Niagara Falls, the “honeymoon capital” of the world, has been delighting tourists for hundreds of year. By the beginning of the 19th century, the natural beauty of Niagara Falls began to suffer as over-zealous industrialists built mills and factories along the Niagara River to harness its power. To make matters worse, the lands around the Falls had grown to include a pretty unsightly group of vendors and shanties housing amusements of every conceivable description. In the midst of these structures, numerous “hackmen” (carriage drivers for hire) plied their trade. The situation had become so severe that critics of the condition said that tourists to Niagara Falls were being “hacked to death.”

By the late 1860s, a small group concerned about preserving the natural beauty of the Falls founded the Free Niagara movement, which held that the Falls should be protected from exploitation and free to the public. The leader of the Free Niagara movement was America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, perhaps better known for designing New York City’s Central Park and Buffalo’s Delaware Park. Olmsted believed that parks should be places of natural beauty, where “the masses could be renewed.” This philosophy was applied throughout Niagara Falls State Park, with an entire network of footpaths through wooded areas and along the banks of the Niagara River.

Olmstead’s vision became fiat in 1865 when the state created the Niagara Reservation, the oldest state park in the United States. Today, the Niagara Reservation State Park is responsible for the care and preservation of all the land that surrounds Niagara Falls, including numerous islands, as well as the famous Prospect Point area.

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org