Niagara Falls: Cataract City (nickname)

Niagara Falls, New York, has been called the “Cataract City.” The word “cataract” means “waterfalls.”
 
“EAGLE AND CATARACT HOTELS, NIAGARA FALLS” was printed in the Buffalo (NY) Whig on October 22, 1834. “CATARACT HOUSE, at the Niagara Falls, New York” was printed in The Globe (Washington, DC) on June 3, 1840. “A petition is in circulation on the American side of Niagara Falls to have the name of the place changed to that of Cataract City” was printed in The Daily Reporter (Wellsville, NY) on April 19, 1881. Niagara Falls Cataract, a newspaper, was cited in Buffalo (NY) Sunday News on July 7, 1895. Cataract City (2014), a novel by Dennis Bock, has characters from Niagara Falls. “The City of Niagara Falls, NY was incorporated this day in 1892. Happy 130th birthday to the Honeymoon Capital of the World, the Cataract City!” was posted on X/Twitter by Bob Confer on March 17, 2022.
 
The “Cataract City” name has also been applied to other cities. “He informed me he was born in Scottsville, in this county, and afterwards lived with his father, in the wilderness, near a cataract, (now the heart of Rochester, the cataract city of Western New York)” was printed in the Rochester (NY) Daily Democrat on December 12, 1843. “The notes of the Cataract City Bank of Paterson, N. J., have had a great fall, the bank having ‘gone over’” was printed in the Buffalo (NY) Morning Express on December 20, 1860.
   
 
Wikipedia: Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the Western New York region.
 
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
cataract
noun
cat·​a·​ract ˈka-tə-ˌrakt
1
[Middle English, from Middle French or Medieval Latin; Middle French catharacte, from Medieval Latin cataracta, from Latin, portcullis] : a clouding of the lens of the eye or of its surrounding transparent membrane that obstructs the passage of light
2a
obsolete : waterspout
2b
: waterfall
especially : a large one over a precipice
2c
: steep rapids in a river
the cataracts of the Nile
2d
: downpour, flood
cataracts of rain
cataracts of information
 
Newspapers.com
22 October 1834, Buffalo (NY) Whig, pg. 3, col. 7:
EAGLE AND CATARACT HOTELS, NIAGARA FALLS.
 
Newspapers.com
3 June 1840, The Globe (Washington, DC), pg. 1, col. 7:
CATARACT HOUSE, at the Niagara Falls, New York, ...
 
NYS Historic Newspapers
12 December 1843, Rochester (NY) Daily Democrat, “Old-Fashioned Whig Victories,” pg. 2, col. 3:
He informed me he was born in Scottsville, in this county, and afterwards lived with his father, in the wilderness, near a cataract, (now the heart of Rochester, the cataract city of Western New York.)
 
20 December 1860,  Buffalo (NY) Morning Express, pg. 4, col. 1:
The notes of the Cataract City Bank of Paterson, N. J., have had a great fall, the bank having “gone over.”
 
NYS Historic Newspapers
19 April 1881, The Daily Reporter (Wellsville, NY), pg. 4, col. 1:
A petition is in circulation on the American side of Niagara Falls to have the name of the place changed to that of Cataract City.
 
NYS Historic Newspapers
20 April 1881, Cuba (NY) Daily News, pg. 2, col. 1:
The city of Niagara Falls wants its name changed to Cataract City.
 
Newspapers.com
9 June 1892, Buffalo (NY) Courier, pg. 3, col. 1:
HIS SKULL CRUSHED.
An Alien Mechanic Killed at the Cataract City.
NIAGARA FALLS, June 8.
 
Newspapers.com
7 July 1895, Buffalo (NY) Sunday News, pg. 6, col. 6:
Froth and Foam at Niagara Falls
(From the Niagara Falls Cataract.)
   
WorldCat
Cataract city
Authors:Dennis Bock, James Colby (Narrator), Graham Winton (Narrator)
Summary:***Shortlisted for 2013 Giller Prize*** Owen and Duncan are childhood friends who’ve grown up in picturesque Niagara Falls—known to them by the grittier name Cataract City. As the two know well, there’s more to the bordertown than meets the eye: behind the gaudy storefronts and sidewalk vendors, past the hawkers of tourist T-shirts and cheap souvenirs live the real people who scrape together a living by toiling at the Bisk, the local cookie factory. And then there are the truly desperate, those who find themselves drawn to the borderline and a world of dog-racing, bare-knuckle fighting, and night-time smuggling. Owen and Duncan think they are different: both dream of escape, a longing made more urgent by a near-death incident in childhood that sealed their bond. But in adulthood their paths diverge, and as Duncan, the less privileged, falls deep into the town’s underworld, he and Owen become reluctant adversaries at opposite ends of the law. At stake is not only survival and escape, but a lifelong friendship that can only be broken at an unthinkable price
eAudiobook, English, 2014, [2014]
Edition: Unabridged
Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc. ; [Distributed by] OneClick Digital, Prince Frederick, Md., [Prince Frederick, Md.], 2014, [2014]
 
X/Twitter
Bob Confer
@bobconfer
Why hasn’t an optometrist opened shop in Niagara Falls and called it Cataract City?
1:01 PM · Sep 26, 2014
 
X/Twitter
Bob Confer
@bobconfer
The City of Niagara Falls, NY was incorporated this day in 1892. Happy 130th birthday to the Honeymoon Capital of the World, the Cataract City!
9:05 AM · Mar 17, 2022