Marriages & Honeymoons:
Romance at Niagara Falls By Sherman Zavitz
Writing about honeymooners at Niagara Falls for the May, 1947 issue of Chatelaine Magazine, well-known Canadian journalist Lotta Dempsey noted that most couples at the falls held hands and wandered around in a “dazed and daffy coma” – not a particularly romantic picture. Nevertheless, as a honeymoon destination, no place is more famous in North American culture than Niagara Falls. Americans Joseph and Theodosia Alston are often referred to as Niagara’s very first honeymooners, although that is a term they would not have been familiar with. Both were from wealthy, prominent families – Theodosia’s father, Aaron Burr, was the third vice president of the United States. Arriving here during the summer of 1801 on what they called their “northern journey,” their trip to Niagara did not take place just after their wedding. In fact, it was five months after the ceremony before they gazed in amazement at the mighty cataracts – a scene Theodosia called “magnificent.” Nor were they alone since a number of servants were with them. Not until the mid-1830s are there references about wedding journeys, (as they were once called), to Niagara Falls that took place soon after the marriage. Among the earliest are these: an
author visiting Niagara Falls in 1836 noted meeting “a young married couple who had come to pay true homage to nature by consecrating their new happiness at this shrine.” Three years later an article entitled “A letter from the Falls of Niagara” appeared in a well-known magazine of the time. It reported, “At the present genial season, this beautiful spot is a favourite resort of lately married pairs. I have counted several cooing couples, both Canadian and American, fulfilling the fleeting period of their honey lunacy” – a hint that the term ‘honeymoon” was starting to be used in popular vocabulary. So it would seem we can date the beginning of the private, romantic journey to Niagara Falls to the late 1830s. Still, it wasn’t until affordable, convenient, safe transportation became available that trips to Niagara Falls, honeymoon or otherwise, became common. Therefore, not until the railways arrived here in the 1840s and 1850s did Niagara Falls become accessible to most people. Only then did honeymoon trips to Niagara start to become a widely accepted custom. But why did Niagara Falls become such a major magnet for honeymooners? During the last half of the 19th century in particular, a visit to see the extraordinary spectacle that is
