1.
American Falls
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The American Falls is one of three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–U. S. The falls receive approximately 10% of the flow from Niagara River, with most of the rest going over Horseshoe Falls and it has a straight line crest width of about 830 feet. If measured along the lip of the falls, the crest is about 950 feet long. The torrent of water passing over the crest of the falls is about 2 feet deep, the height of the American Falls ranges between 70 to 110 feet. This measurement is taken from the top of the Falls to top of the rock pile, the height of the Falls from the top of the Falls to the river is 188 feet. The falls are viewable from an angle on the American side. The falls are viewable head-on from the Canadian side in Niagara Falls, the ledge of the American Falls is shaped in a modified W form, caused by numerous rock falls over the past 150 years which have resulted in the huge mound of rock at its base. The most notable recent rockfall occurred in 1954 with the collapse of Prospect Point to the north, results conflict as to whether tourist attendance that season was higher or lower than normal. Attendance increases were due to the news that the cataract was dried off. By December 1969, water was flowing over the American Falls again, in the mid‑1970s, it was decided not to make alterations to the rockwall and remove the talus, citing the trend to allow nature to take its course. A review of the official U. S. Geological Survey map for Niagara Falls confirms that about one-third of Horseshoe Falls lies in U. S. territory, the two other named falls encompassing Niagara Falls lie completely within U. S. territory. Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections Art works in the collection of the Niagara Falls Public Library Dewatering timeline
2.
Horseshoe Falls
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Horseshoe Falls, also known as Canadian Falls, is part of Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for hydropower generation, the remaining 10% flows over American Falls. It is located between Terrapin Point on Goat Island in the US state of New York, and Table Rock in the Canadian province of Ontario, in 1955 the area between the rocks and Goat Island was filled in, creating Terrapin Point. In the early 1980s the United States Army Corps of Engineers filled in land and built diversion dams. Altogether 400 feet of the Horseshoe Falls was eliminated, due to erosion, the falls will continue to move in relation to the boundary line in the future. The official national maps for both Canada and the United States indicate that a portion of the Horseshoe Falls is located within the United States
3.
State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
4.
Niagara Falls, New York
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Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 50,193. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, the city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Western New York region. While the city was occupied by Native Americans, Europeans who migrated to the Niagara Falls in the mid-17th century began to open businesses. After the 1960s, however, the city and region witnessed an economic decline consistent with the rest of the Rust Belt as industries left the city, globalization has played a large role in the decline of manufacturing in the city. Despite the decline in industry, Niagara Falls State Park. The population, however, has continued to decline from a peak of 102,394 in the 1960s due to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the area, before Europeans entered the area, it was dominated by the Neutral Nation of Native Americans. European migration into the area began in the 17th century, the first recorded European to visit the area was Frenchman Robert de la Salle, accompanied by Belgian priest Louis Hennepin, who was the first known European to see the falls. The influx of newcomers may have been a catalyst for already hostile native tribes to turn to warfare in competition for the fur trade. The City of Niagara Falls was incorporated on March 17,1892 from the villages of Manchester and Suspension Bridge, thomas Vincent Welch, a member of the charter committee and a New York state assemblyman and a second-generation Irishman, persuaded Governor Roswell P. Flower to sign the bill on St. Patricks Day, george W. Wright was elected the first mayor of Niagara Falls. By the end of the 19th century, the city was an industrial area. In 1927, the city annexed the village of La Salle from the Town of Niagara, the village was named for the French explorer Robert de la Salle. who built his ship, the Griffon, on the shores of the Niagara River five miles east. Industry and tourism grew steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century due to a demand for industrial products. Paper, rubber, plastics, petrochemicals, carbon insulators and abrasives were among the major industries. This prosperity would end by the late 1960s as aging industrial plants moved to less expensive locations, in addition, the falls were incompatible with modern shipping technology. In 1956, the Schoellkopf Power Plant on the river just downstream of the American Falls was critically damaged due to a massive collapse of the Niagara Gorge wall above it. This prompted the planning and construction of one of the largest hydroelectric plants to be built in North America at that time, causing an influx of workers
5.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
8.
Frederick Law Olmsted
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Frederick Law Olmsted was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, in Washington, D. C. he worked on the landscape surrounding the United States Capitol building. The quality of Olmsteds landscape architecture was recognized by his contemporaries and his work, especially in Central Park in New York City, set a standard of excellence that continues to influence landscape architecture in the United States. Olmsted was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on April 26,1822 and his father, John Olmsted, was a prosperous merchant who took a lively interest in nature, people, and places, Frederick Law and his younger brother, John Hull, also showed this interest. His mother, Charlotte Law Olmsted, died before his fourth birthday and his father remarried in 1827 to Mary Ann Bull, who shared her husbands strong love of nature and had perhaps a more cultivated taste. When the young Olmsted was almost ready to enter Yale College, after working as an apprentice seaman, merchant, and journalist, Olmsted settled on a 125-acre farm in January 1848 on the south shore of Staten Island NY, which his father helped him acquire. This farm, originally named the Akerly Homestead, was renamed Tosomock Farm by Olmsted and it was later renamed The Woods of Arden by owner Erastus Wiman. On June 13,1859, Olmsted married Mary Cleveland Olmsted, Daniel Fawcett Tiemann, the mayor of New York, officiated the wedding. He adopted her three children, John Charles Olmsted, Charlotte Olmsted and Owen Olmsted, Frederick and Mary had two children together who survived infancy, a daughter, Marion and a son Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Their first child, John Theodore Olmsted, was born on June 13,1860, Olmsted had a significant career in journalism. In 1850 he traveled to England to visit gardens, where he was greatly impressed by Joseph Paxtons Birkenhead Park. He subsequently wrote and published Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England in 1852 and this supported his getting additional work. Interested in the economy, he was commissioned by the New York Daily Times to embark on an extensive research journey through the American South. His dispatches to the Times were collected into three volumes which remain vivid first-person social documents of the pre-war South. A one-volume abridgment, Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom, was published during the first six months of the American Civil War at the suggestion of Olmsteds English publisher. To this he wrote a new introduction in which he stated explicitly his views on the effect of slavery on the economy and my own observation of the real condition of the people of our Slave States, gave me. He argued that slavery had made the slave states inefficient and backward both economically and socially, the citizens of the cotton States, as a whole, are poor. They work little, and that little, badly, they earn little, they sell little, they buy little and their destitution is not material only, it is intellectual and it is moral
9.
