Top 10 Places to See While in Niagara Falls (NY)

          I know this post is a day late, instead of being posted on a Tuesday it is being posted technically on a Wednesday. The reason for this is…, well I’ll get much more into detail about that this weekend coming up. This upcoming post will also deal with why there was no post this past Friday and Sunday. Nevertheless I digress; last week I provided a top ten list of the places to see while in Niagara Falls, Ontario and this week we’re continuing that top ten list but this time just south of the border. Below you will find my top ten places to see while in Niagara Falls, New York. If you agree or not, have been to some of these or would like to go please leave me a comment, it will be much appreciated.

- Salbro

Top 10 Places to See While in Niagara Falls, New York

10. AMERICAN FALLS

          The American Falls is one of three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada-US border. Unlike the much larger Horseshoe Falls, of which two-third of the falls is located in Ontario and one-third in New York State, the American Falls is completely within the US state of New York.


09. UNITED OFFICE BUILDING

          United Office Building is an art deco skyscraper located in Niagara Falls, NY, at 220 Rainbow Boulevard. Designed by architect James A. Johnson and completed in 1929 on the eve of the Great Depression, the building is one of the most important landmarks in downtown Niagara Falls. Constructed of steel and brick with a terra cotta façade, the building’s art deco elements of sculpture and pressed terra cotta brick are in a Mayan style. At 20 stories, it was the tallest building in Niagara Falls until 2005 when it was surpassed in height by the nearby Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel. The top floors offer spectacular views of the American and Horseshoe Falls and Niagara Falls. The building now contains twenty-seven upscale apartments, some office space and a thirty-eight-room luxury boutique hotel called The Giacomo. The building was nominated in 2005 for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places because of its historical and architectural importance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

08. GOAT ISLAND

          Goat Island, previously called Iris Island, is a small island in the Niagara River located in the middle of Niagara Falls between the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. It has no residents but is a popular destination for tourists visiting the falls on the US side; it offers some of the most spectacular views available there, in particular at Terrapin Point. Goat Island is connected to the US mainland by two bridges carrying foot, car and trackless train traffic, and to the smaller Luna Island, adjacent to the American Falls, by a pedestrian bridge.

07. PROSPECT POINT PARK OBSERVATION TOWER

          The Prospect Point Park Observation Tower is located in Niagara Falls, New York, and just east of the American Falls. The tower stands at two hundred eighty-four feet with the base at the gorge level and visitors entering at the ground level from Prospect Park. The Maid of the Mist loads at the base of the tower.

06. HYDE PARK

          Hyde Park is a municipal park in Niagara Falls, New York. It is the largest city park in New York outside of Manhattan and is located along Hyde Park Boulevard (NY 61). The park contains a golf course, bocce, lawn bowling, tennis and baseball. It is the site of Sal Maglie Stadium. The park also features picnic pavilions, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the rose garden, Hyde Park Lake and the Hyde Park Ice Pavilion.

05. DAREDEVIL MUSEUM

          Step into the barrels and floatation contraptions of Niagara Falls most famous and infamous stunt attempts at the Daredevil Museum of Niagara Falls on the New York side of the border. This exciting museum chronicles the sometimes deadly, sometimes heroic feats that have been attempted at Niagara Falls and includes some incredible artefacts. Visitors to this free museum will see the inner tube-wrapped barrel used by Steven Trotter in 1985, as well as the contraption used by Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery James Petkovich in the first successful duo descent in 1989. Photos, descriptions and artefacts of other stunts, including the first successful barrel attempt by schoolteacher Annie Taylor in 1901, are also featured. Visitors will view artefacts and information about Robert Overcracker, who unsuccessfully attempted to tackle the falls on a Jet Ski, and Kirk Jones, who went over the falls with nothing but the clothes on his back, plus many, many more.

04. CAVE OF THE WINDS TOUR

          The Cave of the Winds was a natural cave behind Bridal Veil Falls at the Niagara Falls. Guided tours began officially in 1841 and continued until a rock fall in 1920 made it clear the passage was no longer safe. The tour officially reopened in 1924, now bringing visitors to the front of the Bridal Veil instead of behind it, on a series of decks and walkways. The cave was obliterated in a massive 1954 rock fall and subsequent dynamiting of a dangerous overhang. Today, the “Cave of the Winds” is the name of a tourist attraction near the same site. An elevator takes people from the area between the American and Canadian Falls down to the level of the Niagara River at the base of the American Falls. A series of redwood decks and platforms allow sightseers to walk right up to the base of the Bridal Veil Falls with water crashing right down on them and flowing beneath the decking.

03. SENECA NIAGARA CASINO AND HOTEL

          Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel is a casino located in Niagara Falls, New York, and was built to compete with Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was formerly the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center. The casino floor has an area of 147,000 square feet (13,700 meters squared) with ninety-nine gaming tables and 4,200 slot machines. It is the largest hotel in New York outside of Manhattan.

02. AQUARIUM OF NIAGARA

          The Aquarium of Niagara Falls opened as a privately owned corporation on June 12, 1965. Constructed in an area with both high visitation and historical dependency on the natural resources of the Great Lakes, the Aquarium served students, scientists and visitors from throughout the region. The Niagara Aquarium Foundation, Aquarium of Niagara, is committed to carrying on the institution’s tradition of education, research, and wildlife conservation. The primary purpose of the Aquarium of Niagara is to create a greater awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the aquatic world.

01. MAID OF THE MIST

          The Maid of the Mist is a boat tour of Niagara Falls. The boats, each named Maid of the Mist with a Roman numeral, start off at a calm part of the Niagara River, near the Rainbow Bridge, and take its passengers past the American and Bridal Veil Falls, then into the dense mist of spray inside the curve of the Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls. The tour is available starting from either the Canadian or American side of the river, returning to the starting point in each case.