Niagara Falls

Once a place sacred to the Iroquois, Niagara Falls over the last 200 years has been exploited by profiteers, protected by preservationists, harnessed for mechanical power, and reincarnated into the honeymoon capital of the world. Today, fifteen million people travel to Niagara Falls from all over the globe each year to experience the sight and sound of 700,000 gallons of water crashing over the edge every second. Paralleling a national PBS program, this book celebrates the Falls and examines human progress - and folly - on a grand scale. Through pictures and words, it weaves together the contemporary Niagara story with the immense history of this legendary natural wonder. Niagara was the first great North American tourist destination, but by the mid-1800s it had become a place of carnival side shows and tacky amusements. Later, preservationists such as Frederick Law Olmstead made it the first publicly funded nature reserve, and engineers such as Westinghouse, Edison, and Tesla discovered how to use its energy for electricity. These and other historical elements form the backdrop of the modern-day Niagara saga.
Interviews with people who work at the falls today offer fascinating glimpses into the life behind the legend. Readers meet light show engineers, Maid of the Mist captains, wedding chapel ministers, and historians, who know all the great tales of tightrope walkers and people going over the falls in a barrel. The book features stunning images of the falls in every season - from misty rainbows in springtime to fifty-foot ice "sculptures" in winter - and photos of contemporary wirewalkers, mist-drenched tourists, and honeymooners of all nationalities. Also included are remarkable archival images and newsreel stills that illuminate our past relationship with this amazing natural wonder. "Niagara Falls" will air on PBS stations across the United States in May 2006.