Grover Cleveland
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Stephen Grover Cleveland was an American politician and lawyer who was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was also the first and to date only President in American history to serve two terms in office. Cleveland was the leader of the pro-business Bourbon Democrats who opposed high tariffs, Free Silver, inflation, imperialism and his crusade for political reform and fiscal conservatism made him an icon for American conservatives of the era. Cleveland won praise for his honesty, self-reliance, integrity, and he fought political corruption, patronage, and bossism. As a reformer Cleveland had such prestige that the wing of the Republican Party, called Mugwumps, largely bolted the GOP presidential ticket. As his second administration began, disaster hit the nation when the Panic of 1893 produced a national depression. It ruined his Democratic Party, opening the way for a Republican landslide in 1894 and for the agrarian, the result was a political realignment that ended the Third Party System and launched the Fourth Party System and the Progressive Era. Cleveland was a formidable policymaker, and he also drew corresponding criticism, critics complained that Cleveland had little imagination and seemed overwhelmed by the nations economic disasters—depressions and strikes—in his second term. Even so, his reputation for probity and good character survived the troubles of his second term, biographer Allan Nevins wrote, n Grover Cleveland, the greatness lies in typical rather than unusual qualities. He had no endowments that thousands of men do not have and he possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not, today, Cleveland is considered by most historians to have been a successful leader, generally ranked among the second tier of American presidents. Stephen Grover Cleveland was born on March 18,1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey to Richard Falley Cleveland, Clevelands father was a Presbyterian minister who was originally from Connecticut. His mother was from Baltimore and was the daughter of a bookseller, on his fathers side, Cleveland was descended from English ancestors, the first of the family having emigrated to Massachusetts from Cleveland, England in 1635. On his mothers side, he was descended from Anglo-Irish Protestants and he was distantly related to General Moses Cleaveland, after whom the city of Cleveland, Ohio, was named. Cleveland, the fifth of nine children, was named Stephen Grover in honor of the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell and he became known as Grover in his adult life. In 1841, the Cleveland family moved to Fayetteville, New York, neighbors later described him as full of fun and inclined to play pranks, and fond of outdoor sports. In 1850, Clevelands father took a pastorate in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, despite his fathers dedication to his missionary work, the income was insufficient for the large family. Financial conditions forced him to remove Grover from school into a mercantile apprenticeship in Fayetteville
10.
Thomas Vincent Welch
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Thomas Vincent Welch was a New York State Assemblyman and served as the first Superintendent of the New York State Reservation at Niagara, holding the post for 18 years. As a member of the New York State Assembly, Welch was a key player in the efforts to acquire the lands adjoining Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls, New York was not always as we know it today. In the mid-19th century, heavy industries and mills crowded the shoreline near the falls and these mills charged fees for visitors to view the falls, which were largely obstructed. A group of concerned citizens, politicians, and architects - including T. V. Welch - started the Free Niagara movement. When the bill making Niagara Falls free was signed on April 30,1885, Thomas Vincent Welch was born in Camillus, Onondaga County, New York, the third of six children of Thomas and Honora Welch, both Irish immigrants. His parents originally immigrated to Canada and were married in Cornville, Ontario on Aug.31,1842, sometime after his birth in 1850, his parents moved to the Niagara Falls area along with his two brothers - Edward and John. A sister born in 1848, Honora, died when she was eight months old, once in the Niagara Falls area, however, his parents had two more children, Ellen in 1852 and Anne in 1856. He was educated in the schools in Niagara Falls and at an early age was employed at the New York Central Railroad Company as timekeeper in the shops in the village of Niagara Falls. In 1873 he was promoted to be freight agent of the Central Railroad there, in 1876 he left the railroad and went into the mercantile business. The firm of Welch & Ryan sold cloth, clothing, coats, carpets, underwear and hosiery, on Sept.15,1888 however an announcement ran stating the business would become H. E. Slocum & Co. with the retirement of Michael Ryan, the business would close and reopen on Oct.6,1888 under the new name. T. V. Welch remained a partner in the H. E, in public affairs, from 1873 to 1874 he was clerk of the village of Niagara Falls, and in 1875–6 he was a village trustee. In 1876,1877 and 1878 he was elected Supervisor of the town of Niagara, in the town election on April 11,1876, Welch ran for Supervisor of the Town of Niagara against O. W. In an election during which all of the voters of the town came out…”. The election of Welch prompted the editors of the Niagara Falls Gazette to write, “In the election of Thos. He is a strictly temperate young man, belongs to no rabble, and has an excellent reputation to be maintained. ”Welch went on to meet these expectations, in 1878 Welch was further chosen as chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the County of Niagara. The Suspension Bridge Journal noted that, “… deserves it, above all he has been with, of, and for the people of this town in the struggle to prevent the usurpation of their rights in this police matter. The New York state election,1881 held on November 8, Thomas V. Welch was elected in a majority to Member of the New York State Assembly from Niagara, second district and would go on to serve in the 105th, 106th and 107th New York State Legislatures
11.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
