Barbara Raue

Niagara Falls Ontario Book 1 in Colour Photos Barbara Raue

Niagara Falls Ontario is located along the Niagara Falls waterfalls and the Niagara Gorge on the western bank of the Niagara River, which flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Niagara River flows over Niagara Falls at this location and creates a natural spectacle that attracts millions of tourists each year. Louis Hennepin, a French priest and missionary, is believed to be the first European to visit the area in the 1670s. Increased settlement in this area took place during and after the American Revolutionary War, when the British Crown made land grants to Loyalists to help them resettle in Upper Canada and provide some compensation for their losses after the United States became independent. Loyalist Robert Land received 200 acres and was one of the first people of European descent to settle in the Niagara Region. Tourism started in the early nineteenth century. The falls became known as a natural wonder, due in part to paintings by prominent American artists such as Albert Bierstadt. Niagara Falls is the self-proclaimed "honeymoon capital of the world."Niagara Falls is about 130 kilometers (81 miles) by road from Toronto, which is across Lake Ontario to the north. With a plentiful and inexpensive source of hydroelectric power from the waterfalls, many electro-chemical and electro-metallurgical industries located there in the early to mid-20th century.