Cataract House

In the fall of 2017, a team of UB archaeologists began excavating two test trenches as part of the first phase of excavations of the site. This is located in what is now called Heritage Park on Old Main Street in Niagara Falls, New York. Guided by historical documents, especially early maps and photographs of the building, the purpose of the first excavations was to find remnants of the Cataract House after it burnt in 1945, and see what materials survived the fire and subsequent uses and developments of the landscape.

Through archival research, historic map and photographic evidence, and information from newspaper articles about the life and demise of the building, our excavations were directed to explore the area of former kitchens. The kitchens are of interest because the wait staff worked in them and they were instrumental in getting people to Canada, hence these areas are most likely to produce evidence about the daily lives of these abolitionists.

The first field season resulted in the location of three buried foundation walls, which can be compared to various historic maps to locate specific elements of the former building’s footprint within the parkland setting. By locating these specific building spaces, we are now able to identify where we are in the former building and target other areas of interest.

The walls form basement rooms that were used as hotel offices and kitchens. One was made of cut stone and the other of brick; both are lined with plaster. The fill in the rooms indicates that the above-ground elements of the building were pushed into the foundation during demolition. Other than architectural fragments such as stone, brick and mortar, a lack of artifacts indicates that the furnishings and interior decorations of the former hotel were salvaged prior to demolition.

The most recent field season recovered several varying finds. A foundational wall covered in a layer of plaster was located still intact. Many pieces of glass in varying colors and thickness were scattered throughout the test units. Pipes jetting out of small holes in the earth were also uncovered. Tile flooring with original black and white tiles was removed from a test unit late in the dig. Nails were our most common find, both in wood and loose in the dirt.

The dig has continued every summer, unearthing more and more artifacts of the hotel. All artifacts have been taken to our lab for preservation and will be on display for visitors to the site during its next open season. Our work has revealed so much about the Cataract House and those who worked and stayed there, and its significant role in American history.