The End Of The Niagara Scow

In 1918, two men were working in a barge on the American side of Niagara Falls when the barge broke it's mooring and was carried by the current in the river toward the falls. Not long before they would have gone over the falls, they managed to open a hole in the bottom of the barge in shallow water. The barge filled with water and this saved them from going over the falls, but they were still stranded out in the middle of the river.

In the days before helicopters, a rescue crew on the Canadian side attempted through the night to use rockets to shoot a line out to the stranded barge. First one man was rescued, and then the other. 

The barge remained there and became known as the Scow, and was part of the attractions at Niagara Falls for decades. Endless millions of people saw it. I remember when I first saw it. The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Niagara Scow".

But the weather and the current took a gradual toll on the barge. It was in the news when heavy winds caused it to shift some distance downstream. Recently it was in the news again. It seems that it has deteriorated further.

The following first two images are from Google Street View. In the first image the barge, seen from the Canadian shore, appears as still intact. In the second image, taken some time later, it has broken into two pieces. The tall buildings on the American side can be seen in the background. The third image is from Google Earth, showing it in two pieces, in the center of the image.

It looks like a Niagara story is nearing it's end.