Niagara Falls State Park - wikipedia Niagara Falls State Park Niagara Falls State Park Niagara Falls State Park 's overlook of the American Falls, with the Horseshoe Falls in the distance Show map of New York Show map of the US Show all Type State park Location Prospect Street & Old Falls Street Niagara Falls, New York Coordinates 43 ° 05 ′ N 79 ° 04 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.08 ° N 79.07 ° W ﻿ / 43.08 ; - 79.07 Coordinates : 43 ° 05 ′ N 79 ° 04 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.08 ° N 79.07 ° W ﻿ / 43.08 ; - 79.07 Area 221 acres ( 0.89 km ) Created 1885 ( 1885 ) Operated by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Visitors 9,529,325 ( in 2016 ) Open All year Website Niagara Falls State Park Niagara Reservation U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark Location Niagara Falls, New York Built 1885 NRHP reference # 66000555 Significant dates Added to NRHP October 15, 1966 Designated NHL May 23, 1963 Niagara Falls State Park is in the City of Niagara Falls in Niagara County, New York. The park, recognized as the oldest state park in the United States, contains the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls, and a portion of the Canadian Falls, also known as the Horseshoe Falls. Contents 1 History 2 Park facilities 2.1 Discovery Pass 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links History Postcard from 1898 showing view of the American Falls from Goat Island Prior to being protected as a state reservation, the lands surrounding Niagara Falls on the American side were largely controlled by private interests, and public access to the falls was limited. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, an early champion of the Falls ' surroundings, began advocating for their preservation in the 1860s. In 1879, at the behest of the New York State Legislature, Olmsted and State Surveyor James T. Gardner helped prepare a special report on the falls ' conditions, which argued for increased public access to the falls and recommended that the state purchase lands for that purpose. The report was followed by a publicity and petitioning campaign that helped bring the issue to the public 's attention. Olmsted and others formed the Niagara Falls Association in 1883, a group that aimed to lobby New York to acquire and protect the falls from private exploitation. Their efforts succeeded later that year when, on April 30, 1883, a bill authorizing the `` selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls for a state reservation '' was signed into law by then - governor Grover Cleveland. The act led to the establishment of the Niagara Reservation in 1885. New York State Assemblyman Thomas Vincent Welch figured prominently in getting the bill signed, and served as the first Superintendent of the Park for 18 years from its inception until 1903. Niagara Falls State Park is claimed to be the oldest continuously - operating state park in the United States and the first established via eminent domain. The impetus to protect the falls and improve their accessibility to the public was international ; early lobbying for the park 's creation was bolstered by similar plans that were proposed for the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Although plans for an international park did not come to fruition, work to establish an Ontario provincial park began in 1885. The Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park, today known simply as Queen Victoria Park, was created in 1887. The Niagara Reservation 's early design was accomplished by Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux. The team completed their designs in 1887, with a focus on improving public access while preserving the landscape 's natural and scenic elements, to the exclusion of commercial and resort - style attractions. The Niagara Reservation was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1963. It is a major contributing element to the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area. A $44 - million refurbishment of the park 's facilities was completed in 2003. Work focused on improvements to the park 's observation tower, visitor 's center, bridges, trails, and other infrastructure. In 2007, Niagara Falls State Park was named as the 10th most beautiful spot in America by The Today Show. Park facilities Niagara Falls State Park visitors center In addition to its views of the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and the Canadian Falls, the park overlooks the Niagara Gorge and