niagara River basin, where the man was found alive but injured sitting on the rocks at the water's edge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wivb.com/news/man-goes-over-horseshoe-falls-survives-with-non-life-threatening-injuries/|title=Man goes over Horseshoe Falls, survives with non-life threatening injuries|date=July 8, 2019|website=WIVB|access-date=July 10, 2019|archive-date=November 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126012308/https://www.wivb.com/news/man-goes-over-horseshoe-falls-survives-with-non-life-threatening-injuries/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Tightrope walkers===

[[File:Charles.Blondin.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Blondin]] carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on a tightrope<ref>{{cite web| url=http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/the-daredevil-of-niagara-falls/| title=History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places – Smithsonian| work=smithsonianmag.com| access-date=June 20, 2012| archive-date=June 25, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625102215/http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/the-daredevil-of-niagara-falls| url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

[[Tightrope walker]]s drew huge crowds to witness their exploits. Their wires ran across the gorge, near the current Rainbow Bridge, not over the waterfall. [[Charles Blondin|Jean François "Blondin" Gravelet]] was the first to cross Niagara Gorge on June 30, 1859, and did so again eight times that year. His most difficult crossing occurred on August 14, when he carried his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 11, 2007|title=The Great Blondin|url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/the-great-blondin/|access-date=November 4, 2019|publisher=Info Niagara}}</ref> His final crossing, on September 8, 1860, was witnessed by the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]].<ref name="Neville2">Anne Neville, [http://www.buffalonews.com/topics/niagara-falls-wire-walk/article896230.ece "Daredevils who wire-walked before Wallenda"], buffalonews.com</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=February 27, 2006|title=Blondin broadsheet – Details|url=http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?id=89311&b=1|access-date=August 21, 2011|publisher=Nflibrary.ca}}</ref> Author Ginger Strand argues that these performances may have had symbolic meanings at the time relating to slavery and abolition.<ref>Strand, pp. 122-129</ref>

[[Maria Spelterini]], a 23-year-old Italian was the first and only woman to cross the Niagara River gorge; she did so on a tightrope on July 8, 1876. She repeated the stunt several times during the same month. During one crossing she was blindfolded and during another, her ankles and wrists were handcuffed. On July 12, she crossed wearing peach baskets strapped to her feet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/maria-spelterini/ |title=The ultimate guide to enjoying Niagara Falls |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Info Niagara |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref>

Among the many competitors was Ontario's [[William Leonard Hunt|William Hunt]], who billed himself as "The Great Farini"; his first crossing was in 1860. Farini competed with Blondin in performing outrageous stunts over the gorge.<ref name="Niagarafrontier.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html#FARINI |title=Niagara Falls Daredevils: a history |publisher=Niagarafrontier.com |access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref> On August 8, 1864, however, an attempt failed and he needed to be rescued.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/the-great-farini/ |title=The Great Farini |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Info Niagara |access-date=November 4, 2019 }}</ref>

On June 15, 2012, high wire artist [[Nik Wallenda]] became the first person to walk across the falls area in 116 years, after receiving special permission from both governments.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/nyregion/wallendas-niagara-falls-tightrope-walk-stirs-excitement.html |title=Niagara Falls Fills with Excitement in Wait of Tightrope Walk |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 15, 2012 |first1=Danny |last1=Hakim |first2=Liz |last2=Leyden}}</ref> The full length of his tightrope was {{convert|1800|ft|m|order=flip}}.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/16/nik-wallenda-niagara-tightrope-succeeds?newsfeed=true Niagara Falls tightrope walk: Nik Wallenda succeeds]. ''The Guardian''. June 16, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.</ref> Wallenda crossed near the brink of Horseshoe Falls, unlike walkers who had crossed farther downstream. According to Wallenda, it was the longest unsupported tightrope walk in history.<ref>{{cite news| title=Wallenda's plan for the falls| author=Michael Woods| author2=Liam Casey| date=June 10, 2012| work=[[Toronto Star]] |publisher=NiagaraThisWeek.com| url=http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/article/1371877--wallenda-s-plan-for-the-falls| access-date=June 20, 2012}}</ref> He carried his passport on the trip and was required to present it upon arrival on the Canadian side of the falls.<ref name="CTV">{{cite news |title= Nik Wallenda makes historic Niagara Falls walk |author= Emily Senger |publisher= CTV News |date= June 16, 2012 |url= https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nik-wallenda-makes-historic-niagara-falls-walk-1.841429 |access-date= June 16, 2012 |archive-date= June 28, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120628033949/http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nik-wallenda-makes-historic-niagara-falls-walk-1.841429 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
===Fish===
According to river expert Wes Hill, 90% of fish that go over the falls survive.<ref name="Gupta">{{cite web |last1=Gupta |first1=Vandana |title=What happens to fish when they go over waterfalls? |url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-happens-to-fish-when-they-go-over-waterfalls |website=BBC Science Focus Magazine |access-date=13 August 2025 |date=21 October 2010}}</ref>

