Famous shipwreck teetering above Niagara Falls shifts closer to its end
The famous rusted shipwreck that has been teetering above Ontario’s Niagara Falls since 1918 is now closer to the brink.
The Niagara Scow (also known as the Iron Scow or Old Scow) has been lodged just above the Canadian Horseshoe Falls for 107 years after breaking free from a tugboat and grounding in rapids during a rescue mission to save its two occupants.
Occupants of the scow were ultimately saved just 766 metres shy of the edge and certain death, and the scow remained in its precarious position for just over a century.
However, after decades of rust eating away at the boat, combined with the battering of the Upper Niagara River, the scow has been gradually shifting and breaking apart since 2019.
And the scow shifted again last week, bringing the longstanding landmark closer to its end.
Niagara Parks shared on social media that the old rusted shipwreck shifted downstream, closer to the edge of the falls.
And, while the recent shift brings the shipwreck just a bit closer to the fate it narrowly avoided in 1918, Niagara Parks states that “Experts believe it’s expected to remain in place until nature slowly claims it.”
Following a previous breakup event in 2022, the senior manager of heritage for Niagara Parks said that the vessel has been deteriorating since its move in 2019 and is “maybe just reaching the end of its life out there.”