Ithaca Falls is one of the most spectacular scenic wonders of New York’s Finger Lakes region. Fall Creek, which carries the waters of Cayuga Lake’s largest sub-watershed, roars over the falls in a little city park just a minute’s walk from city streets. Though countless thousands have stood in awe of this grand cataract, few have known the story behind its major role in the 19th century industrial history of Ithaca, nor the role Ezra Cornell played in that story before he founded Cornell University. That story is now available to all in the form of outdoor interpretive exhibits installed at the park at the entrance to the gorge in 2018.
In this encore episode (#194) of Walk in the Park, officials from the City of Ithaca, Tompkins County Legislature, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, Cornell Botanic Gardens, and others gathered to dedicate and celebrate the installation of new interpretive signs in the park.
(The speeches begin at 4:15 in the timeline and mostly end with a ribbon cutting at 13:16, in case you want to scrub through them.)
Join us on a walk up along Fall Creek below and above Ithaca Falls while Todd Bittner, Director of Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas, shows us Ezra’s tunnel by the Falls and reveals the role of Ithaca Falls in Ithaca’s 19th century growth, prosperity, and connection to the world.
Walk in the Park is a non-commercial public access cable television series seen on Ithaca area channel 13. It is produced by Tony Ingraham, Owl Gorge Productions, a Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance partner.
