From modest origins as a precocious young gymnast in Hesdin, Northern France, Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as Charles Blondin, was one of the greatest funambulists, or tightrope-walkers, of all time. He was born in St. Omer, France on Feb. 28, 1824, and performed all around the world, but perhaps his greatest fame stemmed from his world-renowned tightrope crossings of the thunderous Niagara Gorge in 1859 and 1860.

Join Niagara Falls historian Sherman Zavitz on this two-point mini-tour from Victoria Avenue to the base of Clifton Hill, as he tells the fascinating story of the first and most famous of the Niagara Falls tightrope walkers.

Abbott, Karen. 2011. The Daredevil of Niagara Falls [Blondin]. Smithsonian Magazine, October, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-daredevil-of-niagara-falls-110492884/

Banks, G. Linnaeus (editor). 1862. Blondin: His Life and Performances. Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, London and New York.

Livius. 2015.156 years ago today, the first man crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope. The History Blog. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/date/2015/06

Zavitz, Sherman. 2000. Niagara Falls: dramatic true stories from Niagara's remarkable past. Audio CD. Niagara Falls Public Library. https://live.nflibrary.ca/eg/opac/record/126356?query=zavitz%20dramatic

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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Copyright for all content remains with original creators.