Niagara River

Niagara River
Satellite image of the Niagara River. Flowing from Lake Erie in the south (bottom of image) to Lake Ontario in the north, the river passes around Grand Island before going over Niagara Falls, after which it narrows in the Niagara Gorge. Two hydropower reservoirs are visible just before the river widens after exiting the gorge. The Welland Canal is visible on the far left side of this image. (Source: NASA Visible Earth)
Origin	Lake Erie
Mouth	Lake Ontario
Basin countries	United States & Canada
Length	58 kilometres (36 mi)[1]
Avg. discharge	5,796 m³/s (204,800 cfs)[2]
Basin area	684,000 square kilometres (264,000 sq mi)[1]

The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, "Niagara" is derived from the name given to a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as being called the "Niagagarega" people on several late 17th century French maps of the area.^[3] According to George R. Stewart, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called "Ongniaahra", meaning "point of land cut in two".^[4]

The river, which is occasionally described as a strait,^[5] is about 56 kilometres (35 mi) long and includes Niagara Falls in its course. The falls have moved approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) upstream from the Niagara Escarpment in the last 12,000 years, resulting in a gorge below the falls. Today, the diversion of the river for electrical generation has significantly reduced the rate of erosion.

Power plants on the river include the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations on the Canadian side, and the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant (built in 1961) on the American side. Together, they generate 4.4 gigawatts of electricity. The International Control Works, built in 1954, regulates the river flow. Ships on the Great Lakes use the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, on the Canadian side of the river, to bypass Niagara Falls.

The total drop in elevation along the river is 99 metres (325 ft). The Niagara Gorge extends downstream from the Falls and includes the Niagara Whirlpool and another section of rapids.

The Niagara River also features two large islands and numerous smaller islands. Grand Island and Navy Island, the two largest islands, are on the American and Canadian sides of the river. Goat Island and the tiny Luna Island split Niagara Falls into its three sections, the Horseshoe, Bridal Veil, and American Falls. Squaw Island lies further upstream, alongside the city of Buffalo.

The Niagara River and its tributaries, Tonawanda Creek and the Welland River, formed part of the last section of the Erie Canal and Welland Canal. After leaving Lockport, New York, the Erie Canal proceeds southwest until it enters Tonawanda Creek. After entering the Niagara River, watercraft then proceed southward to the final lock, where a short section of the canal allows boats to avoid the turbulent shoal water at the river intake and enter Lake Erie.

The Welland Canals used the Welland River as a connection to the Niagara River south of the falls, allowing water traffic to safely re-enter the Niagara River and proceed to Lake Erie.

The American Falls with Goat Island to its right.

History

Queenston, Ontario, then known as Queenstown, Upper Canada, in a c. 1805 watercolour by army surgeon Edward Walsh. The Niagara River is clearly visible.

The Niagara River and Falls have been known outside of North America since the late 17th century, when Father Louis Hennepin, a French explorer, first witnessed them. He wrote about his travels in A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America (1698). ^[6]

The Niagara River was the site of the earliest recorded railway in America. It was an inclined wooden tramway built by John Montresor (1736-1799), a British military engineer, in 1764. Called "The Cradles" and "The Old Lewiston Incline," it featured loaded carts pulled up wooden rails by rope. It facilitated the movement of goods over the Niagara Escarpment in present-day Lewiston, New York.^[7]

Several battles occurred along the Niagara River, which was historically defended by Fort George (Canadian side) and Fort Niagara (American side) at the mouth of the river and Fort Erie (Canadian side) at the head of the river. These forts were important during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Queenston Heights took place near the river in the War of 1812.

The river was an important route to liberation before the American Civil War, when many African-Americans escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad crossed it to find freedom in Canada. The Freedom Crossing Monument stands on the bank of the river in Lewiston, to commemorate the courage of the escaping slaves and the local volunteers who assisted them in secretly crossing the river.

In the 1880s, the Niagara River became the first waterway in North America to be harnessed for large-scale generation of hydroelectricity.^[8]

On the Canadian side of the river the Niagara Parks Commission maintains all of the shoreline property, except the sites of Fort George and Fort Erie, as a public greenspace and environmental heritage.

Today, the river is the namesake of Niagara Herald Extraordinary at the Canadian Heraldic Authority.

Cities and settlements

Population centers along the Niagara River include:

• Buffalo, New York
• Chippawa, Ontario
• Fort Erie, Ontario
• Lewiston, New York
• Grand Island, New York (Island formed by Niagara River, in the US)
• Niagara Falls, New York
• Niagara Falls, Ontario
• Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
• North Tonawanda, New York
• Porter, New York
• Queenston, Ontario
• City of Tonawanda, New York
• Town of Tonawanda, New York
• Wheatfield, New York
• Youngstown, New York

Pollution

The Niagara River is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern in The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.

