Dark wooded isles and vine-clad steeps
Like incense rise the clouds of spray;
Where rainbows shone at close of day,
Thy children all with hearts aflame,
Sing to thy gracious, holy name,
Ave Maria Loretto
Loretto Sisters Academy school song, written 1894
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Below: the east face of the historic Loretto Academy, overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, photo probably taken Jan.11, 1938 or soon after. The massive fire began at about 9pm on Jan.10, 1938; note ice hanging off the burned roof. The cause of the blaze was said by the Fire Marshall (but disputed by the sisters) to have been a cigarette thrown down a paper chute in the south wing, as was reported in the Niagara Falls Review on Jan.20, 1938. The North Wing (at the far right) was relatively untouched after the blaze; this was was the oldest part, built in 1879-80.
click on photos to enlarge!
above: Jun.16, 2009 - same view, the building now sits vacant on its serene lot. The roar of the Horseshoe Falls (which are literally below the front of the building, to the bottom right out of frame) mixes with the songbirds in amongst the mature trees here.What a storied history this site has had: (see here; see here)
The first Loretto Academy was opened on this site, inside a former inn, the Canada House, in Sept. 1861, when the American Civil War was just starting.
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below: photo of the Canada House, which was taken over by the sisters to become Niagara's Loretto Academy. The convent sold some of their land on the east side (facing the Falls) to the Canada Southern (later Michigan Central) railroad in 1861, using the money received to fund the construction of a new building. By 1880 this portion, the North Wing, was built. The North Wing (seen earlier above) survived the fire of Jan. 1938. (Date of below photo not known, from Francis J. Petrie collection.) I'm still unable to ascertain where exactly on the Loretto lands the Canada House stood, or when it was demolished. Note the railroad tracks running along at the bottom, in front of the fence, which indicate that the face of the Canada House as seen below (at the right) must have faced east, overlooking the Falls, with the old Erie and Ontario / Canada Southern tracks running in front of it; and that could be the original Portage Rd. as it had been before the railroad widening eliminated the road (...which Harry Oakes later rebuilt in the 1930's) seen at the bottom.
above: Jun.3, 2009 - a notice, announcing a June 8, 2009 rezoning meeting, sits by the Stanley Ave. stone gate on the west side of the Loretto Academy.Three new high rise towers (a 57 storey hotel; a 42-storey tower; and a 32-storey tower) have since been approved for this historic site by the Niagara Falls, Ont. city council. The original building is to be preserved, but to what extent - complete building including its interior, or just its east exterior facade - is unclear.
Back on Jan. 20, 2006, the Niagara Falls Review reported that the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, which sits directly next door, north of the Loretto Academy, had purchased the “rare Fallsview jewel” from the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an order of Roman Catholic nuns, for future development.
above: a photo from the Niagara Falls Review showing the proposed three buildings, set behind and beside the existing Loretto Academy building, seen at the centre bottom.*
below: Oct. 1946 - Dominion Awning Co. stood at 630 Clifton Ave. (today called Zimmerman Ave.) in the Bowen building. In the 1950's 'Ontario Aluminum Products' office and plant was located here. The building stood on the east side of of Clifton Ave., between the the Michigan Central Railroad bridge and Queen St.; today this area is the parking lot for the Happiness Inn. The part of the building seen at the left, at 618 Clifton Ave., was the Niagara Paper Box Co.
below: Photo of the first railway suspension bridge in Niagara Falls, located at the same spot where today's Whirlpool Rapids railroad bridge still is, at Bridge St. and River Rd. Date of first train to cross the bridge was Mar.8, 1855.The date of this postcard is not known.
