Niagara Falls- A Disappointing Jewel

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About the Collection

This exhibition is about the tourist experience in the 19th century visiting Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls has and still is a giant tourist playground that attracts millions of people every year.

In the 19th century, Niagara Falls was the honeymoon hotspot for many couples across North America and Europe. In some of the images, there are mostly only couples and the families that people see more of today. The Falls is still considered a place for a ‘romantic getaway’, but it’s grown to be more family friendly as the years passed.

Niagara in general for its aesthetic (Dubinsky, 1999). This was in part of Niagara Falls’ popularity among tourists and newlyweds. It also became destinations for royalty and public figures, ranging from the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall to Theodosia Burr and her husband. Despite how enchanting and amazing Niagara seemed to tourists, they were sadly disappointed upon their visit to the region. Many visitors to the Falls would actually go just to say that it was disappointing (Dubinsky, 1999). Guidebooks were marketed to tourists, claiming that they wouldn’t be disappointed if they followed their guide. Not all visitors were disappointed by Niagara Falls, such as British writer Harriet Martineau. She initially expected to be disappointed due to word of mouth and fortunately, she wasn’t!

Nature tourism gained its popularity in the 19th century but it wasn’t marketed until the 20th century by the Ontario government. As with most of the images in this collection, they’re centered around the landscape of the Falls. These images are what helped to build the culture around the Niagara Parks we see today. The manicured lawns, perfectly trimmed trees and immaculate gardens add to the world’s view of Niagara and the Falls. Here in these images, there is the raw nature of the land.

As with the commercialization of the Falls, there is little left of the nature that has been left untouched. Once the amount of visitors to the falls increased, the image of Niagara Falls had to go through a makeover, such as Paris from 1853-70. The map of plans for the Niagara Parks created in 1885 that outlines this revamp of the land.

Along with plans to makeover Niagara Falls, came more events that attracted visitors. An example would be Henry Bellini, an English daredevil that attempted to cross the falls on a tightrope in 1873 (History of Niagara Falls Daredevils - Henry Bellini, n.d.). He wasn’t the first to cross, and was inspired by a few others that came before him. Several other daredevils followed after Bellini, the most recent being 2019.

Paired with the violent nature beneath the manicured lawns and famous daredevil stunts, Niagara Falls made Niagara interesting. Canada had a reputation as a boring destination and the new tourist experience of the Falls changed that. An unknown visitor in 1870 quotes, “What pyramids are to Egypt… so is Niagara to North America” (Dubinsky, 1999). Niagara Falls continues to change and shape how the region is viewed, a balance between raw nature and man-made attractions for the world to see.

Works Cited

Dubinsky, K. (1999). The second greatest disappointment: honeymooning and tourism at Niagara Falls. Retrieved from https://hdl-handle-net.proxy.library.brocku.ca/2027/heb.06230.

History of Niagara Falls Daredevils - Henry Bellini. (n.d.). Niagara Falls Info. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/henry-bellini/

Brock University Digital Repository, https://dr.library.brocku.ca/browse?value=web%2Barchives&type=subject.