The second Clifton House Hotel was built in 1905 near the site of the previous Clifton House Hotel, which had burned down in 1898. It was a "picturesque building, with broad verandas and high wooden columns". It had parlours, writing rooms, a spacious ball room, a palm room full of flowering plants, a billard room, a solarium with fireplaces, and the office was connected with phone. 270 sleeping rooms boasted electric light and heat, hot and cold water, bath facilities and an electric elevator. Cuisine was of the highest excellence.
The Clifton was a popular spot for dinner dancing, although the General Brock Hotel opened nearby in 1929, with similar facilities. Business declined, until tragedy struck on December 31st, 1932, when a fire that had started in the north wing consumed the entire building. Some of the furnishings were salvaged and stored in the Foxhead Hotel garage across the street. The nearby Lafeyette Hotel caught fire several times, but was saved by firefighters.
This time, the hotel was not replaced. The Lafayette was torn down, and both properties were converted into today's Oakes Garden Theatre.
Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years. Clifton House Hotel (second)/ Oakes Garden Theatre
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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