Ancestry Saturday: Platt Family Returns to Niagara Falls, Canada

It was almost 50 years ago that my parents, John and Linda Platt, visited Niagara Falls and began their married life that would add three sons and four grandkids to the family tree.

The Platt family has returned.

My kids and I went the opposite direction of the masses and spent Spring Break heading north where there was still snow on the ground and ice bridges in front of the falls at Niagara Falls.  I called it a visit to the white, snowy beaches of the American North Coast that stands in contrast to some of their classmates who visited the white, sandy beaches of our Southern U.S. Coast.

The Skylon Tower that opened in October 1965 wasn't quite completed when John and Linda visited in June 1965.  The famous tower is now seeming a bit dated actually. 

The high-rise hotels and casinos that overlook the Falls weren't there 50 years ago, though there were some hotels thought to be high-rises at the time.  From our 50-story hotel we could see both the American and the Canadian Falls, as well as another 50+/- story casino that stood in front of our view.

The Falls themselves were a little bit different 50 years ago.  Even with measures to control erosion, there's about a foot less earth behind the Falls every 10 years.  After five decades, the difference is measurable indeed.

We also didn't arrive via U.S. Route 62.  The Interstate highway system is now complete that brought us there.  U.S. Route 62 would have taken a couple extra hours each direction. 

EZ Pass made the toll roads and toll bridges easily passable even though the trip into Canada takes a Passport now.  My kids got to learn that their grandfather John Platt headed up the New York State Thruway and, briefly, the EZ Pass agency too.

What a difference 50 years makes, even to one of the wonders of the World.