Cohoes Falls - Unique Beautiful Largest Volume Waterfall in New York
EducationCohoes Falls - Unique Beautiful Largest Volume Waterfall in New York
Cohoes Falls is a large 1,000 feet long and 75 to 90 feet high waterfall located along the Mohawk River shortly before it merges with the Hudson River in east-central New York. Though considered the second largest waterfall in New York after Niagara Falls, Cohoes Falls actually is longer and when flowing at full force has more water flow than the American Falls.
Of course when the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side are counted Niagara Falls in total dwarfs Cohoes Falls. But the American Falls in New York State are 830 feet long and has a peak water flow of 21,000 cubic feet per second. Cohoes Falls has a peak water flow of 90,000 cubic feet per second which is four times as much water as the American Falls. So when Cohoes Falls flows at peak volume it is technically the largest volume waterfall in New York.
Image Source by dougtone (Cohoes Falls as full volume)
Cohoes Falls has always been a special place to the native Mohawk Indians and to the mighty Iroquois Nation. The falls is named for an Iroquois word Coh-hoos which means "falling canoe" or "ship-wrecked canoe".
Image Source by dougtone (Cohoes Falls near full volume)
Europeans and American settlers have been visiting Cohoes Falls since at least 1642 when the Dutch-American Reverend Johannes Magapolensis of Albany wrote wrote about the falls to friends in Holland. In 1660 English Governor Thomas Pownal visited Cohoes Falls and wrote down a description as well as making a sketch of the falls.
In 1804 famous Irish poet Thomas Moore penned a poem about Cohoes Falls which he called, "Lines Written at the Cohos or Falls of the Mohawk River." Cohoes Falls has historically also been called The Great Falls of the Mohawk River.
In 1831 the first in a series of dams was built above Cohoes Falls to divert the water from the Mohawk River for power generation. Since that time the water over the falls only flows at full force after heavy rains or during the spring runoff. Today water is still being diverted from the falls to produce hydro-electricity. During dry spells little or no water flows over Cohoes Falls exposing the rock formations the water has flowed over for thousands of years in the river bed.
Visiting Cohoes Falls is easy. There are two parks along the Mohawk River in Cohoes, New York that offer visitors great views of Cohoes Falls. Falls View Park is located right along North Mohawk Street in the city of Cohoes, New York and just down the street on Cataract Street which is just off North Mohawk is Cohoes Falls Overlook Park. From both of these park visitors can great views of beautiful unique Cohoes Falls the largest volume waterfall in New York when flowing at full force.
Image Source by bobistraveling
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Sources:http://www.cohoes.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohoes_Falls