Niagara Falls - Unity Island

About half a mile (800m) past the crest of Horseshoe Falls is the wreck of a barge that in 1918 was part of dredging operations. It was being towed when the rope snapped from the tug and the barge drifted out of control with two men on board. It eventually became grounded on a rock shoal.

Rescue was mighty difficult. Boats could not enter the area as it was too close to the edge of the Falls, until an army truck arrived and shot a rope to the barge from the Toronto Power House. The two men began the arduous task of winding the rope to the barge, whilst onshore more than 100 men were battling the raging river trying to extract the rope in the water that was being pulled downstream. Once the rope was secured, a breeches buoy (rope-based rescue device) was attached. As it was sent towards the barge, it got caught partway due to the rope tangling. Local daredevil William “Red” Hill Sr, volunteered to cross the rope hand over hand and attempt to untangle it and release the buoy. It took several hours between Hill and the two men on the barge, now weakened by exposure and hunger, to complete the task. Nineteen hours later both men were successfully rescued.

Continuing along the parkway, I reached the International Railway Bridge, a two-span swing bridge that crossed Niagara River, connecting Canada with the United States via Unity Island. Built in 1873, it continues to be in operation today, with approximately 15 trains per day passing through. The bridge used to have a pedestrian walkway originally but it was removed in 1900, following expansion works.

Unity Island is a 160-acre (0.65km²) island with two parks and a water treatment facility. Once owned by Seneca people (indigenous people of southern Ontario), the island was gifted, then sold and finally transferred into public ownership.

At the southern end of the island is Broderick Park, which during the early 19th century was used as a crossing point of the Underground Railroad into Canada. The Underground Railroad was a series of safe houses that helped runaway slaves reach freedom in the northern United States and Canada.

Attached to Broderick Park was the Bird Island pier, a narrow mile long (1.6km) walkway built through the middle of the Niagara River. The pier once used to connect to Bird Island, a small rock formation which has since disappeared as the rock was used to build another pier to support a canal.

The pier provides for a lovely stroll to see a variety of birds, most commonly seagulls and ducks, and passes beneath the Peace Bridge, another international bridge that was named to commemorate 100 years of peace between Canada and the United States.

Now I’m off to explore Delaware Park in Buffalo before I make my way north towards the American Falls.



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