Trenton Falls is a waterfall on West Canada Creek [1] in Trenton, New York. Scenic trails were developed by Brookfield Renewable Power and the Town of Trenton. The falls was and used to produce hydro generated electricity beginning in the early twentieth century, and continues to do so today.
Trenton Falls is approximately 150 feet high. It is situated on the West Canada Creek 13 miles North East of Utica, New York and flows into the Mohawk River. The limestone in the falls contains fossils, and some locals sell them to visitors. The fossils include: Concularia (an ancient “armored” jellyfish), echinoderms (spiny-skinned creatures including starfish and crinoids, or sea stars), cephalopods (shelled mollusks with squid-like tentacles), gastropods (snails), and bryozoans (tiny moss animals)." [2] Trenton Falls also has an abundance of limestone deposits. Since the late 19th century, limestone has contributed to the economy of upstate New York.
The scenic trails consist of the primary trail (stone dust), which leads tourists to the Trenton Falls Hydro Dam overlook, and the secondary trails (wood mulch), which leads tourists along the gorge. Near the dam, there is a collection of rocks in the water that is accessible to visitors by a winding trail that leads from the adjacent bridge. This specific part of Trenton Falls attracts swimmers, anglers, and photographers.
The Haudenosaunee called the falls Ka-na-ta-dork ("brown water") or Kuy-a-ho-ra ("slanting water"). [3]
In 1805, John Sherman was the first known non-indigenous person to see the falls. With funds from Joseph Bonaparte, a pathway to Trenton Falls was created. In 1822, Sherman and his collaborator, Jarvis Phelps, bought 60 acres of land from the Holland Land Company but in 1823 Phelps was bought out by Sherman and the Rural Resort was started. In 1825, the Rural Resort expanded to host overnight guests. While visiting, a tourist named Michael Moore fell into the gorge and acquired a crippling leg injury. Maria, Sherman's daughter, took care of him and In 1831, Moore and Maria were married and acquired the resort. In 1863, the United States Secretary of State, William H. Seward, held a meeting of diplomats at the Trenton Falls Hotel.
"Once a vacation spot for the country's elite, the falls were all but closed to the public for 100 years by the various power companies that used the waterway to generate electricity." [2] Utica Electric Light & Power Company received Moore's Hotel and surrounding land in 1897. Because of the creation of the hydroelectric powerhouse and the dam in 1899, the City of Utica, New York was able to receive electricity from Trenton Falls in 1901.
After the infrastructure of the Trenton Falls Hotel failed, the building was destroyed in 1945. In 1950, Niagara Mohawk Power Company bought the hydropower plant. Reconstruction of the building was completed in 1984. Orion Power bought the Niagara Mohawk hydro facilities at Trenton Falls in 1999 and in 2002, Reliant Energy joined Orion Power. In 2004, Reliant Energy hydro facilities and Trenton Falls were bought by Brascan Power, known now as Brookfield Power.
Lydia Sigourney's poem Trenton Falls was published in 1845 in her volume Scenes in my Native Land. In her accompanying notes she highly recommends paying them a visit, whilst at the same time commenting on their dangers and on those who have fallen in and died. [4]
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger suggests it is derived from a branch of the local Neutral Confederacy, referred to as the Niagagarega people on several late-17th-century French maps. George R. Stewart posits that it comes from an Iroquois town named Ongniaahra, meaning "point of land cut in two."
Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, which straddles the international border of the two countries. It is also known as the Canadian Falls. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie within the United States. Bridal Veil Falls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York.
Green Island is a coterminous town-village in Albany County, New York, United States, some 8 miles (13 km) north of Albany. Green Island is one of only five such town-village amalgamations in New York. The population was 2,934 at the 2020 census, and the ZIP code is 12183. While the town of Green Island was once an island, it was connected to the mainland on the west side of the Hudson River in the 1960s.
Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western New York, and the North Country. Major cities across upstate New York from east to west include the state capital of Albany, Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.
Watkins Glen State Park is in the village of Watkins Glen, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County in New York's Finger Lakes region. The park's lower part is near the village, while the upper part is open woodland. It was opened to the public in 1863 and was privately run as a tourist resort until 1906, when it was purchased by New York State. Initially known as Watkins Glen State Reservation, the park was first managed by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society before being turned over to full state control in 1911. Since 1924, it has been managed by the Finger Lakes Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Ball's Falls also known as Balls Mills, Louthe Mills and Glen Elgin, is a historical ghost town located in what is now a part of Jordan in the Niagara region, Ontario, Canada, which dates back to the early 19th century. It is now preserved as a conservation area operated by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
Clark Reservation State Park is a state park in Onondaga County, New York. The park is in Jamesville, NY, in the Town of DeWitt, south of Syracuse. It was the site of a large waterfall formed by melting glacial ice at the end of the last Ice Age; the plunge basin at the base of the old falls is now a small lake. James Macfarlane described the area in 1879, "On approaching the lake from the turnpike on the south side, the tourist is startled at finding himself, without any notice, on the brink of a yawning gulf, precisely like that of the Niagara River below the Falls, and nearly as deep." Clark Reservation is also noted for its many ferns; it harbors the largest population in the U.S. of American hart's tongue, which is so rare that it was declared endangered in the U.S. in 1989.
