Saturday, October 24, 2020

Niagara Falls Through the Generations Story

Are there tourist destinations that generations of your family have visited?

For my family, it is Niagara Falls.

As an archivist who specializes in ‘reading’ photographs, I like to take in the details of photos.

For photos taken at Niagara Falls, that detail is the distinctive ornamental design of the wrought iron railing along the parapet walls.

According to the Niagara Parks Commission, the first section of this wall was begun in 1904 and completed in 1923. It was extended to other sections in the 1930s.

The ornamentation of the wrought iron may have been the work of blacksmith Frederick James Flatman (1876-1957), who worked for the Commission in the 1930s and 1940s.

The accompanying slideshow depicts 4 generations of my family visiting Niagara Falls from 1948 through 2000, and all with the same railing detail in the background. Postcards and photographs in the collections of the City of Niagara Falls Museums also include this same railing detail.


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About Me

Massachusetts, United States
As an archivist, historian, and genealogist I share a love of history & family stories, travel, the ocean beach, architecture, & old movies with my wife Anne. I am originally from Reading, PA. My entire family heritage in the U.S. is in 3 Pennsylvania counties: Berks, Lancaster, & Philadelphia (city). When I moved to Boston to attend graduate school, I fell in love with Boston, my wife, & New England, pretty much in that order. Professionally, I am an archivist & historian, work which never ceases to excite me throughout the day. I have been an archivist for 28 years. I enjoy watching documentaries, & old movies, reading the print edition of the Boston Globe every morning, & listening to music. Stories in Archives, History, and Life will both look back as I share insights from my life experiences; & will look forward as I talk about what I am trying to accomplish in life & as an archivist/historian. Some stories will be short, sometimes very short, while others will be longer pieces.