Ithaca Falls | |
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Ithaca Falls in August 2007 | |
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Coordinates | 42°27′10″N76°29′30″W / 42.452851°N 76.4916°W |
Total height | 150' |
Number of drops | 1 |
Total width | 175' |
Watercourse | Fall Creek |
Ithaca Falls [1] is a waterfall located within the city of Ithaca, New York. It is the last of a series of waterfalls along the hanging valley formed where Fall Creek intersects the glacial trough of Cayuga Lake. The falls are in an amphitheater formed by freezing and thawing of the weak shale which makes up most of the gorge walls. The splash pool, and the creek just below the falls, are a popular spot for fly fishing.
The area around the base of the falls was owned by Cornell University for many years, before being sold to the City of Ithaca in 2000 as a part of environmental cleanup. The area has been a popular, if dilapidated, park for many years; in 2015 it was scheduled to undergo a major redesign and rebuild. [2] In June 2016, the Ithaca Common Council voted to demolish a house directly north of the falls and add the parcel to the park. [3] The city had acquired the house after the owner failed to pay property taxes.
The falls is present as the stylized "I" in the "Ithaca is Gorges" logo.
In the early 1800s, local entrepreneurs realized the economic potential of the water power provided by Fall Creek. In 1830, a young Ezra Cornell blasted a tunnel through the gorge wall just above Ithaca Falls, and built a small diversion dam to divert water to run a complex of mills next to the falls. [4] "The powerful flow of diverted water through the millrace channel around Ithaca Falls made possible the close location of mills one above another on the southern bank of Fall Creek. ... grist, plaster, oil, and woolen mills, and iron foundries were all established there. The mills processed local and imported raw materials, producing enough not only for local needs but for shipment outside the region." [5]
The industry around the falls resulted in rapid development in the area; for a time, "Fall Creek Village" was considered a separate town from the rest of Ithaca. The diversion dam above the falls remained until succumbing to natural forces sometime prior to April of 2007, when it broke where it met the north gorge wall; around the base of the falls, many ruins from the former mills still exist.
From 1880 until its closure in 1987, the Ithaca Gun Company's factory was just south of the falls. In the late 1990s, environmental testing revealed that much of the soil nearby was contaminated by lead from shotgun tests. [6] A major lead clean-up effort sponsored by the United States Superfund and the EPA took place from 2002 to 2004, [7] with some additional soil removal in 2015. [8] The building was demolished in 2009, [9] and in 2022 plans for luxury apartments on the site were announced. [10]
Ithaca is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named after the Greek island of Ithaca. As of 2020, the city's population was 32,108.
Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underutilized, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and land developers within different countries. The main difference in definitions of whether a piece of land is considered a brownfield or not depends on the presence or absence of pollution. Overall, brownfield land is a site previously developed for industrial or commercial purposes and thus requires further development before reuse.
Multnomah Falls is a waterfall located on Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. Spanning two tiers on basalt cliffs, it is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height. The Multnomah Creek Bridge, built in 1914, crosses below the falls, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ezra Cornell was an American businessman, politician, academic, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as president of the New York Agriculture Society and as a New York State Senator.
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately 149 miles (240 km) long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about 1,950 square miles (5,100 km2) of southwestern Connecticut into Long Island Sound.
Buttermilk Falls State Park is a 811-acre (3.28 km2) state park located southwest of Ithaca, New York, United States. Like Robert H. Treman State Park, a portion of the land that was to become the state park came from Robert and Laura Treman in 1924.
Taughannock Falls State Park is a 750-acre (3.0 km2) state park located in the town of Ulysses in Tompkins County, New York in the United States. The park is northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg.
Robert H. Treman State Park is a 1,110-acre (4.5 km2) state park located in Tompkins County, in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. The park is situated in the towns of Ithaca, Enfield and Newfield.
Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park is a state park in Van Buren and Bledsoe counties, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The over 30,638-acre (123.99 km2) park is centered on the upper Cane Creek Gorge, an area known for its unique geological formations and scenic waterfalls. The park's namesake is the 256-foot (78 m) Fall Creek Falls, the highest free-fall waterfall east of the Mississippi River.