allows access to the Maid of the Mist tour boats, Cave of the Winds, Goat Island, the Prospect Point Observation Tower, a statue of Nikola Tesla, and the IMAX movie Niagara : Miracles, Myths and Magic which is shown at the Niagara Adventure Theater. The park also offers a museum, food concession, a movie theater, a gift shop, fireworks, hiking and nature trails, picnic tables, recreation programs, and fishing. The Top of the Falls Restaurant, on Goat Island overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, is also available within the park. Discovery Pass Visitors to Niagara Falls may purchase the Discovery Pass, a guest pass that allows them to enter several attractions at a smaller price. As of 2016, the ticket provides admission to the Cave of the Winds, Maid of the Mist, the Niagara Adventure Theater, the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, and the Aquarium of Niagara. The ticket also provides discounts for Fort Niagara, and entitles the holder to free gifts at Artpark and the New York Power Project Power Vista. See also List of New York state parks Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas -- the first national nature reserve in the United States Niagara Parks Commission - an Ontario provincial agency created in 1885 to manage the shoreline and parks at Niagara Falls and along the Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. The commission opened Queen Victoria Park in 1888. Notes Jump up ^ Although claimed as the oldest state park in the United States, Niagara Falls was not the first state - managed park. For a discussion of earlier state parks, see History of state parks in the United States. References Jump up ^ `` Niagara Falls State Park ''. NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Section O : Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O - 9 ''. 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook ( PDF ). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. pp. 671 -- 674. Retrieved October 8, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Niagara National Heritage Area Study Report ''. National Park Service. 2005. p. 26. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Jump up ^ `` State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility : Beginning 2003 ''. Data.ny.gov. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Jump up ^ National Park Service ( 2007 - 01 - 23 ). `` National Register Information System ''. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. ^ Jump up to : `` Niagara Reservation ''. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007 - 09 - 17. ^ Jump up to : Carr, Ethan ( 2014 ). `` Olmsted and Scenic Preservation ''. Frederick Law Olmsted : Designing America. Western New York Public Broadcasting Association. Retrieved October 25, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Chapter 336 : An act to authorize the selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls for a state reservation and to preserve the scenery of the falls of Niagara ''. The General Statutes of the State of New York for the Year 1883. Albany, NY : Weed, Parsons and Company. 1883. pp. 155 -- 157. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Jump up ^ Natural Heritage Trust ; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation ; New York State Council of Parks & Recreation ( 1975 ). Fifty Years : New York State Parks, 1924 -- 1974. Natural Heritage Trust. p. 10. ^ Jump up to : `` Niagara Falls Park System ''. Seventeenth Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society to the Legislature of the State of New York. American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. 1912. pp. 278 -- 284. Retrieved November 3, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Governor Announces Completion of Multi-Million Dollar Improvement at Scenic Niagara Falls State Park ''. NYS Office of the Governor. June 24, 2003. Archived from the original on October 3, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2016. Jump up ^ Edmondson, Brad ( 2001 ). `` Publication # 72 -- Environmental Affairs in New York State : A Historical Overview '' ( PDF ). New York State Archives. pp. 7 -- 9. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Jump up ^ Richard Greenwood ( January 16, 1976 ). `` National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination : Niagara Reservation '' ( PDF ). National Park Service. Retrieved 2009 - 06 - 22. and Accompanying aerial photo, undated. ( 477 KB ) Jump up ^ `` History and Culture ''. Niagara Falls National Heritage Area. National Park Service. Retrieved 15 March 2012. Jump up ^ `` Niagara Falls State Park Named to Today Show 's List of America 's Beautiful Spots ''. readMedia.com. July 12, 2007. Retrieved October 30, 2015. Jump up ^ Hufnagel, James ( July 17, 2012 ). `` Top of the Falls Dining Experience Falls Short ''. Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Niagara Falls USA Discovery Pass ''. Niagara Falls, USA Discovery Pass. Retrieved October 8, 2016. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Niagara Falls State Park. New York State Parks : Niagara Falls State Park Niagara Falls State Park The Best Planned City, an online film about Frederick Law Olmsted that includes his work on the Niagara Park Protected areas of New York Federal National Historic Sites, Parks and Districts Christman Eleanor Roosevelt Harriet Tubman Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt Martin Van Buren Sagamore Hill Saint Paul 's Church Saratoga Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Women 's Rights Erie Canalway Kate Mullany affiliated Thomas Cole affiliated National Memorials Federal Hall General Grant Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty National Monuments African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Fort Stanwix Governors Island Stonewall National Trails Appalachian Trail North Country Trail National Seashores and Recreation Areas Fire Island Gateway Upper Delaware National Wildlife Refuges Iroquois Long Island Complex Amagansett Conscience Point Elizabeth A. Morton Lido Beach Oyster Bay Sayville Seatuck Target Rock Wertheim Montezuma Shawangunk Grasslands Wallkill River National Forests Finger Lakes Wilderness Areas Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune State parks Allen H. Treman Allegany Amherst Amsterdam Beach Battle Island Bayard Cutting Arboretum Bayswater Point Bear Mountain Beaver Island Beechwood Belmont Lake Bethpage Betty & Wilbur Davis Big Six Mile Creek Blauvelt Bonavista Bowman Lake Braddock Bay Brentwood Bristol Beach Brookhaven Buckhorn Island Buffalo Harbor Burnham Point Buttermilk Falls Caleb Smith Camp Hero Canandaigua Lake Canoe - Picnic Point Captree Catharine Valley Trail Caumsett Cayuga Lake Cedar Island Cedar Point Chenango Valley Cherry Plain Chimney Bluffs Chittenango Falls Clarence Fahnestock Clark Reservation Clay Pit Ponds Cold Spring Harbor Coles Creek Conesus Lake Connetquot River Crab Island Croil Island Cumberland Bay Darien Lakes De Veaux Woods Deans Cove Delta Lake Devil 's Hole Dewolf Point Donald J. Trump Earl W. Brydges Artpark Eel Weir Empire -- Fulton Ferry Evangola Fair Haven Beach Fillmore Glen Fort Niagara Four Mile Creek Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Franny Reese Frenchman Island Galop Island Gantry Plaza Genesee Valley Greenway Gilbert Lake Gilgo Glimmerglass Golden Hill Goosepond Mountain Grafton Lakes Grass Point Green Lakes Hallock Hamlin Beach Harriet Hollister Spencer Harriman Hart 's Brook Haverstraw Beach Heckscher Helen L. McNitt Hempstead Lake High Tor Highland Lakes Higley Flow Hither Hills Honeoye Hook Mountain Hudson Highlands Hudson River Islands Hudson River Hunts Pond Iona Island Irondequoit Bay Jacques Cartier James Baird John Boyd Thacher Jones Beach Joseph Davis Keewaydin Keuka Lake Knox Farm Kring Point Lake Erie Lake Lauderdale Lake Superior Lake Taghkanic Lakeside Beach Letchworth Lock 32 Lodi Point Long Point - Finger Lakes Long Point - Thousand Islands Long Point on Lake Chautauqua Macomb Reservation Margaret Lewis Norrie Mark Twain Mary Island Max V. Shaul Mexico Point Midway Mine Kill Minnewaska Mohawk River Montauk Downs Montauk Point Moreau Lake Napeague Newtown Battlefield Niagara Falls Nissequogue River Nyack Beach Oak Orchard Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills Old Croton Aqueduct Old Erie Canal Oquaga Creek Orient Beach Peebles Island Pinnacle Pixley Falls Point Au Roche Reservoir Riverbank Robert G. Wehle Robert H. Treman Robert Moses - Long Island Robert Moses - Thousand Islands Robert V. Riddell Roberto Clemente Rockefeller Rock Island Lighthouse Rockland Lake Sampson Sandy Island Beach Saratoga Lake Saratoga Spa Schodack Island Schunemunk Mountain Selkirk Shores Seneca Lake Shadmoor Silver Lake Sonnenberg Gardens Southwick Beach St. Lawrence State Park at the Fair Sterling Forest Steuben Memorial Stony Brook Storm King Strawberry Island Sunken Meadow Taconic - Copake Falls Area Taconic - Rudd Pond Area Tallman Mountain Taughannock Falls Thompson 's Lake Two Rivers Trail View Valley Stream