Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the crossroads for raw materials traveling east and immigrants heading west. Buffalo be-
camethe6thbusiestportintheworldand,by1900,ithadmoremillionairespercapitathan
any other American city.
TheCanadiansideoftheborderprosperedaswell,althoughthegrowthwasmoremeas-
ured.TheWellandCanalwasbuiltasacompetitortotheErieCanal,andwasimprovedover
the years. In Niagara Falls, Canadians considered tourism to be the main industry. Amer-
icans embraced Niagara for tourism, but also fostered heavy industrialization of the area.
Both regions experienced population and economic growth through the 1950s.
THE SCHOELLKOPF POWER PLANT DISASTER
When humans try to harness the power of nature, sometimes nature strikes back. A
good example is the Schoellkopf Power Plant disaster. As you look along the U.S.
side of the gorge just north of the Rainbow Bridge, you'll see that the wall of the
gorge is interrupted by an artificial facade. It is here that the Schoellkopf Power
Plant harnessed flowing water for electricity, starting in the late 1800s. In June 1956,
the water turned the tables and caused catastrophic damage to the plant, killing one
worker.
On the day of the power plant collapse, employees noticed water leaking into
the plant along the wall adjacent to the gorge. Soon the trickle turned into a torrent
and within a few hours, a large portion of the plant was pushed from the gorge and
slid to the water below. The explosive force of the event propelled debris across the
riverandontotheCanadianshore.Fortyworkersescapedthecollapsingbuilding,but
39-year-old Richard Draper, a maintenance foreman, was not as fortunate and was
killed in the mishap. The exact cause of the disaster is still debated, although most
believe groundwater pressure or a small earthquake caused the collapse.
The United States was rocked by two events that paralyzed the economic fortunes of
Buffalo-Niagara. In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened, allowing large oceangoing
ships to bypass the port of Buffalo. Buffalo's waterfront slowly atrophied, changing from a
robust, vibrant center of trade and transport to a graveyard for massive grain silos that were
nolongerneeded.Theknockoutpunchcameintheformofthegeneraldeclineofmanufac-
turing in the United States, which was particularly acute in the Northeast during the 1970s