==Tourism==
[[File:AdvertisementTripNiagaraFalls6August1895.jpg|thumb|upright|Advertising broadside for trip to Niagara Falls from Massachusetts, 1895]]

Peak visitor traffic occurs in the summertime, when Niagara Falls is both a daytime and evening attraction. From the Canadian side, floodlights illuminate both sides of the falls for several hours after dark (until midnight). The number of visitors in 2007 was expected to total 20&nbsp;million, and by 2009 the annual rate was expected to top 28&nbsp;million tourists.<ref name="Trave;ppce">{{cite web |title=Niagara Falls |url= http://www.travelooce.com/niagara-falls.shtml
 |publisher=Travelooce.com |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205181245/http://www.travelooce.com/niagara-falls.shtml |archive-date=February 5, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The oldest and best known tourist attraction at Niagara Falls is the [[Maid of the Mist]] boat cruise, named for an alleged ancient Ongiara Indian mythical character, which has carried passengers into the rapids immediately below the falls since 1846. Cruise boats operate from boat docks on both sides of the falls, with the Maid of the Mist operating from the American side and [[Hornblower Cruises]] (originally Maid of the Mist until 2014<ref>{{Cite news
|date=October 24, 2013 |title=Maid of the Mist completes its final voyage from Canada |work=CTVNews
|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/maid-of-the-mist-completes-its-final-voyage-from-canada/
|access-date=June 12, 2020}}</ref>) from the Canadian side.<ref name="momweb">{{cite web |title=Maid of the Mist
   |url=http://www.maidofthemist.com/en/ |publisher=Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company, Ltd |access-date=March 27, 2007
   |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329072454/http://www.maidofthemist.com/en
   |archive-date=March 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="momleg">{{cite web |title=American Indian Legends – Legend of the Maid of the Mist |url=http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Legend_Of_The_Maid_Of_The_Mist-Unknown.html |publisher=www.firstpeople.us |access-date=March 27, 2007 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014810/https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Legend_Of_The_Maid_Of_The_Mist-Unknown.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1996, Native American groups threatened to boycott the boat companies if they would not stop playing what they said was a fake story on their boats. The Maid of the Mist dropped the audio.<ref>Strand, pp. 10-11</ref>

