Old Stone Chimney

Old Stone Chimney in its new location as November 2015 close to the Niagara River in Niagara Falls USA. The skyline of Niagara Falls Canada can be seen in the background.

The Old Stone Chimney, is located in the city of Niagara Falls, New York. It is a masonry chimney built as part of a two-story barracks on the site of the French "Fort du Portage," or "Fort Little Niagara," by Daniel Joncaire in 1750, when the Niagara River and its shores were part of New France on the North American continent.

The chimney has been repurposed several times since by British and American interests. Relocated three times (1902, 1942, and 2015), the Old Stone Chimney is currently located between the Niagara River and the Robert Moses Parkway east of the Adams Slip along the bike path on the river. Previously located in the former Porter Park on Buffalo Avenue, at the foot of 10th Street along an embankment of the Niagara Scenic Parkway, close to the exit ramp to John B. Daly Boulevard. The Old Stone Chimney is 31 feet tall and weighs approximately 60 tons.

Fort du Portage / Fort Little Niagara

Fort Little Niagara, built above the Falls of Niagara by French traders and military men, was built as a satellite of Fort Niagara. Fort Niagara protected the mouth of the Niagara River at Lake Ontario and the Lower Landing. Fort Little Niagara anchored the Upper Landing (above the Falls). At the time, the Niagara Frontier was claimed part of New France. To the French crown, Niagara was the third-most important site in North America over which to have control, after Montreal and New Orleans. Niagara was the largest obstacle between these other two points in establishing a water-route fur trade that realized the potential of the Great Lakes interior.

Built by Daniel Joncaire in 1750 at the southern terminus of the Niagara Portage, the French utilized the Chimney and the rest of the fort for nearly a decade. Abandoning the fort to reinforce troops at Fort Niagara, Joncaire burned the barracks and destroyed Little Niagara (and partially-built ships at Burt Ship Creek) in July, 1759 as British forces lay siege in the French and Indian War. The Old Stone Chimney survived this fire. British forces claimed victory at Fort Niagara in July 1759. The Portage and its forts also reverted to British control.

Fort Schlosser

Before, during, and after the American Revolution and signing of the Jay Treaty, British forces maintained presence at the Upper Landing until 1796. Fort Little Niagara what was rebuilt as Fort Schlosser, and named for the first (though temporary) commanding officer, Captain Joseph Schlosser. Portage Master Johnathan Stedman succeeded Schlosser, and lived in a house which utilized the Chimney from 1763 until the end of the British era. The British made improvements to the Portage, including the construction of an incline tramway at the Niagara Escarpment and ox-pulled carts to relay cargo. The utilization of these improvements disengaged native Seneca Indians, previously "employed" by the French. This led to the Devil's Hole Massacre on September 14, 1763, considered part of the Pontiac Rebellion. Stedman was part of the British company and survived the massacre, and returned to his home on the banks of the Niagara River and the reassurance of its hearth.

Private Ownership

Augustus Porter, one of Niagara's prominent early settlers, occupied the Stedman House from 1806 to 1808, while he built an appropriate family home overlooking the Niagara Rapids about a mile downriver. Enos Broughton opened a tavern at the former Stedman house in 1809. This tavern was leased to American military forces as hostilities escalated prior to the War of 1812. Along with most structures along the Niagara Frontier, the building was burned by the British in December 1813. This was in retaliation for the burning of Newark (now Niagara-On-The-Lake), Ontario earlier that month.

In 1818 or 1819, the Chimney remained on the site and was re-used as Epaphroditus Emmons built an inn around it. Emmons moved his inn to another location after a few years. In 1840, the Chimney and Old Stedman Farm was transferred to General Peter B. Porter (Augustus' brother and business partner), and was incorporated as part of another house. While it is uncertain how many years in active use, this structure remained standing until it was torn down in 1889, leaving the Old Stone Chimney standing on its own once again.

Public Domain

The Old Stedman Farm was purchased from the Hon. Peter A. Porter by the Niagara Falls Power Company in 1890, and the first public efforts to "save" the Old Stone Chimney began. An 1891 campaign included the popularization of a song written by Niagara Falls historian Thomas Vincent Welch, a personal friend of Theodore Roosevelt. The stones of the Chimney were marked and carefully moved in 1902, under the watchful eye of C. Breckenridge Porter, great-grandson of Peter Buell Porter. Due to wartime expansion of the Carborundum facility, the Chimney was in harm's way. It was moved again in 1942, again each stone numbered and replaced precisely, the work supervised carefully by local historian Edward T. Williams, the considerable cost was paid by the Niagara Power Company and Carborundum. Completion of the first section of New York State’s Robert Moses Parkway in 1962 did not provide for final relocation of the artifact. Cut off from the park in which it was placed, at the foot of a parkway embankment on private property (an industrial facility which has ceased operation). Efforts to move the chimney are challenged by prohibitive costs.

Old Stone Chimney (1750), In its previous location in the former Porter Park Niagara Falls, NY

As of November 2015 The Chimney has been relocated to the other side of the parkway. The new site is accessible from the parkway with a small parking lot. The bike path crosses in front of the chimney and the Niagara River is behind it.