Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Niagara Falls is known for the beauty of the mighty waterfalls that bear the name, but thanks to Nikola Tesla the production of hydro electricity is a close second. Tesla was an ingenious inventor and one of his greatest accomplishments was inventing alternating current.

Tesla brought his discovery to Niagara Falls and along with George Westinghouse, Thomas Evershed, Benjamin G. Lamme and Oliver Shallenberger built the Adams Power Station in 1895. The Adams Power Station was at the time the world’s largest hydro-electric plant and was located in Niagara Falls New York.

Nikola Tesla has many claims to fame because of his many inventions over his adult life. His accomplishments in both Niagara Falls New York and Niagara Falls Canada have resulted in monuments erected in his honor.

On Goat Island in Niagara Falls USA a monument to Tesla, portraying him reading a set of notes, was sculpted by Frano Kršinić. The statue was delivered in 1976 by Yugoslavia. An identical copy of this monument stands in front of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

The monument was located near the Cave of the Winds entrance and gift shop, but is being moved to Stedman’s Bluff near the Luna Island bridge over the Bridal Falls.

Nikola Tesla Monument in Niagara Falls Ontario

In Niagara Falls Ontario a monument of Tesla standing on a portion of an alternator, was erected at Queen Victoria Park on July 9th, 2006 to celebrate his 150th birthday. The monument was sponsored by St. George Serbian Church, Niagara Falls, and designed by Les Drysdale of Hamilton, Ontario.

Adams Power Station on Buffalo Avenue

Tesla’s invention of alternating current or AC as it is known today was revolutionary in the later 1800’s because it allowed electrical current to travel miles instead of yards as with direct current.

Nikola Tesla’s life had many successes, but he lived out his final days relatively obscure. It was in the last forty years that the Tesla genius and reputation has been resurrected.

Arch from Adams Power Station now located on Goat Island

Today what remains of the historic Adams Power Station is located on the banks of the upper Niagara River near the Niagara Falls New York waste treatment plant. The structure sits, fenced off from the public and unavailable to sight-seers. The building has been placed on the National Registry as a National Landmark.

An arch from the original Adams Power Plant was moved to Goat Island and sits just yards from the Nikola Tesla monument itself.