The history of Niagara Falls boat tours

Checked against the sources listed below; several are secondary.

This page tells the story of the boats in the order the sources support it, and it says plainly where they disagree. Most of the early history comes from the operator's own timeline and from local history sites, so it is company-sourced or secondary. We have not found a single neutral reference that settles every date. Where a fact rests on one weak source, the text says so, and the last sections list every dispute together. For today's service, see our guides to Maid of the Mist and Niagara City Cruises.

1846 to 1853: a ferry, then sightseeing

The first Maid of the Mist was a working ferry. Two local history sources describe it carrying people, cargo and mail across the Niagara River for a fee, and the company says the 1846 boat could carry a stagecoach and horses.

The launch date depends on which source you read. Clifton Hill's history and Niagara Falls Info give 27 May 1846. Wikipedia gives 18 September 1846 for the "first trip", which may describe a different event from a launch. We could not confirm who built the 1846 boat. One museum summary names two captains and a dock near the later railway bridge, but we could only reach it through a search snippet, so we do not repeat the details.

A suspension bridge across the gorge, which the sources tie to 1848, hurt the ferry business. The company's timeline says the operators then turned to sightseeing trips toward the falls. That pivot is the origin of the product this site is about: a short boat trip into the basin below the falls, sold to visitors as a view rather than as transport.

1854 to 1861: the second boat and Joel Robinson's run

A second Maid of the Mist was launched on 14 July 1854. It was a single-stack paddle-wheel steamer of about 72 feet, and the company lists it in service from 1854 to 1860.

By 1861 the boat was for sale. The company's timeline says its owner, spelled W. O. Buchanon on the company page and Buchanan in some other accounts (we cannot say which is correct), sold it at auction amid financial trouble and Civil War fears, and that the buyer was a Montreal firm. The boat then had to be delivered downriver. On 6 June 1861 (the date given by a Brock University library exhibit and by Clifton Hill) Captain Joel Robinson ran it through the Great Gorge, the Whirlpool and the lower rapids. Accounts name an engineer, James Jones, and a mechanic, James McIntyre. The boat lost its smokestack, but it and the crew survived.

We do not publish speed, rapids heights or other drama from this run. None of the sources we reached gives measurements we could trace.

1884 to 1955: Carter, LeBlond and the steam era

According to Wikipedia, R. F. Carter and Frank LeBlond (also spelled "LaBlond") formed the present company in 1884. The company's timeline says they launched a new boat on 13 June 1885, one that went closer to the Horseshoe Falls than earlier boats. A second steam boat followed in 1892. The company calls it 70 feet of white oak, while Wikipedia gives 89 feet, so we treat the size as unsettled.

Wikipedia, citing Niagara Parks archives, also lists a separate "Maid of the Mist Incline Railway" on the Canadian side between 1894 and 1990. That is a different thing from the Falls Incline Railway that Niagara Parks runs today between Fallsview and Table Rock. The present railway does not go to the boat dock; see the master guide for how to reach each boarding point.

The company timeline records an ice jam in 1938 that threatened two Maid boats in their winter berths. Both survived.

1955: the fire and the switch to steel diesel

On 22 April 1955 a welder's torch started a fire that destroyed both wooden steamers at their Canadian-side winter berths, per the company timeline and Clifton Hill. The season was saved by a 40-foot yacht, The Little Maid. On 28 July 1955 the first all-steel diesel boat was launched, again per Clifton Hill. Diesel boats then carried the business for more than six decades.

One later event is widely retold. On 9 July 1960 seven-year-old Roger Woodward went over the Horseshoe Falls wearing a life jacket and survived. Wikipedia and Clifton Hill say the 1956 Maid of the Mist took part in the rescue and describe him as the first known person to survive the drop with only a life jacket. We treat that as secondary-sourced.

From steam to diesel to electric: a table without boat numbers

Sources number the boats inconsistently. Some lists show two boats with the same numeral, and the company's own history table and outside summaries disagree on capacities. So the table below is arranged by year and does not give a numbered roster. Use it as a guide to the shape of the fleet, not as a registry.

The 1997 row shows how far the sources diverge: three capacities for one boat. We also keep the correct names of today's boats. They are James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla. They are not "Maid of the Mist VII and VIII", a label that appears in some older pages and is wrong.

The Glynn era

James V. Glynn joined the company in 1950, described as a ticket seller in the company timeline and as a ticket taker in its 2026 press release. He became president in 1971, and Wikipedia and the press release say he bought the company that year. His family has owned it since. The 2026 release says he died on 28 December 2025 at age 91, and that 2026 was the first season since 1950 without him. Christopher M. Glynn is named as president. We publish nothing about him beyond what these sources state.

