Did you ever wonder if the water flowing over Niagra Falls has ever stopped flowing?

By David McClelland

I have wondered about this question and decided to research the subject. What I found surprised me. It seems that it happened only once by natural causes and that was in March of 1848 when a southwest gale blowing off Lake Erie caused an ice jam to form, blocking the mouth of the Niagra River causing the water flow to be reduced to a trickle for some 30- 40 hours. It was reported that the roar of the falls fell silent during that time. Some good came of it as those who ventured out onto the river bottom found items that had been on the bottom for many years, including articles of the War of 1812 such as muskets, bayonets, tomahawks, gun barrels and other artifacts. Some rocks that had been hazards to navigation were blasted out. Of course, factories and mills that were dependant upon water power were stilled during that time.

The next day, the winds shifted and the ice dam broke and the water began to flow soon regaining its full strength and volume. All was well again at Niagra Falls.

The only other times when the flow of water over the falls was interrupted were man caused. In 1953, the water over a portion of The Horseshoe Falls was stopped to build a series of coffer dams so that remedial work could be done to make the flow of water more even and to reduce the rate of erosion. Again, in 1963, the US Core of Army Engineers built a series of coffer dams to reduce the flow in order to study rock formations to see if any needed to be removed, but they decided to take no action and to let Mother Nature take her course.

Other than the three instances described above, the flow of water has been uninterrupted.