Cataract House Park dedicated at famous Underground Railroad site

Robert Creenan, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·3 min read

Sep. 15—NIAGARA FALLS — Members of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and local leaders were on hand to rededicate Heritage Park in honor of an Underground Railroad stop that once stood there.

The newly renamed Cataract House Park lies at the site of the former Cataract House hotel, near the corner of Old Main Street and Buffalo Avenue. The dedication comes with a new marker explaining the history of the site and the hotel.

The park was originally dedicated in 2010 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Niagara Falls State Park. Mark Mistretta, the western district director for NYS Parks, said that it was meant to honor the people and events that happened during those 125 years, but a lot more important history happened at the site.

Another historic marker recognizing the Cataract House was unveiled in August 2021 by NYS Parks and the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Commission, but Mistretta said that then, some people were thinking then that they needed to rename the park.

"This piece of land really needs to recognize all the people and the events important to this area," he said.

The Cataract House was one of the largest hotels in Niagara Falls, first built in 1825 and operated by Pankhurst Whitney from 1831 after he bought it to 1845, then by his son Solon Whitney and sons-in-law James Trott and Dexter Jerauld from 1845 through the end of the 19th century. It subsequently changed hands between the Peter A. Porter family, John F. McDonald, the Union Trust Company, and the Eagle Tavern Hotel Corp.

Several additions were made to the hotel throughout the years before Niagara Reservation, which would become Niagara Falls State Park was created in 1885, which bought some property from the Cataract and removed its ballroom and drawing room. It burned down in 1945, leaving the remains to be demolished a year later.

The Cataract became a spot where many escaped slaves from the South went to on their path to freedom, with many of the African-American waiters working at the hotel helping enslaved people on their way. In 1850, more than 80% of the African-Americans working there listed their birthplaces as a southern state or unknown/unlisted.

Some famous cases of escaped slaves reaching Canada include those of Cecilia Jane Reynolds (1847), a woman named Martha (1853), and Patrick Snead (1853). John Morrison, the head waiter for the hotel, was instrumental in helping ferry those seeking freedom reach Canada. Their stories are among those featured at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center.

"The true courage of the African-American waiters here came with the conviction that all people should be free," said Sara Capen, the executive director of the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area. "That universal value of freedom was carried forward by the waiters that served at the Cataract House Hotel."

An archeological dig at the park lead by the University of Buffalo Archeological Survey, which started in 2017, revealed several structural remains from the Cataract House were discovered, with the debris telling the story of how the hotel was constructed and the daily lives of the people working and living there over it's 120-year history. The project was awarded around $250,000 this year from the National Endowment of the Humanities for the production of a book and website about the hotel.

"It's not about the building, it's about what happened in the building, and the people who make those things happen for the simple opportunity to be free" said Bill Bradberry, the chairman emeritus for the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center. "Let's pass this on to the next generation and keep moving forward."