From the U.S. side, American Falls can be viewed from walkways along Prospect Point Park, which also features the [[Prospect Point Observation Tower]] and a boat dock for the ''Maid of the Mist''. Goat Island offers more views of the falls and is accessible by foot and automobile traffic by bridge above American Falls. From Goat Island, the [[Cave of the Winds (New York)|Cave of the Winds]] is accessible by elevator and leads hikers to a point beneath Bridal Veil Falls. Also on Goat Island are the Three Sisters Islands, the Power Portal where a statue of [[Nikola Tesla]] (the inventor whose patents for the AC [[induction motor]] and other devices for AC power transmission helped make the harnessing of the falls possible) can be seen, and a walking path that enables views of the rapids, the Niagara River, the gorge, and all of the falls. Most of these attractions lie within the [[Niagara Falls State Park]].<ref name="nfspat" />
[[File:美國尼加拉瀑布29.jpg|thumb|left|[[Prospect Point Observation Tower]] (also known as the Niagara Falls Observation Tower)]]
The Niagara Scenic Trolley offers guided trips along American Falls and around Goat Island. Panoramic and aerial views of the falls can also be viewed by helicopter. The Niagara Gorge Discovery Center showcases the natural and local history of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Gorge. A casino and luxury hotel was opened in Niagara Falls, New York, by the Seneca Indian tribe. The [[Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel]] occupies the former Niagara Falls Convention Center. The new hotel is the first addition to the city's skyline since completion of the [[United Office Building]] in the 1920s.<ref name="nfspat">{{cite web
|url= http://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com
|title=Niagara Falls State Park |publisher=Niagara Falls State Park |access-date=March 27, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="tfoa">{{cite web
    |url=http://www.flightofangels.net
    |title=The Flight of Angels |publisher=The Great American Balloon Company |access-date=March 27, 2007 }}</ref>

On the Canadian side, [[Queen Victoria Park]] features manicured gardens, platforms offering views of American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe Falls, and underground walkways leading into observation rooms that yield the illusion of being within the falling waters. Along the Niagara River, the Niagara River Recreational Trail runs {{convert|35|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} from [[Fort Erie, Ontario|Fort Erie]] to [[Fort George, Ontario|Fort George]], and includes many historical sites from the [[War of 1812]].<ref name="npnrrt">{{cite web
|title=Niagara River Recreation Trail |url=http://www.niagaraparks.com/nature/rectrailarea.php
|publisher=Niagara Parks Commission |access-date=March 27, 2007 |url-status=dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070329062514/http://www.niagaraparks.com/nature/rectrailarea.php
|archive-date=March 29, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
[[File:skylon-2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Skylon Tower]] as seen from a helicopter on the Canadian side]]

The observation deck of the nearby [[Skylon Tower]] offers the highest view of the falls, and in the opposite direction gives views as far as [[Toronto]]. Along with the [[Tower Hotel (Niagara Falls)|Tower Hotel]] (built as the Seagrams Tower, later renamed the Heritage Tower, the Royal Inn Tower, the Royal Center Tower, the Panasonic Tower, the Minolta Tower, and most recently the Konica Minolta Tower<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 3, 2017|title=History of Niagara Falls Towers – Minolta Tower, Niagara Falls, Ontario|url=https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/niagara-falls-tower-history/konica-minolta-tower/|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=Niagara Falls Info}}</ref> before receiving its current name in 2010), it is one of two towers in Canada with a view of the falls.<ref name="Let's Go">''Let's Go Travel Guide'', 2004</ref> The [[Whirlpool Aero Car]], built in 1916 from a design by Spanish engineer [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo]], is a [[aerial tramway|cable car]] that takes passengers over the [[Niagara Whirlpool]] on the Canadian side. The [[Journey Behind the Falls]] consists of an observation platform and series of tunnels near the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.<ref name="npjbtf">{{cite web | title = Journey Behind the Falls | url = http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/behindthefalls.php | publisher = Niagara Parks Commission | access-date = March 27, 2007 }}</ref> There are two casinos on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, the [[Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort]] and [[Casino Niagara]].<ref name="CosgraveKlassen2009">{{cite book|author1=James Cosgrave|author2=Thomas Klassen|title=Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nv9bWJcCKpUC&pg=PT116|date=February 5, 2009|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-9223-7|page=116}}</ref>

[[File:Niagara Whirlpool with aerocar.JPG|thumb|[[Whirlpool Aero Car]] above Niagara River whirlpool]]