2009 to 2013: from one operator on both shores to two

For decades the company ran boats from both Canada and the US. On the Canadian side it operated on a Niagara Parks land lease that had not gone to tender. Reports say the Ontario cabinet ordered competitive bidding in 2009 after fairness complaints. One summary also mentions an untendered 25-year extension in 2008, which we have seen only through a search summary of a CTV story. "Monopoly" is a characterization, not a sourced term, so this site says only that the company operated on both shores.

In February 2012 the Niagara Parks Commission named Hornblower Canada Co., a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Hornblower Cruises and Events, the winner of a 30-year Canadian-side contract and land lease. Several news and company sources agree on the month. Maid of the Mist then lost its Canadian winter storage with the lease. On 4 December 2012 New York's governor announced a deal for a $32 million winter dock on the US side, at the former Schoellkopf Power Station site, according to the company timeline and Clifton Hill. A Globe and Mail summary adds that the company pays for the dock and that New York expected about $105 million in revenue over 30 years. We repeat these as reported.

Maid of the Mist's last Canadian-side day was in late October 2013. A CTV headline of 24 October says it "completes its final voyage", while a blog gives 26 October, so the sources differ by two days. Hornblower challenged the company's New York contract in court, and the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, ruled for Maid of the Mist by October 2014. We did not verify whether specific boats were moved or sold in 2013.

2014 to today: Hornblower becomes Niagara City Cruises

Hornblower Niagara Cruises held a ribbon cutting on 14 May 2014 and opened to the public on 15 May 2014. Opening had been expected in mid-April. A 2015 company blog says the service began in April 2014, which does not match, so we use the May dates from the company's opening announcement. It launched with 700-passenger catamarans and the company says it holds the exclusive right on the Canadian side to run tours to all three falls.

The boats today are Niagara Wonder and Niagara Thunder, described in secondary sources as double-deck catamarans of about 700 passengers each, designed by Elliott Bay Design Group and built by Hike Metal Products in Wheatley, Ontario. The operator's own site does not publish those numbers.

On 6 April 2021 Hornblower Group rebranded as City Experiences, with more than 25 brands. Travel listings say the Niagara operation became Niagara City Cruises in 2021, but we found no primary notice of the exact date. Older forum posts and blogs still say "Hornblower"; see Hornblower is now Niagara City Cruises.

The parent company filed for Chapter 11 protection (with recognition proceedings in Canada) on 21 February 2024 and emerged on 5 July 2024. The Globe and Mail and Maritime Executive report majority ownership by Strategic Value Partners, a minority stake held by Crestview, and a cut of about US$720 million in debt. The Globe reports Niagara exclusivity running through 2043. Thirty years from 2014 would be 2044, so a one-year gap remains unexplained. We do not publish the $500 million guarantee figure that appears in one trade-press summary because we could not trace it.

2019 to 2020: electric boats

Maid of the Mist announced two emissions-free vessels on 3 May 2019. The company says it launched two fully electric boats in 2020 and christened James V. Glynn that year. Baird Maritime, a trade publication, reported in May 2021 that the boats were aluminium catamarans for 600 passengers, built by Burger Boat Co. with final assembly at the company's Buffalo dry dock, with 316 kWh of lithium-ion batteries in total and about seven minutes of shore charging. The company calls them the first emissions-free vessels of their kind in the US, which is a company claim. Debut dates in secondary sources vary from 2020 to 2021, so we use "2020" for the launch. More in the electric boats guide.

Why 2026 is the "141st season"

Maid of the Mist's 2026 press release calls the season its 141st, and its 2025 release called that year the 140th. That is the company's own count. It is not 1846 plus the years since, which would give about 181, and it does not obviously start at 1885, which would make 2026 the 142nd. The basis for the count is not documented anywhere we could find. Read it as a marketing figure and use it with attribution.

Daredevils in brief

Two stunts often appear beside the boat story. The tightrope walker Charles Blondin first crossed the gorge on 30 June 1859, and the Library of Congress counts nine crossings that summer. Annie Edson Taylor went over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel on 24 October 1901 and survived. Sources disagree on her age (62 or 63, while she claimed 42). Neither event involved the boats.

The Maid of the Mist legend

The name is often tied to a story of a sacrificed maiden. According to a Wikipedia article citing a historian named Strand, the legend is a non-Indigenous literary invention, and in 1996 Native groups threatened a boycott over a narrated version of the story on the boats, after which the company dropped the audio. We have not checked the original source, so treat this as an unverified summary and do not repeat the legend as Indigenous tradition.

