Portage Falls are three large waterfalls located along the Genesee River. The falls are by the Portage Bridge and run through Letchworth State Park. William Pryor Letchworth once owned a tract and built his Glen Iris Estate in the area that is now part of the park. The town of Portage, New York and the hamlet of Portageville are nearby.
The three major waterfalls are known as the Upper ( 42°34′43″N78°02′56″W / 42.5786°N 78.0489°W ), Middle ( 42°34′59″N78°02′34″W / 42.5831°N 78.0427°W ), and Lower Falls ( 42°35′08″N78°01′13″W / 42.58565°N 78.02034°W ) and pass through Portage Canyon in the southern section of the state park. A stone bridge just below the Lower Falls is part of a trail in the park. The Middle Falls are the highest. Above the Upper Falls, an active railroad trestle passes over the gorge.
Thomas Cole painted the falls in 1839. Stereoscopic views of the falls were also created. In 1843, geologist James Hall studied the rock formations and strata in the area. His publication included hand colored drawings of the falls. [1]
A collection of stereoscopic views from 1875 in the New York Public Library's collection includes: "Views of Portage and vicinity including the Genesee River; waterfalls; wooden and iron railroad bridges, including ruins of the wooden bridge; a "canalduct" (Genesee Canal?); Genesee Valley Sand Stone quarry showing men working; Catlin House, Cascade House, and Glen Iris, including group playing croquet and a canoe in the lake; estate of Wm. P. Letchworth, which was later made into Letchworth State Park; a man sitting beside a tent, bridge beyond."
A portage is the carrying of a boat between two bodies of water to bypass an impassable stretch.
The Buffalo & New York Railroad and Erie Railroads advised passengers: "N.B. Pleasure seekers desirous of visiting Portage Falls and the High Bridge can leave Buffalo on the Lightening train at 6:15 or Mail at 9:35 A.M., and returning, leave Portage at 5:35 and arrive in Buffalo at 9:00, giving them over nine hours at Portage for the enjoyment of scenery unsurpassed in wild and picturesque beauty and sublimity." [2]
The Genesee Valley Canal was constructed to allow boat traffic to bypass the falls, [3] A 400 foot viaduct was built across the river. In 1853, a wooden bridge was constructed across the gorge.
Letchworth State Park is a 14,427-acre (5,838 ha) New York State Park located in Livingston County and Wyoming County in the western part of the State of New York. The park is roughly 17 miles (27 km) long, following the course of the Genesee River as it flows north through a deep gorge and over several large waterfalls. It is located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Rochester and 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Buffalo, and spans portions of the Livingston County towns of Leicester, Mount Morris and Portage, as well as the Wyoming County towns of Castile and Genesee Falls.
Portageville is a hamlet located in the town of Genesee Falls in Wyoming County, New York, United States. Its name derives from the Native American canoeists who would withdraw their craft from the river to avoid going over three waterfalls in the Genesee River gorge now known as Portage Falls. They had to portage several miles to the site of present-day Mount Morris, where they could embark for the rest of the journey downriver.
Mount Morris is a village in the town of Mount Morris in Livingston County, New York, United States. The village population was 2,986 at the 2010 census, out of 4,465 in the entire town. The village and town are named after Robert Morris.
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The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States.
Portage is a town in the southwest corner of Livingston County, New York, United States. The town is at the south end of Letchworth State Park. The name of the town stems from the need to portage (carry) canoes around the falls of the Genesee River. The population of Portage was 884 at the 2010 census.
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The Genesee Valley Canal is a former canal that operated in central New York between 1840 and 1878. It ran for a length of 124 miles, passing through 106 locks. Its course was later used by the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad and today comprises portions of the Genesee Valley Greenway.
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New York State Route 436 (NY 436) is an east–west state highway located in the western portion of New York in the United States. It extends for 23.80 miles (38.30 km) from an intersection with NY 39 in the Pike hamlet of Lamont to a junction with NY 36 in the village of Dansville. In between, the route passes through Letchworth State Park near its southern tip and serves the village of Nunda, where it meets NY 408. NY 436 also passes through the hamlet of Portageville, located at the southern end of Letchworth State Park on NY 19A, which NY 436 overlaps north of the community. Most of NY 436 is a two-lane highway that traverses largely rural areas of Wyoming and Livingston counties.
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William Pryor Letchworth was an American businessman notable for his charitable work, including his donation of his 1,000 acre estate to the State of New York which became known as Letchworth State Park.
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The Glen Iris Inn, William Pryor Letchworth's former home, is located on the top of a cliff overlooking Middle Falls in Letchworth State Park, New York State, USA. William Letchworth found the day-to-day operations of business burdensome and sought refuge on the site, where decided to build a home. He settled on the location while seeing it from a high railroad bridge as a tourist on an Erie Railroad passenger train, gazing at the view in what the Seneca Indians called the Sehgahunda Valley, through which the Genesee River flowed. In 1859, he purchased his first tract of land near Portage Falls.
The Genesee Arch Bridge is a steel arch railroad bridge over the Genesee River in Letchworth State Park, Livingston County, New York. It is the third bridge at this location: the original timber bridge burned in 1875 and was replaced by an iron bridge, which lasted until it was replaced by the current bridge in 2017. It carries the Southern Tier Line of Norfolk Southern Railway.