Niagara County History
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Prominent as an Outpost of Empire
Niagara County’s geographic position is the reason for its geo-political prominence as an Outpost of Empires and as stage for stories that are a significant part of American history. The international Niagara River borders Canada and Western part of the county while Lake Ontario is the northern boundry. Tonawanda Creek is the Southern boundry thus suggesting a peninsula feature.
Niagara County is frequently visited by geologists seeking to aquire new knowledge about the warm ocean and glaciers that helped form water and land areas such as Niagara Falls and the Niagara County part of the Ontario Lake Plain.
Evidence of the earliest Native American civilizations is present but remains unexplained. Neuter Nation Indians living near the Niagara River were joined by the Seneca and later the Tuscarora Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. Native American history and folklore includes a tradition of holding the oldest field day in Niagara County as a celebration of and by the Native American Culture.
French exploration as early as 1615 was followed by Father De La
Roche Dallion, a Recollet missionary in 1626-1627. Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle began to work to establish a trading post that eventually became Fort Niagara.
Fort Niagara is the oldest standing structure of the explorers in Western New York. In 1678 LaSalle through Henri de Tonti constructed the ill fated barque de Griffon as the first ship to sail on the Great Lakes.
The English gained control in 1759 following their seige of Fort Niagara in 1759. English control contributed an incline rail at Lewiston and an expanded portage from the lower Niagara River to a safe river point before the Falls of Niagara. The Revolutionary war hold over period ended in 1896 when a small detachment of American troops secured control of Fort Niagara.
Niagara County suffered extensively during the War of 1812 with the burning of settlements from Lewiston to Niagara Falls by the British. Remaining “earthen works” in some communities are reminders of the setting as a series of battlegrounds. In 1817 President Monroe made a personal tour of the destruction caused during the War of 1812.
The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 prompted Lockport to become the first village in Niagara County and brought a growing number of visitors to make Niagara Falls a tourist Mecca. By 1861 Niagara County was an important terminus for the “Underground” Railway” and the majestic Falls of Niagara was a sublime image that had become an unofficial symbol for America. Following the Civil War Lockport became a successful industrial center that was a laboratory on the Canal. Nearly three hundred patents can be identified with Lockport by the turn of the century. Niagara Falls became the setting for the first state park in America as a means to preserve the natural setting from industrial development.
As a compromise to preserve nature’s gift, early power development was achieved by building the “Great Tunnel” under a new city of Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls reputation as the site of the first mass production of electricity for industrial use resulted futurists claim of “The New Niagara, Electric Metropolis of the World” as the start of a new civilization. North Tonawanda the third city of Niagara County was also formed at the end of the Nineteenth Century. North Tonawanda laid claim to being the largest lumber port in the world as well as diverse manufacturing activities.
Industrial prominence of Niagara County a result thee availability of low cost electric power, was placed in doubt in 1956 with the fall of a major power station into the Niagara Gorge. A massive construction project (that was the largest in the world at the time) was completed in 1964. Over two and one quarter million kilowatts of power were transmitted hundreds of piles away. New electric power helped to preserve the diverse Niagara County industrial base. Some industrial shifting has occurred however and Niagara County emphasizes eco-tourism as a means of serving the six to twelve million visitors to Niagara County each year. Niagara County farming thrives from a pleasant and gentle climate to be a key part of the economy.