[xzmattzx]

La Salle is a neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. La Salle was originally a separate village until 1927, when it merged with the village of Niagara Falls to become the city of Niagara Falls. La Salle was known as Cayuga Creek until 1862, when it was named "La Salle" after explorer Robert Cavalier De La Salle, who launched his boat, the "Griffon" from the area to explore the Great Lakes.


St. John De La Salle Roman Catholic Church, on Buffalo Avenue. The church was built in 1959.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8703/img2712n.jpg

Houses on 84th Street.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2267/img2713n.jpg

Houses on 79th Street.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/25/img2714n.jpg

A house on Buffalo Avenue.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/9853/img2715n.jpg

Wendt's Dairy, on Buffalo Avenue. The dairy has existed since 1948 and was part of the Niagara Milk Corporative until it closed in 2008.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8732/img2716n.jpg

Businesses on Buffalo Avenue.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6298/img2717ni.jpg

A building on Buffalo Avenue.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1377/img2718ne.jpg

Houses on Cayuga Drive.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1025/img2719nd.jpg

A house on Cayuga Drive.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/9606/img2720ns.jpg

Houses on 86th Street in the Homestead Park subneighborhood.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/5781/img2721n.jpg

A house on Bollier Avenue in Homestead Park.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5913/img2722n.jpg

A house on Military Road in Homestead Park.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7499/img2723n.jpg

Houses on 82nd Street.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3728/img2724n.jpg

A house on Lindbergh Avenue.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5447/img2725n.jpg

A house on Creekside Drive.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/8697/img2726n.jpg

Houses on 91st Street.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6998/img2727n.jpg

A house on Cayuga Drive.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6928/img2728n.jpg

A house on Cayuga Drive.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3875/img2777n.jpg

The Moonlite Motel, on Niagara Falls Boulevard at 78th Street.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2479/img2729n.jpg


Cayuga Island is an island in the Niagara River and is separated from La Salle by the Little Niagara River. It was on the Little Niagara River that Robert Cavalier De La Salle launched his boat and began inland navigation of what would become the United States. The island was first called Burdett's Island, after John BUrdett, who farmed the land. In the late 1800s, the island became dotted with cottages for people interested in fishing and other recreational activities.


A house on Rivershore Drive.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1201/img2704n.jpg

A house on Champlain Avenue.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/8202/img2705n.jpg

A house on Hennepin Avenue.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6913/img2706n.jpg

A house on Rivershore Drive.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5364/img2707n.jpg

A house on Rivershore Drive.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1672/img2708n.jpg

A house on Rivershore Drive.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1962/img2709n.jpg

A house on Rivershore Drive.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7220/img2710n.jpg

An old farmhouse on 86th Street.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/8589/img2711n.jpg


Love Canal is a neighborhood named after the Love Canal, which was dug in the middle of the area. The Love Canal was begun by William T. Love, who planned to dig a canal to the Niagara Escarpment to the north, have the canal create a waterfall as it fell over the Escarpment to provide power, and then empty in to the Niagara River downstream. The power generated from the waterfall would power "Model City", his planned city north of the surrent village of Lewiston. Work on the canal was begun in 1894, but the project was abandoned in 1896, and work on the canal was stopped. The canal was used as a swimming hole until the 1920s, when residents and the city of Niagara Falls began using the sealed-off canal as a dumping area. The old canal was bought in 1942 by the Hooker Chemical & Plastics Company.

In 1978, the president of the Love Canal Homeowners' Associtaion began worked to find out why her son had developed epilepsy, athsma, and other illnesses. She asked residents about their families, and other families were also experiencing illnesses or birth defects, or were finding puddles of foreign liquids bubbling to the surface. After finding out that that over 20,000 tons of chemical waste were buried underground, city officials were brought in to investigate the problem, but did not take any action. The Environmental Protection Agency later investigated and found toxic substances. On August 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared a federal health emergency, and the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency was sent to help in cleaning the site. it was the first time in American history that emergency funds were used for something other than a natural disaster.

Since the disaster, the area north of the old Love Canal has been re-branded as Black Creek Village in order to distance itself from the Love Canal disaster.


Infill on 93rd Street.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1773/img2778nq.jpg

An old, isolated parking lot on 93rd Street.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4107/img2779nb.jpg

Structures on Read Avenue.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/7783/img2780n.jpg

An abandoned parking lot on Read Avenue.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/91/img2781n.jpg

A Freemason lodge on Colvin Boulevard.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/77/img2782n.jpg

Houses on 98th Street in the Black Creek Village part of Love Canal.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2482/img2783n.jpg

Remnants of driveways on 100th Street, where an entire block of houses once stood.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/706/img2784n.jpg

The Love Canal Containment Area, from 100th Street.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2103/img2785n.jpg

Only a few houses that were near the old canal, like this one on 101st Street, remain.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2782/img2786n.jpg

A house on 101st Street.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/5135/img2787n.jpg

A house on 102nd Street.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1346/img2788n.jpg

An empty block where houses once stood, from 102nd Street.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9009/img2789nz.jpg

Looking across an abandoned residential block from 102nd Street at a house on 101st Street.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1065/img2790n.jpg

The Love Canal Leachate Treatment Facility, located on the old Love Canal at 97th Street.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6612/img2791no.jpg

[Sulley]

Love Canal has always fascinated me... thanks, Matt.

[ColDayMan]

Thanks!

[Ex-Ithacan]

La Salle looks like a pretty solid neighborhood. Some nice houses there. I recall the furor over Love Canal, what a mess. Thanks for the tour Matt.

[Thundertubs]

Great tour!
Looking at a map of Niagara Falls, I assumed the LaSalle area would be a 1950's-era vinyl siding neighborhood. There are some surprisingly attractive homes there.

[flar]

The infamous Love Canal. The older houses are very typical of the Niagara area.

[Swinefeld]

Interesting.

[kcexpress69]

Interesting area to say the least. Such a shame that it took so long to take action but at least the place is cleaned up.!!

[Evergrey]

Thanks for this depressing tour... I like that you have been able to show us so many neighborhoods of Niagara Falls, NY.

[xzmattzx]

You made up for lost time yesterday and today, didn't you!:haha:

Thanks for this depressing tour... I like that you have been able to show us so many neighborhoods of Niagara Falls, NY.

Love Canal was trash. La Salle and Cayuga Island are alright, especially Cayuga Island. I wouldn't mind a house along the Niagara River at all.

I'll be up in the area in a couple weeks, so hopefully more neighborhood tours to come later on!

[Downtown Bolivar]

Interesting area to say the least. Such a shame that it took so long to take action but at least the place is cleaned up.!!

The place is hardly cleaned up. Not a single neighborhood in Niagara Falls doesn't have at least one toxic or radioactive hotspot in it. Love Canal was sold to the city by Hooker Chemical to be used as a park, but the city knowing that there was toxic waste under there built a neighborhood and a school there. The Masonic Lodge is a former Methodist Church which thrived up until the neighborhood was largely abandoned. All in all, that neighborhood was home to nearly 20,000 residents who had to flee because of contamination.

By the way thanks for the pictures! DeVeaux and LaSalle are NF's two best neighborhoods. What makes LaSalle nice is the village feel that has largely been preserved there in spite of a poor economy and bad road maintenance by the city.