The Ithaca Gun Company is a manufacturer of shotguns and rifles originally established in Ithaca, New York, in 1880.
The Cornell Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located adjacent to the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The Botanic Gardens proper consist of 25 acres (10 ha) of botanical gardens and 150 acres (61 ha) of the F. R. Newman Arboretum. The greater Botanic Gardens includes 40 different nature areas around Cornell and Ithaca, covering 4,300 acres (1,700 ha).
This is a list of trails in Ithaca, New York.
The Apsley Falls are two waterfalls on the Apsley River in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The falls are located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Walcha, and 1 kilometre off the Oxley Highway in a deep gorge, that is part of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. They are the first falls in a succession of dramatic drops in an area that has some of the most remarkable scenery in Eastern Australia. The first drop of the falls is about 65 metres (213 ft) in depth, and the second, which is about 800 metres (2,625 ft) further on, plummets 58 metres (190 ft) to the bottom of the gorge.
Ozone Falls State Natural Area is a state natural area in Cumberland County, Tennessee in the southeastern United States. It consists of 43 acres (0.17 km2) centered on Ozone Falls, a 110-foot (34 m) plunge waterfall, and its immediate gorge along Fall Creek. Because of its picturesque beauty and easy access, Disney selected Ozone Falls for scenes for their live-action film "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book". The area is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and maintained by Cumberland Mountain State Park. It is also part of Cumberland Trail State Park.
Hole-in-the-Wall Falls, also known as Warren Falls, is a 96-foot man-made waterfall on Warren Creek in Starvation Creek State Park, Hood River County, Oregon, United States. Its main drop is 60 feet. It was created in 1938 when Warren Creek was diverted through a tunnel to prevent washouts of the Columbia River Highway. The creation of the falls shut off a natural cascade known as Warren Creek Falls named after the creek that formed it.
In 1990, the Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River in southwestern Michigan was declared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be a Superfund site – in other words, an abandoned industrial site containing significant amounts of toxic waste. The EPA and companies responsible for the waste in this area, which includes a three-mile section of Portage Creek as well as part of the Kalamazoo River, into which it flows, are currently involved in an effort to reduce the amount of toxic waste at the site, which is contaminated by PCBs from paper mills and other factories.
The Poesten Kill is a 26.2-mile-long (42.2 km) creek in Rensselaer County, Upstate New York. It flows westerly from its source at Dyken Pond, located in the town of Berlin, to its mouth at the Hudson River in the city of Troy. The creek was historically used as a source of water for the local farmers and residents. During the Industrial Revolution, the creek became an important source of water power, and many mills and factories sprung up along its banks.
The Atlas Asbestos Mine Superfund Site is located within the Clear Creek Management Area near Fresno County, eighteen miles northwest of Coalinga, California. The mine started operating in 1963, covering 435 acres of a large naturally occurring asbestos deposit. The mine closed in 1979 and was placed in the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 due to the pollution of asbestos in the surrounding soil, air and water creating potential health hazards for local populations and environment.
Warren Creek Falls was a waterfall located in Starvation Creek State Park at the north skirt of the Columbia River Gorge, in Hood River County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was located in a privileged area along the Historic Columbia River Highway, where several waterfalls are located in Starvation Creek State Park, including Cabin Creek Falls, Lancaster Falls, and Starvation Creek Falls—all within 2 miles (3 km) of each other. It is frequently referred to as the name for Hole-in-the-Wall Falls, a few yards downstream of Warren Creek.
Triphammer Falls is a 55-foot (17 m) waterfall on Fall Creek in Ithaca, New York, located within the campus of Cornell University. The waterfall existed naturally but was altered substantially in order to construct a dam in the 19th century, leading to the formation of Beebe Lake. The dam is capable of regulating the water flow between 12–4,700 cubic feet (0.34–133.09 m3) per second. In 1997, a pedestrian bridge was built over Triphammer Falls to connect Central and North Campus.