Niagara Falls (city, New York)

Niagara Falls (city, New York), city, Niagara County, western New York, on the Niagara River, opposite Niagara Falls, Ontario; incorporated as a city 1892. It is a major tourist center situated at the American Falls; the main attractions are included in New York State Niagara Reservation (1885). The city's manufactures include chemicals, machinery, forest products, and processed food; hydroelectric power also is produced. Niagara University (1856) is nearby.

The French built a fort on the site of the city in 1745. The British captured the region in 1759, and the U.S. settlement of Manchester was founded here in 1806. Held by the British during the War of 1812, the community in 1848 was renamed Niagara Falls, Niagara being a Native American word for “at the neck.” The first large hydroelectric facilities here were built in the 1890s. In the late 1970s and early '80s, as a result of chemical wastes having been dumped (1947-52) in the area of the Love Canal, the area was evacuated. In 1990, after a 12-year cleanup effort, the federal government declared parts of the area habitable and, despite the serious reservations of environmentalists, reopened those areas and sold homes there. Population 71,384 (1980); 61,840 (1990); 55,593 (2000); 52,866 (2005 estimate).