Touring by helicopter over the falls, from both the US and the Canadian side, was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as still popular a year after a serious crash.<ref name=StillPopular>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/26/nyregion/niagara-falls-flights-still-popular-after-crash.html
  |title=Niagara Falls Flights Still Popular After Crash
  |date=September 26, 1993
  |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref> Although ''The New York Times'' had long before described attempting to tour the falls as "bent on suicide"<ref name=Thundering>>{{cite news
|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/08/30/archives/saving-the-thundering-niagara-falls-bent-on-suicide.html
|title=Saving the Thundering Niagara Falls Bent on Suicide
|date=August 30, 1925 |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref> and despite a number of fatal crashes, the "as many as 100 eight-minute rides each day" are hard to regulate; two countries and various government agencies would have to coordinate.<ref name=Niag92crash>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/30/nyregion/niagara-crash-of-2-copters-kills-4-people.html
   |title=Niagara Crash Of 2 Copters Kills 4 People
   |author=James Dao  |date=September 30, 1992 |access-date=August 23, 2022}}</ref> These flights have been available "since the early 1960s".<ref name=StillPopular/>

==Media==

===Movies and television===
[[File:Opening title from Niagara trailer 1.jpg|thumb|The opening title from the theatrical trailer of the 1953 film ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'']]

Already a huge tourist attraction and favorite spot for honeymooners, Niagara Falls visits rose sharply in 1953 after the release of ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'', a movie starring [[Marilyn Monroe]] and [[Joseph Cotten]].<ref name="Dubinsky1999">{{cite book|author=Karen Dubinsky|title=The Second Greatest Disappointment: Honeymooning and Tourism at Niagara Falls|url=https://archive.org/details/secondgreatestdi0000dubi|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Between The Lines|isbn=978-1-896357-23-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/secondgreatestdi0000dubi/page/212 212]}}</ref> The 1956 animated short ''[[Niagara Fools]]'' featured [[Woody Woodpecker]] attempting to go over the falls in a barrel.<ref>{{cite book|title=Heritage Comic and Comic Art Signature Auction #821|date=July 2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAM|publisher=Heritage Capital Corporation|isbn=978-1-59967-063-8|page=229}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The falls was a featured location in the major motion picture ''[[Superman II]]'' in 1980<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.niagarathisweek.com/whatson-story/8451051-kidder-returns-to-site-of-superman-ii-in-falls/|title=Kidder returns to site of Superman II in Falls|date=April 9, 2015|website=NiagaraThisWeek.com}}</ref> and was the subject of a popular [[IMAX]] movie, ''[[Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imaxniagara.com/IMAX-theater/the-movie.cfm |title=Niagara Falls IMAX Movie &#124; Ontario, Canada |publisher=Imaxniagara.com |access-date=October 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602082840/http://www.imaxniagara.com/IMAX-theater/the-movie.cfm |archive-date=June 2, 2008 }}</ref> Illusionist [[David Copperfield (illusionist)|David Copperfield]] performed a trick in which he appeared to travel over Horseshoe Falls in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/1990/03/24/master-illusionist-will-challenge-the-mighty-niagara-on-a-fiery-raft-david-copperfield-claims-there-are-no-camera-tricks/|title=MASTER ILLUSIONIST WILL CHALLENGE THE MIGHTY NIAGARA ON A FIERY RAFT DAVID COPPERFIELD CLAIMS THERE ARE NO CAMERA TRICKS|date=March 24, 1990}}</ref>

The falls, or more particularly, the tourist-supported complex near the falls, was the setting of the short-lived Canadian-shot U.S. television show ''[[Wonderfalls]]'' in early 2004. Location footage of the falls was shot in October 2006 to portray "World's End" of the movie ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449088/locations| title=Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)| work=IMDb}}</ref> Professional kayaker Rafa Ortiz's preparation to paddle over the falls in a kayak is documented in the 2015 film ''Chasing Niagara''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5192278/|title=Chasing Niagara|date=July 5, 2016|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

Kevin McMahon's 1991 documentary film ''[[The Falls (1991 film)|The Falls]]'' explored the place of Niagara Falls in the world's collective imagination, covering both positive and negative aspects of the culture around the falls.<ref name=bastien>Mark Bastien, "The Falls: Film shows beauty and beast". ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', October 26, 1991.</ref>

