Monday, May 12, 2008

Niagara Falls, then and now: old downtown

(click on photos to enlarge!)
Below: Looking east along Bridge St., towards Erie St., at a parade, ca.1919 or 1925. (NFLA) The Grand Trunk railway station is on the left, the Hotel Trennick is on the right. Note the tracks (railway or streetcar??) on the south (Bridge St. side) of the station.
Above: same view, Sept.14, 2007, by R. Bobak; the VIA station on the left is still in service; the yellow-bricked (former Trennick) Europa hotel on the right has been vacant for years. The streetcar tracks are long gone from this wide boulevard.
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Below: Looking under Michigan Central railway bridge towards Bridge St. and the Whirlpool bridge, seen in the distance, Sept.20, 1927. (NFLA) In the foreground is the International Railway station for the Great Gorge streetcar route. Tracks used the two east sections under the bridge, River Rd. ran under the west section.

Above: Same view, May 6, 2008, looking north along River Rd. under the now-abandoned Michigan Central railway bridge. Where the streetcar tracks once were, to the right, is now an entrance lane for cars entering the Whirlpool bridge to cross the border into the United States.

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