Crossings

The Niagara River has a long history of both road and rail bridges spanning the river, both upstream and downstream of the Falls. This history includes numerous bridges that have fallen victim to the harsh conditions of the Niagara Gorge, such as landslides and icepacks.

Parks

Niagara Glen features many rapids downstream of Niagara Falls

The following parks are located along the Niagara River:

• Queen's Parada Park and Memorial Park  Canada
• Fort Niagara State Park  United States
• Falkner Park  United States
• MacFarland Park  Canada
• Joseph Davis State Park  United States
• Browns Point Park  Canada
• Queenston Heights Park  Canada
• Floral Clock Park  Canada
• Earl W Brydes ArtPark  United States
• Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens  Canada
• Whirlpool State Park  United States
• Deveaux Woods State Park  United States
• Niagara Glen View Park  Canada
• Victoria Park  Canada
• Niagara Falls State Park  United States
• Dufferin Island Natural Area  Canada
• King's Bridge Park  Canada
• Nike Base Park  United States
• Sugar Bowl Park  Canada
• Bowen Road Park  Canada
• Strawberry Island State Park  United States
• Riverside Park  United States
• Beaver Island State Park  United States
• Broderick Park  United States
• Veterans Memorial Park  United States
• Fisherman's Park  United States
• Gratwick Riverside Park  United States
• Buckhorn State Park  United States
• Jayne Park  United States
• Griffon Park  United States
• A Niagara River Greenway Plan  United States is in progress

Falls

• American Falls  United States
• Bridal Veil Fall  United States
• Horseshoe Falls  Canada

Waterways

• Goat Island Channel  United States
• Niagara Gorge  United States/ Canada
• Devil's Hole Rapids  United States/ Canada
• Whirlpool Hole Rapids  United States/ Canada
• Niagara Whirlpool  Canada
• Welland River  Canada
• Tonawanda Channel  United States - flow of Niagara on the east side of Grand Island
• Chippawa Channel  Canada/ United States - flow of Niagara on the west side of Grand Island

Islands

Several islands are located on the upper river before the falls:

• Navy Island - designated as a national historic park  Canada
• Grand Island - the largest island on the river; some parks, but mostly residential and industrial; originally called Ga-We-Not (Great Island) by the Seneca Indians  United States
• Green Island - originally called Bath Island, it was renamed in the early 1900s for Niagara Reservation Commissioner Andrew H. Green  United States
• Strawberry Island - a small park  United States
• Motor Island - a small park
• Squaw Island, (Buffalo) - located in the city of Buffalo, New York and home to Broderick Park and a waste treatment facility  United States
• Tonawanda Island - occupied by marina and some industries  United States
• Buckhorn Island - park located on the north end of Grand Island  United States
• Goat Island (New York) - park located at the brink of the American Falls was named by John Stedman in the 1770s; briefly renamed to Iris Island by General Augustus Porter, a United States Commissioner (after the Greek Goddess of the Rainbow)  United States
• Three Sisters Islands - park located next to Goat Island was originally called Moss Islands and later renamed for the three daughters of War of 1812 United States Army General Parkhurst Whitney (Asenath, Angeline and Celinda Eliza) in 1843  United States
• Deer Island  United States
• Little Brother Island  United States
• Robinson Island - named for daredevil Joel Robinson in 1860  United States
• Ship Island & Brig Island  United States
• Tower Island - man-made island created in 1942 by the US Army Corps of Engineers  United States
• Gull Island  Canada
• Luna Island - park located next to Goat Island - originally called Prospect Island  United States
• Cayuga Island - located on the Tonawanda side of the river and mainly residential  United States
• Grass Island - filled in during the 1960s to create the Robert Moses Parkway at Point Day  United States
• Willow Island - man-made island created in 1759 by Daniel Joncairs and filled in during the 1960s to create the Robert Moses Parkway  United States
• Cedar Island - filled in by the creation of the William Birch Rankine Power Station by Canadian Niagara Power Company in 1905  Canada
• Hogg Island - filled in by the creation of the Chippawa - Queenston Power Canal in 1917 and finally by the Sir Adam Beck Dam # 2 in 1950 by the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario  Canada
• Dufferin Islands  Canada

Notes

References

• Tiplin, Albert H.; Seibel, George A. and Seibel, Olive M. (1988) Our romantic Niagara: a geological history of the river and the falls Niagara Falls Heritage Foundation, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, ISBN 0969045727

Further reading

• Hulbert, A. B. (1908). The Niagara River. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

See also

• List of New York rivers
• List of Ontario rivers
• Whirlpool Aero Car

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Niagara River

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Niagara.

• Niagara Photos
• Niagara River and its Around Views
• Views of the Niagara River Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.)
• Digital Images of the Islands of the Niagara River Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.)
• Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
• Niagara Falls The Islands A History of the Niagara River Islands
• Niagara River from The Canadian Encyclopedia

Coordinates: 43°04′41″N 79°04′37″W / 43.078°N 79.077°W / 43.078; -79.077

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