Goat Island (New York) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Goat Island is a small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

in the Niagara River

Niagara River

The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...

, located in the middle of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

between the Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls)

The Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest of the three waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls. It is located on the U.S. side ; Luna Island separates it from the American Falls and Goat Island separates it from the Horseshoe Falls. The Bridal Veil Falls faces to the northwest and has a crest 56 feet ...

and the Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

The Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls, is part of Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for hydropower generation, flows over Horseshoe Falls. The remaining 10% flows over the American Falls...

. The island is at the southwest corner of the City of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, New York

Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...

(and of Niagara County

Niagara County, New York

Niagara County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,469. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters. It is the location of Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara, and...

), New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Goat Island has no residents, but is a popular destination for tourists visiting the falls on the U.S. side; it offers some of the most spectacular views available there, in particular at Terrapin Point

Terrapin Point

Terrapin Point is an observation area located in Niagara Falls, New York at the northwestern corner of Goat Island, next to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls...

. Goat Island is connected to the U.S. mainland by two bridges carrying foot, car, and trackless train

Trackless train

A trackless train is a road-going articulated vehicle used for the transport of passengers, comprising a driving vehicle pulling one or more carriages connected by drawbar couplings, in the manner of a road going railway train.-Terminology:Trackless train or land train...

traffic. The island is largely wooded and is interlaced with foot trails. The Cave of the Winds

Cave of the Winds (New York)

The Cave of the Winds was a natural cave behind Bridal Veil Falls at the Niagara Falls.The cave was some 130 feet high, 100 feet wide and 30 feet in depth. It was discovered in 1834, and originally dubbed Aeolus' Cave, after the Greek god of winds...

tour elevator provides access down to the foot of the falls.

Geology

The island was formed geologically during the recent retreat of the falls as it cuts inward (upstream) through the Niagara Escarpment

Niagara Escarpment

The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...

. The channel of the Niagara River splits in two above the falls, creating two sets of falls, one on either side of the island. In 1959-60, the eastern side of the island was extended about 8.5 acres (34,398.3 m²) for additional parking and a helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

pad. Fill was provided from excavation for the construction of the Robert Moses State Parkway

Robert Moses State Parkway

The Robert Moses State Parkway is an long north–south highway in western Niagara County, New York, United States. Its southern terminus is at the LaSalle Expressway on the east bank of the Niagara River in Niagara Falls. The northern terminus is at NY 18 at Four Mile Creek State Park in...

. In 1955 the area between the Terrapin Rocks and Goat Island was filled in, creating Terrapin Point

Terrapin Point

Terrapin Point is an observation area located in Niagara Falls, New York at the northwestern corner of Goat Island, next to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls...

.

In the early 1980s the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

filled in more land and built diversion dams and retaining walls to force the water away from Terrapin Point. Altogether 400 feet (121.9 m) of the Horseshoe Falls was eliminated, including 100 feet (30.5 m) on the Canadian side. According to author Ginger Strand, the Horseshoe Falls is now entirely in Canada. Other sources say "most of" Horseshoe Falls is in Canada.

The western end of the island is slowly being eroded

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

by the falls and the entire island will eventually disappear as the falls erode further upstream. The waters immediately around Goat Island are relatively shallow and studded with islets and rocks, many of them scenes of dramatic rescues and rescue attempts.

History

John Stedmanan early pioneer and millerkept a herd of goats on the island. Upon returning to the island after the terrible winter of 1780, Stedman found all but one of the goats had died; thus giving the island its name.

The preservation of the island as parkland is due to the early efforts of Augustus Porter

Augustus Porter

Augustus Porter , along with his brother Peter Buell Porter , purchased the land near Niagara Falls, United States at a public auction in order to open a grist mill and tannery around 1805...

, who in the middle 19th century recognized the long-term value of the falls as a tourist attraction. Porter purchased the island and later allowed a group of Tuscarora

Tuscarora (tribe)

The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...

Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

to live on the island and sell their crafts to the tourists who came to the falls by stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

and early railroads. In spite of pressure, Porter refused to tame the environment on the island. In 1817, he built a toll bridge to the island for tourists. It was swept away by ice, so another was built the following year downstream. Basil Hall

Basil Hall

Basil Hall, FRS was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science.-Biography:...

called it "one of the most singular pieces of engineering in the world". Almost seven hundred feet long, it soon became the best-travelled walkway in the region.

In 1885 the island was included in the Niagara Reservation State Park which is the oldest state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

in the U.S.

Botany

In 1879 landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...

, wrote that he had travelled four thousand miles throughout the continent "without finding elsewhere the same quality of forest beauty which was once abundant about the falls, and which is still to be observed in those parts of Goat Island where the original growth of trees and shrubs had not been disturbed..." Olmsted concluded that the spray from the Falls created a natural nursery for indigenous plant life. Since that time, regular mowing of the Goat Island meadow, heavy foot traffic, and the incursion of invasive species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

have significantly altered the floral landscape of the island.

Tesla Monument

The island is home to the Tesla Monument which honors the Serbian-American inventor, Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...

. The statue was a given to the United States by the government of Yugoslavia in 1976. The author of the statue is Frano Krsinic (1897-1982), a renowned Yugoslav sculptor.

External links

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