===Literature===
[[File:JoseMariaHeredia-plaque-niagarafalls.JPG|thumb|right|[[José María Heredia y Heredia]] plaque at [[Table Rock, Niagara Falls|Table Rock]]]]
The Niagara Falls area features as the base camp for a German aerial invasion of the United States in the [[H. G. Wells]] novel ''[[The War in the Air]]''.<ref name="Wagar2004">{{cite book|author=W. Warren Wagar|title=H. G. Wells: Traversing Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HExGaHDhVbUC&pg=PA140|date=September 22, 2004|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|isbn=978-0-8195-6725-3|pages=140–}}</ref> Many poets have been inspired to write about the falls.<ref>{{cite book| last = Severance| first = Frank H.| author-link = Frank Severance| date = 1899|chapter= Niagara and the Poets| title = Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PdZCAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA275| location = Buffalo, NY| pages = 275–321}}</ref> Among them was the Cuban poet [[José María Heredia y Heredia|José Maria Heredia]], who wrote the poem "Niagara". There are commemorative plaques on both sides of the falls recognizing the poem.<ref name="Colombo1984">{{cite book|author=John Robert Colombo|title=Canadian Literary Landmarks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pSnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141|date=January 1, 1984|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-0-88882-073-0|page=141}}</ref> In 1818, American poet [[John Neal]] published the poem ''Battle of Niagara'', which is considered the best poetic description of Niagara Falls up to that time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=Kevin J.|editor2-last=Carlson|editor2-first=David J.|editor1-last=Watts|editor1-first=Edward|chapter=Chapter 13: How John Neal Wrote His Autobiography|page=275|title=John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture|publisher=Bucknell University Press|location=Lewisburg, Pennsylvania|year=2012|isbn=978-1-61148-420-5}}</ref> In 1835, as a poetical illustration [[wikisource:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836/The Indian Girl|"The Indian Girl"]] to accompany a plate of the [[wikisource:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836/Horse-Shoe Falls, Niagara|Horse-Shoe Falls]]—artist [[Thomas Allom]],<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PP8|section=picture|year=1835|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref> [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] imagines an Indian girl who, having saved the life of a captured young European man, takes him as her husband only to be later abandoned by him. In her despair she guides her canoe over the falls in dramatic fashion: "Upright, within that slender boat, they saw the pale girl stand, her dark hair streaming far behind—uprais'd her desperate hand."<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA19|section=text on Niagara and poetical illustration|pages=19–22|year=1835|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>

[[Lydia Sigourney]] wrote two dramatic poems on the falls, ''Niagara'', in 1836 and again in her ''Scenes in my native Land'', ''Niagara'', in 1845.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/zinzendorffother00sigo/page/34/mode/2up | title=Zinzendorff, and other poems | year=1836 | publisher=New-York, Leavitt, Lord & co.; Boston, Crocker & Brewster }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/scenesinmynative00sigou/page/n19/mode/2up | title=Scenes in my native land | year=1845 }}</ref> In 1848, the Rev. C. H. A. Bulkley, of [[Mount Morris, New York]], published ''Niagara: A Poem'', a 132-page, 3,600 line blank verse poem presenting the wonders of the falls as "the theme of a single poem."<ref>{{cite book| last = Bulkley| first = C. H. A.| date = 1848| title = Niagara: A Poem| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7ds-AAAAIAAJ| location = New York| publisher = Leavitt, Trow, & Co.}}</ref>

In 1893, [[Mark Twain]] wrote a satirical sketch called "The First Authentic Mention of Niagara Falls", in which [[Adam and Eve]] are living at the Falls.<ref>Strand, p. 71</ref>

