Hyde Park Municipal Golf Course history

In 1832, a retired army officer named Captain Ogden Creighton purchased land from the Bender family and laid out lots and streets for a village.

Elgin was named after Lord Elgin, the Governor General at that time, and who resided in Drummondville in 1849.

Creighton did little to promote his village, and it failed to expand until after his death in 1850.

A number of workmen's shanties and houses sprang up around the bridgehead, and this collection of people was incorporated into the village of Elgin in 1853, with a population of about 100.

The new bridge was opened in 1855.

The question of amalgamation was put before voters in 1856; the vote was carried and Clifton and Elgin combined to form the Town of Clifton on June 19, 1856.

The first canal, feeding water to mills, was opened in 1861 by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company.

In 1881, Clifton changed its name to the Town of Niagara Falls.

On March 13, 1882, the Village of Niagara Falls (South) was incorporated, covering an area of 200 acres and with a population of 979 people.

On March 17th 1892 (St Patrick’s Day) New York State Governor, Roswell P. Flower signed the charter merging both villages to form the City of Niagara Falls, New York.

Not only are the Falls themselves powerful, but the City of Niagara was the birthplace of hydroelectric power! In 1896, Nikola Tesla developed the alternating current system, which allowed for the transmission of power generated along the Niagara River to homes and businesses.

Founded by Frank A. Dudley in 1901, the course was designed by William F. and David W. Gordon, starting with only a nine-hole course, known today as the Red-Nine.

The two communities amalgamated to create the City of Niagara Falls in 1904.

The company sold the homes in 1910.

And in 1916 they found it, moving to the Town of Lewiston where the original nine-hole golf course remained.

The new and improved club opened on June 1, 1919 with Alfred “Alf” Campbell as the club’s first head professional.

In 1938, the area surrounding the golf course was developed by the Hyde family into what is now known as Hyde Park, a beloved public recreation facility.

In 1956, the Schoellkopf Power Plant was damaged when a section of the Niagara Gorge wall collapsed.

With the advent of regional government in 1970, Chippawa, Willoughby Township and a small portion of Crowland Township also became part of Niagara Falls.

In 1973, the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center opened.

Cesar Pelli’s Wintergarden opened in 1977.

I’m sure these plans had nothing to do with Niagara Falls, Ontario opening Casino Niagara in 1996.

Then in 1998 they announced they’d build the Niagara Fallsview Casino, too.

The former mayor, Vincent Anello, was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2010, which were dropped as part of a plea deal when he pled guilty to unrelated fraud charges for an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers deal.

In 2012, back payments for Niagara Falls were up to $60 million.

In 2014, the US Housing and Urban Development Office asked the Niagara Falls Housing Authority to return $1.5 million in funds that had been mis-spent.

In 2018 the City issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) that allowed golf-oriented businesses to openly bid on operating the property, while at the same time, providing the City with some much-needed financial relief.