Tourists and Honeymooners
Thousands of tourists came each month to see the falls, ride the trains, cross the new bridges and see performers. They would come from the surrounding cities, like Buffalo, all across America, and even from Europe.
Niagara was part of “Fashionable Tour” for the educationed, fashionable, and rich, which included the White Mountains, Saratoga Springs, Trenton Falls, Hudson River, Catskill Mountains, and the Erie Canal [3].
Often times, if visitors had not come for a full vacation, they would travel by train, step outside for a few minutes, and then travel back [4].
Other times, visitors would come for weeks on end.
Of the visitors who came to experience Niagara, a large portion were honeymooners who considered visiting the falls a rite of passage and transformation between single and married life.
Separate cottages were available for honeymooners in order to give them the space and freedom that they would want at the start of their marriage. This marked a hiatus between social life and married life and was a place to escape before reentering the world [5].
The joy and freedom they felt visiting the falls is clearly seen in the letters that they wrote about their honeymoon. In Mrs. Ballinger's letter, she can clearly remember the falls even 40 years later. Her honeymoon at Niagara still remains a highlight of her marriage.
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[3] Irwin, 22.
[4] Ibid., 17.
[5] McGreevy, 38.