===Music===
Composer [[Ferde Grofé]] was commissioned by the Niagara Falls Power Generation project in 1960 to compose the ''[[Niagara Falls Suite]]'' in honor of the completion of the first stage of hydroelectric work at the falls.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dumych|first=Daniel M|title=Niagara Falls, Volume 2 |year=1998|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=0-7385-5785-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJjH-Ug8zacC&q=%22Niagara+Falls+Suite%22&pg=PA128}}</ref> In 1997, composer [[Michael Daugherty]] composed ''[[Niagara Falls (composition)|Niagara Falls]]'', a piece for [[concert band]] inspired by the falls.<ref>[[Michael Daugherty|Daugherty, Michael]] (1997). [http://www.michaeldaugherty.net/index.cfm?id=36&i=3&pagename=works ''Niagara Falls'' for symphonic band: Program Note by the Composer]. Retrieved May 20, 2015.</ref>

==Fine art==
Niagara Falls was such an attraction to landscape artists that, writes John Howat, they were "the most popular, the most often treated, and the tritest single item of subject matter to appear in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European and American [[landscape painting]]".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Frederic Church |last1=Howat |first1=John K. |last2=Church |first2=Frederic Edwin |date=2005 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-10988-1 |page=69}}</ref> Author Ginger Strand states that "Every time there was an advance in picture-making, folks raced to the Falls to try it out." She cites engravings, chromolithographs, photographs, panoramas, camera obscuras, early movies, Cinerama, and IMAX technologies as examples.<ref>Strand, p. 296</ref>

<gallery>
A General View of the Falls of Niagara, 1820, by Alvan Fisher - SAAM - DSC00862.JPG|''A General View of the Falls of Niagara'' by [[Alvan Fisher]], 1820
Distant View of Niagara Falls 1830 Thomas Cole.jpg|''Distant View of Niagara Falls'' by [[Thomas Cole]], 1830
Karl Bodmer Travels in America (72c).jpg|''Niagara Fälle. Les chûtes du Niagara. Niagara Falls'' by [[Karl Bodmer]], c. 1832
"Voute sous la Chute du Niagara - Niagara Falls" by Jacques-Hippolyte van der Burch.jpg|''Voute sous la Chute du Niagara – Niagara Falls'', Jacques-Hippolyte van der Burch, c. 1841
Niagara Falls From the Canadian Side, by Victor de Grailly.jpg|As seen from the Canadian side, by Victor de Grailly, 1845
John Frederick Kensett - Niagara Falls - Google Art Project.jpg|''Niagara Falls'' by [[John Frederick Kensett]], c. 1852-1854
Frederic Edwin Church - Niagara Falls - WGA04867.jpg|''[[Niagara (Frederic Edwin Church)|Niagara]]'' by [[Frederic Edwin Church]], 1857
Underneath Niagara Falls.jpg|''Underneath Niagara Falls'' by [[Ferdinand Richardt]], 1862
Brooklyn Museum - Niagara - Louis Rémy Mignot - overall.jpg|''Niagara'' by [[Louis Rémy Mignot]], c. 1866
Bierstadt Albert Falls of Niagara from Below.jpg|''Falls of Niagara from Below'' by [[Albert Bierstadt]], 1869
Hunt - Niagara Falls.jpg|''Niagara Falls'' by [[William Morris Hunt]], 1878
Brooklyn Museum - Niagara Falls - Arthur Parton - overall.jpg|''Niagara Falls'', Arthur Parton c.1880
</gallery>

==Panoramic views==
{{wide image|Panoramic of Niagara Falls (c. 1921).jpg|800px|Niagara Falls, c. 1921}}
{{wide image|Niagara 01.jpg|800px|Rainbow bridge, the [[American Falls|American]], [[Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls)|Bridal Veil]], and [[Horseshoe Falls]] as seen from the [[Skylon Tower]] in 2016}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Earth Sciences|Canada|Ontario|New York (state)|National Register of Historic Places}}
* [[List of waterfalls]]
* [[List of waterfalls of Canada]]
* {{annotated link|Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation|''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation''}}
* {{annotated link|International Control Dam}}
* [https://ijc.org/en/nbc International Niagara Board of Control]
* {{annotated link|Incline railways at Niagara Falls}}
* {{annotated link|Table Rock, Niagara Falls}}{{Clear}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==

