Ithaca Falls is a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

located within the city of

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It is the last of a series of waterfalls along the

hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

formed where Fall Creek intersects the glacial trough of

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...

. The falls are in an

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

formed by freezing and thawing of the weak shale which makes up most of the gorge walls. The

splash pool A splash pad or spray pool is a recreation area, often in a public park, for water play that has little or no standing water. This is said to eliminate the need for lifeguards or other supervision, as there is little risk of drowning. Typicall ...

, and the creek just below the falls, are a popular spot for

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight fishing lure, lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is Casting (fishing), cast using a fly rod, Fishing reel#Fly reel, reel, and specialized Fly line, weighted line. T ...

. The area around the base of the falls was owned by

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

for many years, before being sold to the City of Ithaca in 2000 as a part of environmental cleanup. The area has been a popular, if dilapidated, park for many years; currently it is undergoing a major redesign and rebuild. In June 2016, the Ithaca Common Council voted to demolish a house directly north of the falls and add the parcel to the park. The city had acquired the house after the owner failed to pay property taxes. The falls is present as the stylized "I" in the " Ithaca is Gorges" logo.

History

In the early 1800s, local entrepreneurs realized the economic potential of the water power provided by Fall Creek. In 1830, a young

Ezra Cornell Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...

blasted a tunnel through the gorge wall just above Ithaca Falls, and built a small

diversion dam A diversion dam is a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir; instead, the water is diverted into an artificial water course or canal, whic ...

to divert water to run a complex of mills next to the falls. "The powerful flow of diverted water through the millrace channel around Ithaca Falls made possible the close location of mills one above another on the southern bank of Fall Creek. ...

grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

, and woolen mills, and iron foundries were all established there. The mills processed local and imported raw materials, producing enough not only for local needs but for shipment outside the region." The industry around the falls resulted in rapid development in the area; for a time, "Fall Creek Village" was considered a separate town from the rest of Ithaca. The diversion dam above the falls remained until succumbing to natural forces sometime prior to April of 2007, when it broke where it met the north gorge wall; around the base of the falls, many ruins from the former mills still exist. From 1880 until its closure in 1987, the Ithaca Gun Company's factory was just south of the falls. In the late 1990s, environmental testing revealed that much of the soil nearby was contaminated by lead from shotgun tests. A major lead clean-up effort sponsored by the United States

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...

and the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

took place from 2002 to 2004, with some additional soil removal in 2015. The building was demolished in 2006, and currently luxury apartments are planned for the site.

References

{{Ithaca, New York Waterfalls of New York (state) Landforms of Tompkins County, New York Tourist attractions in Ithaca, New York