The Adirondack Railroad is a heritage railway serving the Adirondack Park that operates over former New York Central Railroad trackage between Utica and Tupper Lake. The railroad is operated by the not-for-profit Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, with train crews composed largely of volunteers.
The Niagara Parks Commission, commonly shortened to Niagara Parks, is an agency of the Government of Ontario which maintains the Ontario shoreline of the Niagara River.
The West Canada Creek is a 76-mile-long (122 km) river in upstate New York, United States. West Canada Creek is an important water way in Hamilton, Oneida, and Herkimer counties, draining the south part of the Adirondack Mountains before emptying into the Mohawk River near the Village of Herkimer. The name "Canada" is derived from an Iroquoian word for "village" (Kanata).
Cohoes Falls [Kahón:iosKanien'ké:ha for "a boat is in the water / is actively submerged"] is a waterfall on the Mohawk River shared by the city of Cohoes and the town of Waterford, New York.
The Niagara Scenic Parkway is a 16.4-mile (26.39 km) state parkway in western Niagara County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at the LaSalle Expressway on the east bank of the Niagara River in Niagara Falls. The northern terminus is at New York State Route 18 (NY 18) at Four Mile Creek State Park in Porter near Lake Ontario. Originally, the parkway was one continuous road; however, due to low usage, a portion of the parkway near Niagara Falls was removed, separating the parkway into two sections. The length of the parkway is designated as New York State Route 957A by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A 1.16-mile (1.87 km) long spur connecting the Niagara Scenic Parkway to Fort Niagara State Park near Youngstown is designated as New York State Route 958A. Both reference route designations are unsigned.
Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations are two hydroelectric generating stations in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Sir Adam Beck Generating Station I, Sir Adam Beck Generating Station II and the Sir Adam Beck Pump Generating Station are all owned by Ontario Power Generation. Following the development of several smaller generating stations around Niagara Falls in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Province of Ontario authorized the construction of the first major publicly owned generating station in the province. At the time it was built, it was the largest hydroelectric generating station in the world.
The Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power station in Lewiston, New York, near Niagara Falls. Owned and operated by the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the plant diverts water from the Niagara River above Niagara Falls and returns the water into the lower portion of the river near Lake Ontario. It uses 13 generators at an installed capacity of 2,525 MW (3,386,000 hp) with an average annual net generation of 15,897,000 MWh between 2014 and 2023, and a capacity factor of 71.9%.
John Sherman graduated from Yale College in 1793 with honors and became the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1797. During the last of his eight years at Mansfield, his evolving Unitarian doctrine conflicted with the Trinitarian beliefs of his congregation and efforts were made to dispel him.
The Mohawk and Malone Railway was a railroad that ran from the New York Central Railroad's main line at Herkimer north to Malone, crossing the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr. William Seward Webb, was president of the Wagner Palace Car Company and a Vanderbilt in-law. He began by purchasing the 3 ft narrow gauge Herkimer, Newport and Poland Railway, which ran 16 miles (26 km) from Herkimer to Poland, converting its trackage to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge, and straightening it to avoid multiple crossings of the West Canada Creek. He then had track built from Tupper Lake to Moira and thence to Malone. A separate company, the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway, completed the line to Montreal, Quebec.
Eugenia is a small community in the municipality of Grey Highlands, Grey County, in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, located just north of the community of Flesherton. An unincorporated hamlet of Artemesia Township for most of its history, Eugenia was amalgamated into the Grey Highlands in 2001. Due to nearby Lake Eugenia, Eugenia Falls, the Bruce Trail and the ski resorts of the Beaver Valley, it has become a popular tourist and cottage destination. The nearby Eugenia Power Station has the highest head of water of any hydroelectric generator in Ontario, and has provided a significant amount of electricity to the provincial grid for a century.
The former Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company Complex is located near the northern boundary of Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It is a seven-acre parcel with two brick buildings on it. In the 1880s it became the thriving resort city's first power station.
Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in Niagara Falls, New York that was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor companies efforts to construct a canal used for hydraulic mill power. In 1918, the company merged with Niagara Falls Power Company, which later became Niagara Mohawk and in 2002 was acquired by National Grid plc.