* [[Pierre Berton|Berton, Pierre]] (1992). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=tJHBIj--SkcC&q=editions:fFc2Mspn69sC Niagara: A History of the Falls]''. McClelland & Stewart. {{ISBN|978-1-4384-2928-1}}.
* Dubinsky, Karen (1999). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NxkE2wRfjAQC The Second Greatest Disappointment: Honeymooning and Tourism at Niagara Falls]''. [[Between the Lines Books|Between the Lines]]. {{ISBN|9781896357232}}.
* Grant, John and Ray Jones (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ct1BvgAACAAJ ''Niagara Falls: An Intimate Portrait''. Globe Pequot Press]. {{ISBN|9780762740253}}.
* Gromosiak, Paul and Christopher Stoianoff (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=kcy4nidZ1-oC ''Niagara Falls: 1850-2000''. Arcadia Publishing]. {{ISBN|9780738576954}}.
* Holley, George Washington (1882). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=BjtHAQAAMAAJ The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts]''. Hodder and Stoughton.
* Macfarlane, Daniel (2020). ''[https://www.ubcpress.ca/fixing-niagara-falls Fixing Niagara Falls: Environment, Energy, and Engineers at the World's Most Famous Waterfall]''. [[UBC Press]]. {{ISBN|9780774864237}}.
* McGreevy, Patrick (1994). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vLGsfZjf-jYC Imagining Niagara: The Meaning and Making of Niagara Falls]''. University of Massachusetts Press. {{ISBN|9780870239168}}.
* [[Ginger Strand|Strand, Ginger]] (2008). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=obXliU3-7WcC Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies]''. [[Simon and Schuster]]. {{ISBN|9781416564812}}.

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons|Niagara Falls|Niagara Falls image gallery}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline}}
* [https://waterfallsofontario.com/niagara-falls.php Waterfalls of Ontario - Niagara Falls]
* [https://archive.today/20061009004524/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/freeland/index.html Panorama] Niagara Falls Panorama found at [[Queen's Park (Toronto)|Queen's Park]], Toronto.
* [http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/ Historic Niagara Digital Collections]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080228083429/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/nov99/story16.htm U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completely blocked the flow of water over the American Falls in 1969.
* [http://www.history.com/topics/niagara-falls The History of Niagara Falls]
* [https://visitingniagarafalls.com/attractions/ Niagara Falls Attractions]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=ytwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA115 "Niagara Power Goes Under Ground"] ''Popular Mechanics'', April 1952, pp.&nbsp;115–117.
* [http://niagarafallsupclose.com/american-attractions/niagara-power-vista/ Niagara Power Vista] – visitors center for the Niagara Falls hydro electric plant with displays, a scaled down map of the project, and documentaries on construction, situated atop the cement wall of the plant on the Niagara Gorge.
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CWh6i4jSxQ Niagara]'', 1978, Archives of Ontario YouTube Channel.

===Fiction===
* [http://cathymariebuchanan.com/the-day-the-falls-stood-still ''The Day the Falls Stood Still''] by [[Cathy Marie Buchanan]]
* [http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771034763 ''The Whirlpool''] by [[Jane Urquhart]]

{{Niagara Falls}}
{{Great Lakes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Niagara Falls| ]]
[[Category:International waterfalls]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Niagara County, New York]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Niagara Falls, Ontario]]
[[Category:Landmarks in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Niagara River]]
[[Category:Waterfalls of Ontario]]
[[Category:Waterfalls of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Niagara Falls, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of the Regional Municipality of Niagara]]
[[Category:Canada–United States border]]
[[Category:Niagara Falls National Heritage Area]]
[[Category:Block waterfalls]]
[[Category:Segmented waterfalls]]
[[Category:Landforms of Niagara County, New York]]
[[Category:Niagara Escarpment]]