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In our last post, we talked about how John Stedman owned Goat Island, thus leading to the renaming of the island. Interestingly enough, New York State gained control of the island...and sold it!-In 1816, two brothers bought Goat Island: General Peter Porter and Judge Augustus Porter.-The Porter Brothers worked hard to make some renovations to the island for tourism purposes. They first built a bridge to Goat Island with a toll. People would have to pay 25 cents to cross to get an amazing view of the Horseshoe Falls.-On top of this, they built a 300ft long plank walkway that stretched 10ft over the crestline of the Horseshoe Falls! This walkway, built at Porter’s Bluff (present day Terrapin Point) wasn’t constructed very well and had no safety railings! This overhang was used often by Francis Abbott (the Hermit of Niagara Falls), who would perform stunts at the very edge of the walkway! -Aside from this walkway, the Porter Brothers had another very interesting plan in mind, which would mark the Falls' skyline for decades. What was the Porters' brilliant idea? Tune in next week to find out!---#NiagaraFalls #NiagaraFallsUSA #Weirdhistory #historymatters #travel #niagara