Learn Niagara Fall’s Place in the underground Railroad Story

By the mid-nineteenth century, Niagara Falls was already a renowned tourist destination. The many hotels provided employment for a significant portion of the village’s large Black population, some of whom were free and many of whom were likely refugees that had escaped from slavery.

Historical Resources Survey

Research efforts for the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Area have focused on the people, places, and stories in and around the City of Niagara Falls that illuminate our understanding of the Underground Railroad and celebrate the courage of the men and women who sought, and/or helped others to achieve, freedom from enslavement during the mid-nineteenth century. As part of the Heritage Area Management Plan, a Historic Resources Survey was prepared by the award winning Underground Railroad historian, Dr. Judith Wellman. The survey included reviews of primary and secondary sources such as manuscripts, census records, historical maps, memoirs and autobiographies, local and county histories, newspapers, and oral traditions, as well as interviews and collaboration with local historians and extensive community outreach.

Federal and State Census Index of African Americans in Niagara County, 1850-1880

This database represents the results of a search of census records from 1850, 1855, 1860, 1865, 1870, 1875, and 1880 to identify the names of African Americans who settled in Niagara County. The purpose of this research is to attempt to identify individuals associated with the Underground Railroad in Niagara County, including people who may have escaped from slavery during the mid-nineteenth century.