History
The hostel is between the old Niagara Falls gaol (jail) and the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, two landmarks in the history of U.S.-Canada relations. In the past, the building that houses the hostel has seen service as a rooming house for rail workers from both Michigan Central and CP Rail. accommodations today feature a mixture of sunny rooms, creative community members and a breeze from the nearby Niagara Gorge.
The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, commonly known as the Whirlpool Bridge or the Lower Steel Arch Bridge, is a spandrel braced, riveted, two-hinged arch bridge. It crosses the international border between Canada and the United States, connecting the commercial downtown districts of Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York. This bridge is located approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) north of the Rainbow Bridge and about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Falls. It was acquired by the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission in January 1959.
A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share bathroom and kitchen facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-income people, as rooming houses are the least expensive housing for single adults, with rents in the $300-$425 CAD range. Rooming houses are usually owned and operated by private landlords. Rooming houses are better described as a "living arrangement" rather than a specially "built form" of housing; rooming houses involve people who are not related living together, often in an existing house, and sharing a kitchen, bathroom, and in some cases a living room or dining room. While there are purpose-built rooming houses, these are rare.
Niagara Gorge is an 11 km (6.8 mi) gorge carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends at the Niagara Escarpment near Queenston, Ontario, where the Falls originated about 12,500 years ago. The Falls have receded upstream toward Lake Erie by slow erosion of hard Lockport Dolomite, combined with rapid erosion of the relatively soft layers beneath it.
Visitors can use distinctive amenities of the hostel such as an alternative library and a book exchange. The hostel has a full weekly schedule of events including jam sessions, international potluck events, New Moon meditation ceremonies, subculture sewing circles and regular demonstrations of fire spinning.
A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade dish of food to be shared.
In 2006, a new Internet cafe was installed. In March, management of the Niagara Hostel began a new initiative to improve safety for guests and employees.
The Niagara River is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the river's name. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, Niagara is derived from the name given to a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as being called the Niagagarega people on several late-17th-century French maps of the area. According to George R. Stewart, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called Ongniaahra, meaning "point of land cut in two".
The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Golden Horseshoe, Southern Ontario, Canada, lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier. The broader Buffalo Niagara Region includes the Niagara Peninsula, the Niagara Frontier, and the city of Buffalo, New York.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
The Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge, commonly known as the Rainbow Bridge, is an arch bridge across the Niagara River gorge, and is a world-famous tourist site. It connects the cities of Niagara Falls, New York, United States, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (west).
The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort is a resort casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It opened publicly on June 10, 2004. The $1 billion complex overlooks the Horseshoe Falls and is one of the most prominent features of the Niagara skyline. The site was once the transformer station building for the Ontario Power Company at the foot of Horseshoe Falls. It was also occupied by the Canadian Pacific Railway Montrose Subdivision. The complex is owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. As of June 2019, the casino's day-to-day operations are managed by Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment.
Navy Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about 4.5 km (2.8 mi) upstream from Horseshoe Falls, and has an area of roughly 1.2 km2 (0.46 sq mi). It was designated a national historic site in 1921 in recognition of its role in shipbuilding and the location of the short-lived Republic of Canada. The site is closed to the public, has no visitor facilities, and has not allowed camping since the expiration of a lease with the Niagara Parks Commission.
The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario, Canada.
Niagara Falls Marriott on the Falls is a 335 feet tall hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The hotel opened in 1993 as the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, originally with 20 floors. However, they added floors 22-31 in the year 2000. The hotel left Sheraton for Marriott in 2011. There are two rooms on the 32nd floor which are only used when the hotel has no rooms. Being one of the tallest structures in the city, it can be seen throughout the general tourist area.
The Michigan Central Railway Bridge is a steel arch bridge spanning the Niagara Gorge between Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York. The bridge is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, which purchased the single track structure in 1990. The Canadian corridor and bridge are owned by the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario. The bridge location is just upstream from the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge used by Maple Leaf Amtrak passenger trains.
Bayview Junction is a major railway junction in southern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of three of the nation's busiest rail lines and is a popular location for railfans and trainspotters.
Kenilworth Avenue is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the Kenilworth Traffic Circle and Kenilworth Access, a mountain-access road at the base of the Niagara Escarpment (mountain) and is a two-way street throughout stretching northward through the city's North End industrial neighbourhood where it then flows underneath the Burlington Street bridge and right into Dofasco's Industrial Park.
The Montrose Swing Bridge is located on the Welland River at the junction with the Queenston Power Canal in the southeast portion of the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It was built ca. 1910 to carry the Canada Southern Railway over the river. It is a two-track bridge, although only one track remains in use today. It crosses the river at roughly a 45-degree angle.
Niagara Falls is a provincial electoral division in Ontario, Canada. It was created prior to the 1914 provincial election, and has existed continuously since then.
Hilton Niagara Falls/Fallsview Hotel and Suites' North Tower is a skyscraper-style hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It was originally slated to rise 58 floors to a height of 177 metres (581 ft), but the building was subsequently reduced to 53 (claimed) floors and the new height has never been publicly released. It has however clearly surpassed the Embassy Suites as tallest building in Niagara Falls and still has more than 500 rooms. It is also the tallest hotel in Canada. The Emporis web site lists the building as having 58 structural stories while Skyscraperpage lists the building as having 47 floors. The Hilton website states the building to be a 53-story tall suite tower, but it is unknown if this takes into account mechanical levels or skipped floors. A visual floor count of the building yields only a total of 49 or 50 stories.
Queen Victoria Park is the main parkland located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada opposite the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Established by the Niagara Falls Park Act in 1885 and opened in 1888, the park is operated by the Niagara Parks Commission and is considered the centerpiece of the Niagara Falls recreational tourist area.
The Bradley Octagon House, also called the Parker Octagon House or the James Parker Octagon House, is an historic octagon house located at 5783 Summer Street in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
The Niagara Falls Country Club, located at 505 Mountain View Drive, is an exclusive country club and golf course located in the Lewiston Heights neighborhood of Lewiston, New York, just outside Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Falls Marriott on the Falls is a 197 feet tall hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The hotel opened in 1998 with over 20 room floors, as well as three additional levels for Spa, Lobby, and Restaurant/Mezzanine. The addition of a second tower section in the year 2002 increased the number of rooms by 185 across 14 guest floors in a 17 story structure.
The International Control Dam, also known as the International Control Structure, operated by Ontario Power Generation, is a weir that controls the water diversions from the Niagara River and dispatches the water between the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation in accordance with the terms of the 1950 Niagara Treaty. It was completed in 1954.
