On the bank of the powerful Niagara River, below the falls, are a series of cave-like features. They’re the remains of mid 19th century factories and their mill races that captured water at Port Day, ran it through the village of Niagara Falls and rushed it through the water wheels that generated first water power, then electric power, to facilitate the manufacturing process. Port Day, the entrance to the Hydraulic Canal, can still be found on the river, west of the parking lot for the Old Stone Chimney on the Niagara Scenic Parkway. All of the mill race tunnels are connected to a maze of passageway and piping leading to the remnants of factories on the Niagara Gorge in what is known as the Mill District.
Recently I spent a day exploring the area and searched for one of the few tunnels that remain on the cliffs, the lower building of the Cliff Paper Company. I was accompanied by a cave expert, Scott Ensminger, and a seasoned environmental scientist, Ron Walker. Prior to our visit, we had found scant research information suggesting the site was found or explored previously, and as we hiked the difficult trail we understood why.
• • •
From an American Society of Civil Engineers 1894 study by Wallace C. Johnson: “The Cliff Paper Company was powered by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company Canal and piping from the upper river, at what is known as Port Day, above the falls to this location below the falls.”
The Cliff company was the first one to use the water twice, an engineering feat. First, when came off the canal, and then again as it was piped down the steep slope to the pulp mill at the bottom. This was possible because of the development of a unique engineering process and the company’s ability to purchase the rights to the cliff face, which the other factories in the area did not have.
• • •
The Mill District area can be visited. Parking is found at the Great Lakes 360 Exhibit and Niagara Aquarium overflow parking lots and State Park parking lot No. 4, just east of the Niagara Gorge Elevator.
Used by hikers and fishermen, the elevator is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., from early May through the end of October. It takes you 190 feet down the gorge to the level of the river bank, where the Schoellkopf Power Plant collapsed in 1956. Historical information posted on a wall describes the area and the power plant. Also seen there are offices and the storage dock of the Maid of the Mist boats.
When you hit bottom in the elevator, the scale of the old Mill District is huge. You’ll see 200-foot shear cliffs with mill races carved out, large sections of the old mill buildings pushed over the hill, metal and cement covered by vegetation. It’s an abandoned industrial landscape gradually being taken over by nature.
There is only one open trail at the base of the elevator. The trail, which goes north, downriver, is well groomed, marked and an easy walk.
There is no south trail. The south is not walkable and it is dangerous. Boulders 10 to 20 feet in size, natural and man-made, block the path. There is a warning sign off to one side, battered from the rock falls, stating “Trail Ends-Stop-Danger.”
But to find the remnants of the Cliff Paper Company, and with only a c.1890 photograph to guide us, my exploration partners and I pushed forward, over stones and industrial debris all covered by a heavy growth of trees and vegetation including poison ivy.
Eventually we found some of the lower section of the four-story Cliff Paper Company building. The remains of large, heavy, metal cubes and pipes were in two rooms.
After our exploration, we visited the Niagara Falls Public Library’s local history department to double-check what we had found. With the knowledgeable help of Historical Librarian Simone Levy, we got eyes on images that verified the site and the location.
The original engineering plans indicate that the base of the Cliff Paper Company building has seven-foot-thick stone walls and the upper three floors were constructed of three feet of rock to ensure against rock falls. This is where the water would finally exit through the stone arch and discharge into the river. There was a stone tunnel built into the hillside leading to two manmade caverns, all carved of beautifully hand crafted/fitted stone.
• • •
The Mill District is a seldom visited part of Niagara Falls that’s steeped in history and worth the trip. The parks department display at the base of the Niagara Gorge Elevator provides the overall story as well as a good viewing area. You can head north (downriver) on the 0.8-mile Schoellkopf Power Station Trail, which leads to the Great Gorge Railroad Trail. For more detailed trail material, connect with the Niagara Gorge State Parks Trail site, which has an excellent map.