The Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara ...

, based on the history and legacy of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Opened in 2018, it is located on the first floor of a historic former U.S. Customhouse built in 1863 at the

Niagara Falls Station and Customhouse Interpretive Center The Niagara Falls Station and Customhouse Interpretive Center is an intermodal transit complex in Niagara Falls, New York. It serves Amtrak trains and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority buses, houses U.S. Customs and Border Protection offi ...

History

The idea of commemorating the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls picked up steam in 2007 when former City Council Chairman Charles A. Walker and Kevin E. Cottrell pitched an idea they called "North Star on North Main." Funding from New York State began in 2008, when the State Legislature created the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Commission to work on an Underground Railroad museum in Niagara Falls. The following year, a state law governing Niagara Falls' use of

Seneca Niagara Casino Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel is a casino in Niagara Falls, New York. It was built by the Seneca Nation to compete with Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Formerly known as the Niagara Falls Convention a ...

money was amended to give the commission $350,000 a year, a figure that was reduced to $200,000 a year in 2011. Opened on May 4, 2018, the museum is sanctioned by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

as part of the

Niagara Falls National Heritage Area Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

and is operated in a partnership between the National Park Service and the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Commission.

Exhibits

Described as an

experiential Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

museum, the museum includes such exhibits as "One More River to Cross" featuring the history of the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls, the role played by the location and geography of Niagara Falls, and the actions of residents particularly African-American residents. Other exhibits include a recreation of the

Cataract House The Cataract House was a hotel in the neighborhood of Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls, New York. The hotel was established in 1825 but destroyed by fire in 1945. It was a major stop on the Underground Railroad and it was the largest hotel in Niag ...

, a Niagara Falls hotel that employed an entirely African-American wait staff, who helped numbers of former slaves to freedom in Canada and a recreation of the

International Suspension Bridge The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stood from 1855 to 1897 across the Niagara River and was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls, where it connected Niagara Falls, Ontario to N ...

, built in 1848, and rebuilt in 1855 to incorporate rail traffic, where

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

and other former slaves crossed into Canada. In 2019, "One More River to Cross" won an Award of Excellence by the

American Association for State and Local History The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a non-profit association for state and local history, with a primary focus on history professionals, history volunteers, museums, historical societies, and other history-related organi ...

(AASLH).

References

External links

Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage CenterUnderground Railroad in Niagara Falls
Podcast with President and Chairman of the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Area Commission Bill Bradberry Underground Railroad History museums in New York (state) African-American museums in New York (state) Museums established in 2018 {{NewYork-museum-stub

History

Exhibits

See also

References

External links