Verona Beach Waterson Point Watkins Glen Wellesley Island Westcott Beach Whetstone Gulf Whirlpool Wildwood Wilson - Tuscarora Wonder Lake Woodlawn Beach State historic sites Bennington Battlefield Caumsett Clermont Clinton House Crailo Crown Point Darwin Martin House Fort Montgomery Fort Ontario Ganondagan Grant Cottage Herkimer Home Hyde Hall John Brown Farm John Burroughs Memorial ( Woodchuck Lodge ) John Hay Homestead Johnson Hall Knox 's Headquarters Lorenzo New Windsor Cantonment Olana Old Croton Aqueduct Old Erie Canal Old Fort Niagara Oriskany Battlefield Philipse Manor Hall Plantings Fields Arboretum Sackets Harbor Battlefield Schoharie Crossing Schuyler Mansion Senate House Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion Staatsburgh Steuben Memorial Stony Point Battlefield Walt Whitman Birthplace Washington 's Headquarters Preserves and sanctuaries Public preserves Albany Pine Bush Forest Preserve Adirondack Park Saint Regis Canoe Area Santanoni Preserve wilderness areas Catskill Park Hudson River Estuary Long Island Pine Barrens Reinstein Woods Rome Sand Plains Tahawus Vischer Ferry Welwyn The Nature Conservacy Accabonac Harbor Andy Warhol Visual Arts Arthur W. Butler Memorial Atlantic Double Dunes Bear Swamp Calverton Ponds Chaumont Barrens Clintonville Pine Barrens Coon Mountain Deer Lick Denton El Dorado Beach Eugene and Agnes Meyer Everton Falls Freund Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Hannacroix Ravine Henry Morgenthau Indian Brook Assemblage Ironsides Island Kenrose Limestone Rise Lisha Kill Long Island Center for Conservation Long Pond Lordsland Lower Poultney River and Saddles Marrion Yarrow Mashomack Mianus River Gorge Mildred E. Grierson Memorial Moccasin Kill Montauk Mountain Moss Lake Mount Holly Nellie Hill Neversink O.D. von Engeln Otter Creek Pawling Peconic Estuary Big Woods Pine Neck Roger Perry Memorial Ruth Wales Schunemunk Mountain Shadmoor Silver Lake Bog Spring Pond Bog Stewart Lewis A. Swyer Thompson Pond and Stissing Mountain Uplands Farm West Branch Whitbeck Memorial Grove Other preserves Angle Fly Baxter Bergen - Byron Swamp Black Rock Forest Brandreth Park Calder Center Louis C. Clark Cornell Botanic Gardens Ferncliff Forest Heiberg Memorial Forest James Lime Hollow Mohonk Peabody Plotter Kill Sagamore Camp Sam 's Point Teatown Lake Turkey Mountain Turner Brook Theodore Roosevelt Wallkill Valley Woodlawn Zurich Bog Other ( lists ) National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks Botanical gardens Nature centers New York City parks POPS WWI New York state forests wild historic sites parks wildlife management areas Trails rail trails NYS DEC NYS OPRHP U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York Topics Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types Lists by county Albany Allegany Bronx Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Kings ( Brooklyn ) Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau New York ( Manhattan ) Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond ( Staten Island ) Rockland Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca St. Lawrence Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Northern Southern Wyoming Yates Lists by city Albany Buffalo New Rochelle New York City Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Manhattan Below 14th St. 14th -- 59th St. 59th -- 110th St. Above 110th St. Minor islands Niagara Falls Peekskill Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck Rochester Syracuse Yonkers Other lists Bridges and tunnels National Historic Landmarks Category : National Register of Historic Places in New York ( state ) Portal : National Register of Historic Places Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Niagara_Falls_State_Park&oldid=810330276 '' Categories : Niagara Falls State Park State parks of New York ( state ) Frederick Law Olmsted works Robert Moses projects Parks in Niagara County, New York Niagara Falls National Heritage Area National Historic Landmarks in New York ( state ) 1885 establishments in New York ( state ) National Register of Historic Places in Niagara County, New York Protected areas established in 1885 Hidden categories : Coordinates on Wikidata Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2016 All articles containing potentially dated statements Talk Contents About Wikipedia 日本 語 Edit links This page was last edited on 14 November 2017, at 16 : 32. 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Question: when was niagara falls established as a national park
Answer: 1885