Niagara Falls is a place your grandparents probably remember fondly. For nearly 100 years, it was pegged as "The Honeymoon Capital of the World," according to Niagara Falls Tourism, a vacation destination for thousands of station wagon-driving families. Then, sometime about 50 years ago, it fell off the cultural map completely.
Today, Niagara Falls, New York is more like a Little Detroit, or Newark on the Niagara. It's a depressed and deeply weird place, a long-forgotten 20th century ghost town sharing a name with a city across the border that operates like a year-round carnival. Oh, and it still borders a natural wonder of the world.
Route 104 is the old highway connecting the city to the rest of the Northeastern US, and as you drive in, the cornfields and dairy farms become increasingly interrupted by abandoned motels and ancient gas stations. You enter Niagara Falls through a stretch of ruined factories and empty lots that go on for entire city blocks. But, as you begin to explore the neighborhoods, little houses jump out that could only exist in places of near-anarchy. Customized little houses that gleam like jeweled gingerbread houses stand out amid the decay and let you know that falls aside, this place is different.
Tourists have been visiting the area since Napoleon’s brother had his honeymoon there, and because of the incredible power generated by the water, industry sprang up almost immediately. By the late 19th century, the area was an industrial power, and the falls were quickly becoming one of the first tourist attractions in the United States. The railroad companies advertised it as a honeymoon and vacation attraction, then struggled to keep up with the demand as people flocked by the thousands. By the '60s, the industry had crashed, the city fell into a depression, and the tourists began to leave. Today, tourism is confined to a few blocks on the American side. The Canadian side, however is a different story.
Niagara Falls, Canada is a tourist boom town and almost taunts the American side with its affluence. Behind the impossibly gorgeous Queen Victoria Park is a squeaky-clean Canadian version of Atlantic City. It’s stuffed with hotels, casinos, and blocks of family-friendly tourist traps. By early evening, it’s so clogged with tourists walking around that its difficult to drive through. Despite the bustle of the Canadian side and the blight of the American side, the true star here is still the falls.
Seeing Niagara Falls up close (and you are very close) helps you understand what has drawn explorers, artists, and lovers here for centuries. The falls are impossibly beautiful and massive, for one. They have an almost hypnotic power that draws you to them, and stays with you long after you leave. The mist keeps the parks around it in perpetual state of light rain, and on a sunny day, a rainbow rises out of the gorge that’s almost too crisp to be real. It wouldn’t be a good place to honeymoon, but go see Niagara falls, and you’ll remember it as fondly as your grandparents did.
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Nigara Falls, the Canada side, is a tourist boom town (and great spot for an ice bucket challenge). Photos by James Derek Sapienza
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Seeing Niagara Falls up close (and you are very close) helps you understand its draw.
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Stacks on stacks on stacks![]()
Tourists have been visiting the area since Napoleon’s brother had his honeymoon there.
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Today, Niagara Falls, New York is more like a Little Detroit, or Newark on the Niagara. It's a depressed and deeply weird place, a long-forgotten 20th century ghost town sharing a name with a city across the border that operates like a year-round carnival. Oh, and it still borders a natural wonder of the world.
Route 104 is the old highway connecting the city to the rest of the Northeastern US, and as you drive in, the cornfields and dairy farms become increasingly interrupted by abandoned motels and ancient gas stations. You enter Niagara Falls through a stretch of ruined factories and empty lots that go on for entire city blocks. But, as you begin to explore the neighborhoods, little houses jump out that could only exist in places of near-anarchy. Customized little houses that gleam like jeweled gingerbread houses stand out amid the decay and let you know that falls aside, this place is different.
Tourists have been visiting the area since Napoleon’s brother had his honeymoon there, and because of the incredible power generated by the water, industry sprang up almost immediately. By the late 19th century, the area was an industrial power, and the falls were quickly becoming one of the first tourist attractions in the United States. The railroad companies advertised it as a honeymoon and vacation attraction, then struggled to keep up with the demand as people flocked by the thousands. By the '60s, the industry had crashed, the city fell into a depression, and the tourists began to leave. Today, tourism is confined to a few blocks on the American side. The Canadian side, however is a different story.
Niagara Falls, Canada is a tourist boom town and almost taunts the American side with its affluence. Behind the impossibly gorgeous Queen Victoria Park is a squeaky-clean Canadian version of Atlantic City. It’s stuffed with hotels, casinos, and blocks of family-friendly tourist traps. By early evening, it’s so clogged with tourists walking around that its difficult to drive through. Despite the bustle of the Canadian side and the blight of the American side, the true star here is still the falls.
Seeing Niagara Falls up close (and you are very close) helps you understand what has drawn explorers, artists, and lovers here for centuries. The falls are impossibly beautiful and massive, for one. They have an almost hypnotic power that draws you to them, and stays with you long after you leave. The mist keeps the parks around it in perpetual state of light rain, and on a sunny day, a rainbow rises out of the gorge that’s almost too crisp to be real. It wouldn’t be a good place to honeymoon, but go see Niagara falls, and you’ll remember it as fondly as your grandparents did.
Nigara Falls, the Canada side, is a tourist boom town (and great spot for an ice bucket challenge). Photos by James Derek Sapienza
Seeing Niagara Falls up close (and you are very close) helps you understand its draw.
Stacks on stacks on stacks
Tourists have been visiting the area since Napoleon’s brother had his honeymoon there.
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