above: The old suspension bridge was once located where the bridge at the left is seen today. This is the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge; it is still open and in daily use by both cars and trains, CN tracks are on the upper deck, below them is a road for cars. This view looks east from Niagara Falls Ont., to Niagara Falls, N.Y. The Whirlpool Rapids bridge was originally called the "Lower Arch Bridge"; its name was officially changed on Aug.4, 1937.The old Michigan Central bridge sits at the right; it is now closed, walled off, and razor wired to prevent border jumpers. At the bottom right on the U.S. side can be seen a set of three footings of the original Michigan Central Cantilever bridge, which stood at this same location. Also running along the bottom (just above the Niagara River) can still be seen the track right-of-way outline of the old Great Gorge streetcar route.
above: Same view, Sept.9, 2009; the Whirlpool Bridge is seen fully tarped under the deck, undergoing some major maintenance work.
above: ca 1899 - same view of the Whirlpool Bridge steel arch bridge, when it was being built, replacing an earlier suspension bridge. This view looks from Canada towards the U.S. Note the engineering feat, as the old suspension bridge (the towers can be seen [at right], as well as the cables) was in still place and still in use as the new steel bridge was being built from underneath up into it. The track landing alignment on both ends of the bridge did not change!
The above photo was most likely taken looking north from the track-level of the neighbouring Michigan Central Cantilever bridge. Note the MC bridge railing seen in the bottom right of the photo; and also a bit of the shadow of the MC bridge on the Niagara River, at the extreme bottom right! Note also that the streetcar tracks of the Great Gorge route are clearly seen on the U.S. side down along the Niagara River!
above: ca.1924 - this interesting view is of the second Michigan Central railroad bridge being built; this view looks west from the U.S. towards the Canadian side; in this instance, the Whirlpool Bridge is just out of frame, to the right (north). In the above photo, note that TWO bridges are seen - the older one (the Michigan Central's Cantilever Bridge) is at the far left (south), behind the new MC bridge being built.
As can be seen, the abutments of the old and the new bridges, on the Canadian side, were almost under each other; while on the American side the abutments were a bit further apart. This is because the new bridge did not exactly parallel the old bridge: on the Canadian side, the new bridge was designed to meet and align with the tracks exactly where the old one did; then, as the new bridge went towards the States, it diverged slightly to the left (north) of the original bridge.
Note in the far right distance, above, can clearly be seen the distinctive roof of the Customs and Post Office building on Park St. (click on photos to enlarge!)
below: Sept.10, 1924 - looking from Canada towards the States at the second Michigan Central bridge under construction. Note the steel girder being craned into position. Note a tiny corner of the original MC Cantilever Bridge is seen at the far right (south), showing how much further to the left (north) the new bridge was being built from the original bridge, as it landed on the U.S. side. On the Canadian side, though, the new MC bridge converged to where the old one was, aligned to meet the existing tracks.
above: Feb.15, 2009 - same view as previously above; looking east towards the States, standing just on the south side of the second MC bridge, which is seen at the left - this is the same bridge which was being built in the previous above photo. Now it sits rusting and abandoned at the left. On top of the bridge, in the upper left distance, can be seen a large razor-wired border wall.The original Michigan Central Cantilever Bridge was torn down after the newer MC bridge opened, but the Cantilever Bridge's stone landing is still clearly visible, seen in the center-right distance on the U.S. side. The earthen track-embankment behind the original bridge landing (as was seen at the upper-right side of the previous 1924 photo) has long-since been removed. A highway bridge now passes over the site in the distance. The Cantilever Bridge'a stone footings are also still visible down near the river level, as seen next below:
below: 1925 - in this great photo, workers gather at the center of the new Michigan Central Bridge, probably a celebratory photo after completion of the major steelwork. Note the rigger swinging from the crane! This photo looks southwards, most likely taken from the deck of the neighbouring Whirlpool Bridge; the Canadian side would be to the right (west). Note that there is a train in service still running on the older MC Cantilever Bridge in the background!
By 2001, after some 76 years in use, the 'new' MC bridge was closed and walled off, as the MC tracks were abandoned. I can remember when the trains regularly crossed this bridge!
