Niagara Falls State Park Turns 125

Annie Edson Taylor

was a schoolteacher and a daredevil. On October 24th, 1901, the 63-year-old tempted fate, ensconcing herself in a wooden barrel and traveling over Niagara Falls. She survived, becoming the first to complete the journey alive. Visitors to the site this year might offer her memory a nod of respect along with the hyrdo-marvel itself--2010 marks Niagara Falls' 125th anniversary as the nation's oldest state park, entailing more than 400 acres in New York.

As North America's most powerful waterfalls, Niagara appealed to early nineteenth century businessmen who wanted to harness its energy to run factories, via waterwheels, that they built along the Niagara River and whose waste they dumped into the waterway, according to New York State Conservationist Magazine. By the 1960s, a citizen group concerned about the fall's fate formed the Free Niagara movement to save it from degradation. Led by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted--Central Park's designer--the crusaders eventually succeeded in their push for protection when the Niagara Appropriations Bill was signed into law in 1885. Its passage created the Niagara Reservation, which eventually became Niagara Falls State Park.

"Olmsted believed that parks should be places of natural beauty, where 'the masses could be renewed,'" according to the Niagara Falls State Park website. "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. Today, the park retains Olmsted's vision by staying committed to maintaining native vegetation, unparalleled vistas and access to the general public."

The Niagara River (which is actually a strait that connects lakes Erie and Ontario) ecosystems offer havens for many New York State protected species, including lake sturgeon, peregrine falcons, American bald eagles, and thousands of wintering gulls and waterfowl, notes the park website. Indeed, its birdlife led to the entire Niagara River corridor's designation as a Globally Significant Important Bird Area in 1996, making it the first internationally-recognized one in North America, according to Canada's Niagara Parks website.

Aside from its natural beauty, however, Niagara Falls continues to provide energy for hydroelectricity, providing 2.5 million kilowatts to plants in the U.S. and Canada, according to the park website. At night, the falls' flow over the precipice is reduced so that more water can be used for energy use, allowing for daytime viewing of a more robust waterfall system.

A few falls facts follow. For more, click here.

-3,160 tons of water flows over the falls every second. This accounts for 75,750 gallons of water per second over the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 681,750 gallons per second over the Horseshoe Falls.
-The water falls at 32 feet per second over the falls, hitting the base of the falls with 280 tons of force at the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 2,509 tons of force at the Horseshoe Falls.
-The Falls are capable of producing over 4 million kilowatts of electricity, which is shared by the United States and Canada.

-Four of the five Great Lakes drain into the Niagara River, (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie) before emptying into Lake Ontario. These five Great Lakes make up almost one-fifth of the world's fresh water supply.

-In November 1896, electrical power was transmitted from the Adams Power Plant in Niagara Falls, New York to Buffalo, New York. This was the first time in the world that alternating current was transmitted over a long distance.