Niagara History Center

For years, Union Station was a railroad landmark in Lockport, NY. The train station was built in 1889, and was a stop for trains traveling between Niagara Falls and Rochester. The station was made with red bricks, elaborate stone trim, limestone archways, and even had imported Tiffany & Co. Windows. At its peak in the early 1900’s, Union Station would service up to 35 trains per day. It remained open to trains until 1957, when the New York Central Falls Road line, which the station was positioned on, ended passenger service. Union Station was abandoned for 10 years, until it was renovated into a Victorian-style restaurant in 1971. Unfortunately, the Union Station Restaurant was not open long due to major fires in 1974 and again in 1978. The restaurant was rebuilt and renamed to “The Depot” after the 1974 fire, but it was closed permanently after the second devastating fire struck.
Union Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, which allowed potential renovators to be able to apply for grants to rebuild Union Station to its former glory. However, the station has mostly received rehabilitation in the form of stability measures, which look to prevent further damage. This is mostly due to the multi-millions that would have to be invested in restoring Union Station.

While Lockport is famous for its “Flight of Five” Locks (hence the city’s name), its locks have changed a lot over the years! In 1825, the Erie Canal opened and the Lockport Locks were in business for boats. It featured two sets of five locks, one side for boats to go up and another to go down. The locks were 12 feet deep, 90 feet long, and 15 feet wide. The Erie Canal very quickly became one of the most important water shipping routes in the United States, and the increased boat travel led the state of New York to realize they already needed a bigger canal. In 1835, just ten years after the canal opened, an enlargement project for the canal was approved. The whole canal was widened and deepened, but in Lockport the locks were also modified. They were expanded to 110 feet long and 18 feet wide, allowing boats to be larger and hold more cargo. Today, the five “old” locks in Lockport have these dimensions from the first enlargement.
In 1905, the first gasoline-powered boat patent was filed. That same year, New York began a massive construction project on the Erie Canal to turn it into the New York State Barge Canal, making it suitable for motorized boats, as mules didn’t need to pull boats anymore. In Lockport, one set of five locks was ripped out and replaced with larger Barge Canal locks, measuring 328 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. These locks are still operational in Lockport today, and give a wonderful view to tourists of the historic Flight of Five right next to working locks. Shown are three images showing all three phases of the Lockport Locks.