Heritage Walking Tour

Click on number to go directly to that property

Profiles of the Past

The walking tour of the Downtown area starts in front of the train station constructed for the Great Western Railroad. The railway arrived in 1853 and with the completion of the Railway Suspension Bridge, over the Niagara River to the United States, turned the small Village of Elgin into a boom town overnight. By 1881 it was known as the Town of Niagara Falls and became part of the City of Niagara Falls in 1904.

Legend
One VIA Rail Building VIA RAILWAY STATION - 18794267 Bridge Street
This station was constructed in the Victorian Gothic Revival style with a hipped gable roof, lancet arch windows and brick walls accentuated with limestone and bands of decorative brickwork at the window sill level. The gable ends originally featured decorative gingerbread trim. It was the most prestigious terminal of the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railroads as well as one of the busiest, located beside the international rail bridge. It was federally designated in 1995.

WOODRUFF BLOCK - 18574238-40 Bridge Street
One of the first commercial buildings in Clifton, the block was built by Drummondville merchant Joseph Woodruff in what was then the centre of the Town's business district. Built in the early Italianate style, some of its original features are still in place, such as the cast iron window labels on its west side and the roof brackets at the rear. The block has housed a variety of businesses over the years, including a post office, dry goods store, a hotel and Niagara Falls' first movie theatre, the Princess, from 1908 to 1914.

OLD IMPERIAL BANK - 19064190 Bridge Street
With its quarry faced limestone construction, decorative door and window surrounds and mansard roof with multiple dormers, the Bank exhibits an eclectic blend of the Romanesque Revival and French Renaissance styles. This styling was intended to give the building, which served as a branch until 1967, an impression of stability and security. In 1964, the bank was the scene of a sensational and well-planned heist which briefly netted the thieves over $900,000. It was designated by city council in 1978.

POST OFFICE/CUSTOMS HOUSE - 18854582 Zimmerman Avenue
This imposing structure was designed by government architect Thomas Fuller and completed in two years (note the 1883 datestone) at a cost of $30,000. It was constructed of limestone in the Romanesque Revival style with massive round-headed archways, string courses, quoins and patterned stonework on its gables. This building served as Post Office (1885-1930), Customs House (1885-1952) and Police Station (1952-76) and was designated in 1978.

JAMES McGARRY HOUSE - 18964711 Zimmerman Avenue
This substantial red brick home was built for Dr. James McGarry and his wife Louisa in the Queen Anne Revival style and features a large classical front porch, brick and stone detailing and a round corner tower. In 1905, a large surgery was added to the rear of the house. Here the health needs of the local population were served by Dr. McGarry and later by his son, pediatrician Dr. Howard McGarry, for almost ninety years.

BAMPFIELD HALL - 18754761 Zimmerman Avenue
The second home of James Bampfield, owner of the Great Western Restaurant in the train station, was built primarily in the Gothic Revival style, with pointed windows, a jerkinhead roof and decorative bargeboards, blended with a Second Empire mansard roof on the tower and iron cresting on the main roof. It remained in the Bampfield family until 1969.

CHRIST CHURCH - 18654750 Zimmerman Avenue
The construction of the original small stone church at the junction of River Road and Zimmerman Avenue marked the establishment of the Anglican congregation in the town of Clifton. The rectory to the north of the church on River Road was completed in 1879. In 1893, the Gothic style structure was enlarged by the addition of two transepts and a chancel which were constructed by local contractor John Drew.

MUNFORD HOUSE - c. 18794785 Ontario Avenue
Local mason and contractor Thomas Munford built his home in a simplified Italianate style popular in residences of the 1870's and 1880's. Its original features of note include decorative vergeboards in the gables and refined porches with decorative wooden scrollwork. The projecting bay window on the east side with a stained glass transom was added in 1898 (it was described as a winter porch in a period newspaper). The house was owned by the Niagara Falls Y.W.C.A. from 1916 until 1956.

M. H. BUCKLEY HOUSE - 18914541 Huron Street
This vernacular example of the Queen Anne Revival style features a projecting bay window at a 45 degree angle to the corner. The straight building lines and wood detail reflect the "Stick Style" movement in which decorative elements were applied to represent underlying structural components. The curved brackets supporting the pentroofs over the bay window and the porch door add to the decorative qualities. The date of the house is recorded in four terra cotta blocks located in the fireplace chimney. It would seem an appropriate residence for its original owner, Morton H. Buckley, a wealthy furniture merchant.

DREW STONE COTTAGE - c. 18574587 Huron Street
This was the first home of John Drew, a mason and prolific builder in Clifton/Niagara Falls who emigrated from Devonshire, England. It was skillfully constructed of limestone, with massive cut blocks used for quoins and door and window surrounds on the facade. The portico was a much later addition. This house is an excellent example of the vernacular "Ontario Cottage" style which was popular throughout Ontario from the 1830's to the 1870's.

SENECA THEATRE - 19404630 Queen Street
Constructed by Famous Players, this theatre originally seated 1,000 people and sported a large illuminated marquee. Although later renovations have altered its front, the yellow brick upper facade of the building still exhibits angular surface forms of the Art Deco style, such as horizontal and vertical banding and stone panels depicting the Seneca Nation set into the wall. The theatre hosted many events over the years, including the Canadian premiere of the Marilyn Monroe film Niagara on January 28, 1953.

NIAGARA FALLS POST OFFICE - 19304500 Queen Street
The original 84 foot square structure was built at a cost of $100,000 and was officially opened in January 1931. Designed by architects Findlay and Foulis in the Art Deco style, the Post Office features two storey window openings broken by polished stone panels, square pilasters with Ionic capitals in relief and a simplified cornice. The exterior is sheathed in cut limestone (in which fossils can be seen) while the interior is decorated with terrazzo floors, marble walls in the lobby and mahogany trim.

McCLIVE/ROSBERG BLOCK - 1904 4321-27 Queen Street
This large block, built by Fred McClive, was one of the city's first multiple-use buildings: it housed stores, offices and apartments on separate floors, and had a bowling alley and billiard parlour in the basement. It was purchased by merchant Jacob Rosberg in 1927 and for years its ground floor was occupied by a department store. Its broad facade has a classical Beaux Arts styling which was achieved with the application of moulded and glazed sections of terra cotta tile.

LOGAN BLOCK - 19074311-13 Queen Street
With its rectilinear structure, large windows and Edwardian neoclassical styling, this building typifies the commercial block of the early twentieth century. It was built for John Logan, a respected merchant and civic leader who operated a dry goods business in Niagara Falls for 67 years. His decision to relocate from Erie Avenue in 1907 affirmed the position of Queen Street as the new axis of downtown commerce.

BANK OF HAMILTON - 18944299 Queen Street
The first large business block to be erected on Queen Street, its ground floor was occupied by a succession of bank branches from 1902 to 1985. This block indicates the transitional commercial architecture that began to appear in the 1890's. The ornate brickwork of the facade reflects late Victorian Italianate styling, while the pronounced structural bays and pilasters and large, square windows are examples of more utilitarian twentieth century forms.