The Clifton Gate Memorial Arch, in honour of the pioneers who first settled the land, and members of the 1837 Rebellion for governmental change, opened on June 18, 1938. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, grandson of the rebel William Lyon Mackenzie, was present to dedicate the 50-foot monument, located near the Oakes Garden Theatre. The arch contained sculpted bas relief figures and inscriptions, including profiles of some of the rebels.
Twenty-nine years later, the Niagara Parks Commission made the decision to remove the arch to improve traffic flow. By March 1968, it had been completely removed. Pieces of the monument were hauled off to a Parks yard, and the site was cleared for an expansion of the roadway. The remains of the arch were piled in a maintenance yard of the Niagara Parks Commission.
In 1974, a Toronto reporter called Mark Frank discovered the remains of the arch, abandoned outside in the Parks facility. He lamented, "The only vestige of the monument … is an old aerial view of the falls that appears on a plastic tray still available in the souvenir stores of Niagara Falls". Soon after, the Toronto Historical Board - now Heritage Toronto - started a campaign to have some remaining pieces of the arch restored and relocated in Toronto.
In a 2008 article on the website Spacing Toronto, historian Gary Miedema took up the story of the Arch's later fate.
Two large medallions from the arch were retrieved. One depicts the Griffin, the ship of the French explorer La Salle. It stood above the arch's portrayal of LaSalle's discovery of Niagara Falls. The other medallion was of the gunship St. Lawrence, a British vessel from the War of 1812, which stood above the depiction of that war on the arch.
Pieces of the dedication, the portrayal of Mackenzie, the reliefs of Lount and Mathews, and the list of those executed for their role in the 1837-38 rebellions were also retrieved. Various proposals were put forward about where to place the pieces. In the end, the medallions were installed back to back on the northeast corner of Front and Jarvis streets, with two plaques to describe their significance. Close to the former lake shore, the site of the medallions was considered appropriate for their depiction of two of Canada's most historic ships.
The Mackenzie panels were reconstructed in the side yard of Mackenzie House, at 82 Bond Street in downtown Toronto.
Medallions at Jarvis and Front Streets, Toronto.
(Image: Google Street View, 2018)
The Mackenzie panels were reconstructed in the side yard of Mackenzie House, at 82 Bond Street in downtown Toronto.
(Image: Google Street View, 2019)
Meidma, Gary. 2008. Remnants of Niagara's "Arc de Triomphe". Spacing Toronto. http://spacing.ca/toronto/2008/02/08/remnants-of-niagaras-arc-de-triomphe/
Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years. Clifton Gate Memorial Arch/River Road
Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by
Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.
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