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below: looking at an A and P supermarket which had stood on the west side of Victoria Ave. between Willmot St. and Morrison St., as seen in June 1976. The store would close in July 1976. This A&P opened in Oct.1946 and its storefront was remodelled in June 1968.
below: May 1977 - same view, previous A&P building remodelled; now Canada Immigration was in the back, Ceasar's Shoes was at the left and King Optical was on the right. The building burned in Jan. 1994. 
above: May 26, 2009, the lot is now vacant. Note the same building (a former CIBC bank) can be seen at the far left in all three above shots.*
below: date not known - Thompson & Norris Co; built in 1909 to produce corrugated cardboard boxes. Sold to American Can Co. in 1920 and connected to it by a skywalk for 59 years.
above: same view, Aug.31, 2009. This building is on the south side of Lewis Ave., between Centre St. and Magdalen St.*
below: 1919 - looking at a bucolic Dobbie Florists greenhouses, located on the west side of Victoria Ave., between Jepson St. and McRae St.
above: May 26, 2009 - same view, looking west from Victoria Ave.; the site is now a plaza; the church roof with the chimney (in the right rear) is visible in both above shots. Dobbie's former lot became a supermarket site (Carroll's); now seen the "old" mid-1970's building is being gutted and turned into a Shopper's Drug Mart.
above: Feb.17, 2009 - same view of plaza prior to renovation. Note same church in right rear distance. *
below: date said to be Aug. 1976 - the original framing for the building, a Miracle Mart, later becoming a Hy and Zel's. This view is looking south-west from Victoria Ave.
(I question the date of this photo as Aug.76, because in the second below photo, dated Sept.77, we see the same building under construction from another view, yet the photos claim to be a year apart. Seeing as it would not have taken a year to finish the roof, one of these dates isn't correct.
Also, it is obvious that the supposed 'Sept.77' photo is definitely older than the supposed 'Aug.76' photo, because the '77' photo shows the steel roof trusses with no deck, while the '76' photo shows the roof deck already installed!! So, again: one (or both) of these dates is wrong)
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above: May 26, 2009 - here the same steel framing is exposed again, thirty-three years later: the old facade has been fully removed, back to the original roof girders and columns.
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below: date said to be Sept. 1977 - note the barn-roofed building, seen in the centre-left distance, facing onto Victoria Ave. This view is from the rear north-west corner of the lot, looking towards Victoria Ave. in the distance.
above: May 26, 2009 - from the same viewpoint, the yellow-roofed barn-style building is still seen in the left distance - this had once been an outlet of the "Red Barn" hamburger chain. The old facade of the building at the right was entirely stripped away in 2009 and the structure was almost fully rebuilt.
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below: Aug. 2005 - Skywalker Jay Cochrane walks on a tightrope making his way towards the top of the Hilton Hotel; he walked the tightrope from the Fallsview Casino on a regular basis all summer. It was quite amazing to watch this spectacle. There was music turned up in the street below for his performance, when he was over Fallsview Blvd. the police would close the street temporarily. People at the top of the tower were there watching and waiting to greet him. Photo by R. Bobak.
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above: Jun.14, 2007 - looking at the Hilton from the north, standing on Murray St. A bit of the Fallsview Casino is seen at the left. At the bottom is seen the excavation for the new 53 storey Hilton Hotel tower; the concrete forms have just reached the sidewalk level. On this site a stand-alone Denny's had stood previously.
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below: Apr.20, 2009 - this is the same view as above, but now the building has risen way above sidewalk level. Here the new Hilton's facade is under construction. The tarp was protecting the stucco work.
above: same view, Apr.28, 2009, showing the progress on the stucco work. Older photos from the Niagara Falls Library Digital Historical collection archives. Recent photos by R. Bobak. *
I hope you enjoyed this look back at aspects of old Niagara Falls.
Thanks for visiting Right In Niagara!
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1 comments:
Excellent! Great to know some history of my locality. Helped greatly in my research. Thanks.
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