Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Frozen Niagara Falls in 1848 (Probably)

Okay! A quick and not strictly Toronto one. I posted to this to Facebook months ago, but didn't get around to sharing it here. This is Niagara Falls, frozen over. Some people say the photo was taken in 1911, but apparently, amazingly, it seems more likely that it was actually taken in 1848. An ice damn which formed at Fort Erie that year caused the flow of water over the falls to stop completely. 

Toronto, as you might imagine, has had pretty a close relationship with Niagara ever since our city was founded. Back in the days when we had less smog, you could even sometimes see the spray from the falls all the way over here. We also dammed it in the early 1900s to provide the city (and much of the province) with hydro-electric power. In fact, the whole reason Toronto was built here in the first place was to replace the original capital at Niagara-On-The-Lake. It was too close to the border with the States back in those days, when a war with the Americans was just a matter a time.

2 comments:

  1. I was wondering how that was even possible. Makes sense now reading that the flow of water was stopped to allow this to happen. Must have been a once in a lifetime occurrence. Spectacular. I shouldn't be surprised, but would you believe that the kids still prefer the Water Park in Niagara Falls over the natural wonders of a place like this. Oh, well. That's kids for ya.

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