Indigenous context and the name Niagara

The Niagara Falls Public Library says there seems to be no consensus about the origin of the word Niagara. The earliest written form we found, Onguiaahra, was recorded by a Jesuit in 1641. Proposed derivations include a Neutral group name, Niagagarega, which Wikipedia attributes to the scholar Bruce Trigger. Another reading is "point of land cut in two", credited to George R. Stewart, and the library suggests "the neck" or "the strait". A weakly sourced article offers "near the big waters". A popular English gloss for the name is not reliably supported by the sources we read, so this site does not use it.

The Neutral Confederacy lived on the Niagara Peninsula. Their own name is given as Chonnonton, "people of the deer", and Attawandaron was the Wendat name for them. Wikipedia says the Haudenosaunee dispersed the Neutrals between 1651 and 1653 and that survivors were absorbed into other peoples, including the Seneca. We did not reach primary scholarship such as Trigger's Children of Aataentsic, so these points are secondary.

We have not published a Seneca-language name for the area, because the one cited in a secondary source could not be verified. Readers who want authoritative names and present-day territory statements should contact the Seneca Nation Cultural Center or the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and consult interpretive material from Niagara Parks and New York State Parks.

Timeline

1. 1846First Maid of the MistA steamboat named Maid of the Mist starts as a river ferry. Launch date differs by source: 27 May 1846 (two secondary sources) or 18 September 1846 (Wikipedia).
2. 1848Suspension bridgeA suspension bridge across the gorge hurts the ferry business, and the operators turn to sightseeing trips toward the falls. The sources do not separately date the bridge's opening.
3. 14 July 1854Second boatA second Maid of the Mist, about 72 feet and a paddle-wheel steamer, is launched. It is in service until 1860.
4. 6 June 1861Joel Robinson's runCaptain Joel Robinson takes the boat through the gorge rapids after it was sold at auction. Destination and his middle initial are disputed.
5. 1884 and 13 June 1885Carter and LeBlondR. F. Carter and Frank LeBlond form the present company (1884) and launch a new boat (13 June 1885).
6. 22 April 1955FireA welder's torch fire destroys both wooden steamers at their Canadian-side winter berths. A 40-foot yacht, The Little Maid, saves the season.
7. 28 July 1955First all-steel dieselThe first all-steel diesel Maid of the Mist is launched, according to Clifton Hill's history.
8. 1971Glynn eraJames V. Glynn becomes president and, by the company's and Wikipedia's account, buys the company. The Glynn family has owned it since.
9. 2009Bidding orderedThe Ontario cabinet orders competitive bidding for the Canadian-side lease after fairness complaints.
10. February 2012Hornblower winsThe Niagara Parks Commission names Hornblower Canada Co. the winner of a 30-year Canadian-side contract.
11. Late October 2013Last Canadian dayMaid of the Mist ends Canadian operations. Sources give 24 or 26 October.
12. 14 to 15 May 2014Hornblower opensRibbon cutting on 14 May and public opening on 15 May 2014, with 700-passenger catamarans.
13. 2020Electric boatsMaid of the Mist launches the all-electric James V. Glynn and Nikola Tesla after a May 2019 announcement.
14. 6 April 2021City ExperiencesHornblower Group rebrands as City Experiences. The Niagara operation is later listed as Niagara City Cruises.
15. 28 December 2025Death of James V. GlynnThe Maid of the Mist chairman dies aged 91, according to the company's 2026 season release.
16. 24 April 2026141st seasonMaid of the Mist opens what the company calls its 141st season. It ends 8 November 2026.

Disputed or unverified

These are the open questions in our research. Anything on this list is either shown with its conflict in the text above or left out.

• 1846 boat: launch date (27 May or 18 September) and who built it.
• 1861 run: destination (Queenston, Lake Ontario or Lewiston) and Captain Robinson's middle initial (B. or R.); what became of the boat.
• 2013: whether specific boats were moved, and the exact last Canadian day (24 or 26 October).
• Fleet: any boat-by-boat roster and numbering, and the 1990 and 1997 capacities.
• 141st season: what the count is based on.
• Niagara City Cruises name: the date the Niagara operation took it (2021 comes from a travel listing).
• Hornblower contract: end year (2043 or 2044) and the reported $500 million guarantee.
• Falls dimensions: Bridal Veil height, crest widths and American Falls height; see Niagara Falls facts.
• Science ranges: recession rates and the age of the falls.
• Power plants and events: Beck I opening year (1921 or 1922), Moses plant capacity (2,525 or 2,675 MW), and the month of the 1850 Table Rock fall.
• Not verified: a 1931 ice bridge, the date of any ice-bridge ban, water temperature, mist figures, and a Seneca name for the area.

Where to go next

For prices and hours today, use the prices guide and the comparison. Numbers about the falls themselves are on the facts page. To see how we handle conflicts like those above, read the methodology.

Frequently asked questions