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Niagara Falls
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Exploring Photos with the NOTL Museum: April ice jam of 1909

Here’s a photo of the Niagara River ice jam that occurred in April 1909. This photo was taken in Queenston looking south from the shoreline. On the right you see the destroyed Queenston wharf. In the early months of 1909, the water levels were low, which resulted in an ice jam just above the American falls. However, in April, the water levels rose and with a significant windstorm, the ice fields broke and quickly moved downstream, blocking the mouth of the Niagara River. Destruction followed along the shoreline on both sides of the river. It wasn’t until 1964 that a “boom” was placed in the upper part of the river, near Lake Erie, to limit the flow of ice. In 2019, many may remember the ice walls that grew over the barriers in Fort Erie. This was probably fairly similar to what had happened in 1909 as well as other years when ice jams occurred.

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