NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
PHOTOGRAPHERS' WINTER PARADISE
NIAGARA, ICE AND THE STEREOVIEW
Niagara Falls is the single most photographed natural wonder in the United States and it was also the most stereophotographed. F. and W. Langenheim were the first, producing glass and salt print stereoviews of Niagara Falls in the 1850's. By 1860, Niagara had six permanent photographic galleries established to cater to tourist demand. These belonged to: P. D. Babbitt, S.J. Mason, J. McPherson, J.J. Reilly, James Thompson and S. Davis. In the early 1860's, more photographers relocated to Niagara Falls, among them George Barker, Charles Bierstadt and Thomas Barnett. Around 1870, they were joined by George F. Curtis, O. B. Evans, and L.F. Clegg. (And this was just the local talent!). Many other major American stereophotogrpahers also photographed Niagara Falls, among them, Anthony, Barnum, Heywood, Kilburn, Chase, Moulton and Soule and Singley.
Niagara's photographers loved to document the change of seasons around the Falls and no season afforded them such dramatic effects as winter. The following is taken from the write up on the back of a Keystone Card, copyright 1899, of the "Ice Palace, Niagara Falls, U. S. A."
"When the glorious flood of Niagara is subject to the congealing forces of winter, there are on every hand magnificent emblems of its powerful majesty, which, though of a different type from the sweeping mass of water tossed upon the rocks midst clouds of spray, only add to the grandeur of the great cataract. The vast accumulations of ice at the base of the Falls called the White Mountains and near by the ice bridge extending across the channel, bear witness to the immense volume of water that is constantly pouring over the rocky precipice. Of these huge masses of ice, man has made a quarry for securing the crystal cubes with which to construct the Ice Palace, which is one of the many beautiful attractions of Niagara in the winter season."
AND HERE ARE THE VIEWS!
