The Old Stone Chimney & the Forgotten Highway of Empire 🌊

The Old Stone Chimney & the Forgotten Highway of Empire 🌊

Before there were roads, canals, or railways—there was the Niagara River Portage.

Long before the roar of the Falls drew tourists, this stretch of land was one of the most important transportation routes in North America. The portage was a vital link connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, used by Indigenous nations, French traders, British soldiers, and American pioneers alike. Goods, weapons, and people were carried—often on foot or by mule—around the impassable Falls, from Lewiston upriver toward Lake Erie.

Without it, there would have been no Fort Niagara. No western expansion. No Erie Canal. The Niagara Portage was the lifeline of empire, war, and commerce.

And right there in the middle of it stood the Old Stone Chimney, built by the French in 1750 as part of a military barracks. It saw the rise and fall of empires. It survived the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolution, and centuries of industrialization.

But what’s even more powerful? The fact that the community saved it—not once, but three times, physically relocating the chimney to protect it from demolition. They understood: this wasn’t just a pile of bricks. It was proof of what this region once was—strategic, contested, and central to the making of a continent.

🛶 When you stand near that chimney, you’re standing on ground that once carried armies and furs, mail and musket balls. You’re standing on the route that helped build North America.

Don’t overlook it. This isn’t just local history—it’s world history, and it happened right here on the banks of the Niagara.