The history of Chippawa

From the Niagara Falls Review:

History came alive Sunday as Sherman Zavitz, the city’s official historian, hosted a walking tour of Chippawa.

Before a crowd of 80 people, Zavitz said the area was first mentioned 339 years ago, even before there was a town.

On Dec. 7, 1678, Louis Hennepin, a missionary and explorer, became the first European to view the mighty Niagara Falls.

“He was awed by the spectacle,” Zavitz said. “He later wrote in his diary the falls were a vast and prodigious cadence of water falling down in an astonishing manner.”

That night, Hennepin and his company set up camp alongside the Welland River, in an area now known as Kingsbridge Park.

The walking tour focused on the history of the area on both sides of the river, commonly referred to as Chippawa Creek.

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