The Niagara Science Museum is located in the original National Caron Co. building built in 1910 in Niagara Falls, New York. Its mission is to collect, restore, display and demonstrate old outstanding science instruments. The science museum at the College and Highland Ave. intersection opened in May 2009. The decaying and abandoned Union Carbide plants are still in the background of the museum, a testimony of past industrial glory rather than “the bad things the industry can do to a city”.
At the beginning of twentieth century, the north end of Niagara Falls was bursting with industrial activity fueled by cheap hydroelectric power, by easy access to raw materials, and by the availability of unlimited process water. American chemist Edward Goodrich Acheson just patented a furnace that transformed coke into graphite, and Hubert patented an “electric torch” (today’s flash light). The sky was the limit for industrial development and the industry did just that: aimed for the sky. After almost a century of prosperity and growth, decline set in. The patents expired and much less expensive graphite could be produced elsewhere. Large amount of pollutants were generated and contaminated the land and the water for a long time. The major industries left the area and the decay set in.
Recently signs of revitalization appeared: furnaces to produce silicon for solar cells are ready to be fired, a plant to make state of the art thin film solar modules is ready to enter production, a solar energy research center is in the making, a science museum is ready to open its doors to the public and brown-fields are targeted for cleanup. The history is about to be repeated and we hope the north end of Niagara Falls soon will, once again, burst with industrial activity.