The Cataract House Hotel was built on the
Niagara River bank in 1825 by owner David Chapman. The land for the hotel near what is now Old Main Street and Buffalo Avenue between Red Coach Inn and Niagara Falls State Park was originally owned by Judge
Samuel DeVeaux. Whitney later leased the hotel to a corporation run by his son, Solon Whitney (who owned the
Whitney Mansion in Niagara Falls), and sons-in-law, James Fullerton Trott and Dexter Ray Jerauld. After Whitney's death in 1862, his son Solon owned the Hotel until 1891 when it was sold to
Peter A. Porter (who served as a
U.S. Representative from 1907 to 1909). was host to
Abraham Lincoln,
Jenny Lind,
Horace Greeley,
William Seward,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, King
Edward VII (when he was the
Prince of Wales), and King
George V in
1939. The hotel, which by then had occupied an entire city block was across the street from Red Coach Inn, was destroyed by fire in 1945. The site today is Heritage Park located between Buffalo Avenue and Riverway with roadway providing access to the Niagara Reservation – Niagara Falls State Park.
Role in the Underground Railroad The Cataract House employed an entirely African-American wait staff, who helped many enslaved people to freedom in Canada. White families would bring enslaved African Americans with them on their vacations to view the Natural Wonder of Niagara Falls. Black hotel staff would privately engage the enslaved people and offer to take them to freedom in Canada, if they could be ready quickly. Those who chose the daring escape would be given the route from a side door, along just a few city blocks, to a steep, slippery staircase down to the gorge below of the falls. There they met the rowboat that would ferry them across the treacherous gorge to safety on the Canadian side. This system, supported by all the Black staff and enabled by the white management, operated from 1825 until 1865. In 2018, a model of the hotel was constructed at the
Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center to highlight its history and importance to the Underground Railroad and the history of Niagara Falls. ==Photos==