DeVeaux Woods State Park is located in the northwest (“DeVeaux”) section of Niagara Falls. It is bordered on the west by the Robert Moses Parkway, the east by Route 104 (Lewiston Rd.), to the south by Findlay Drive, and to the north by College Avenue, with its fine early to mid 1900’s homes. The park was created in 1998 when New York State purchased the 51 acre site from Niagara University, making it the 159th State Park.
Background...
The property was deeded in the mid 1850’s as “The DeVeaux College for Orphans and Destitute Children” by Judge Samuel DeVeaux, one of the founding citizens of Suspension Bridge, NY (now the “north end” of Niagara Falls ). The College later became DeVeaux College – a military prep school, which closed in 1972, prior to being purchased in 1978 by Niagara University, which never really utilized the site to any degree, other than housing the Castellani Art Gallery until the mid 1990’s. There are nine buildings on the property that “will be surveyed and evaluated by State Parks to determine potential adaptive reuse, which may include relocating the Niagara Region Administrative offices to the new state park and/or the development of an education-oriented nature center”. Two buildings on the property date back to the mid-1800s – a carriage house (c. 1863), and a maintenance building (c. 1870). The park has two baseball diamonds which have been used by the Whirlpool Park Little League for many years; several buildings which the Parks Dept. utilizes, and several other boarded up structures. An abandoned tennis court is on the northern edge of the property. There is also a nice playground and restrooms which were newly constructed last year. The Goat Island “View Mobiles” also appear to have made their final resting place here. The most notable feature, however is a 5 acre “old growth” forest on the western border, which has oak trees that date back to the mid 1700’s. The importance of this small but historic forested area is exemplified by P.M. Eckel, a botanist with the Buffalo Museum of Science, who surveyed the flora here in the 1980’s …
“…Very little of the original forest cover remains on the American side of the River. Goat Island, although once considered a primeval woodland, is no longer so. Most of the woodland at the River's edge at the base of the Gorge is replacement woods regenerating after denudation to provide a bed for the famous Gorge Route Railway. Devil's Hole, since it lost its natural spring due to encapturement of ground water associated with the Robert Moses Power Project, has become more arid, with a probable loss of species diversity and abundance there. Although not every area of the American gorge has been examined by the author (e.g. the area between the Sewage Treatment plant and the American Falls at the base of the Gorge; the base of Goat Island), I believe it is safe to say that DeVeaux College woods is the oldest, most unaltered woodland along the entire American Gorge, including the Falls area, at the present time…”
She further writes…
“…The most spectacular element of the forest (in a region of spectacular natural features) are the old Red Oaks… some of them over nine feet in circumference, breast height. These Oaks tower above all the other trees, forcing the maples, beeches and black cherries, etc. into their shade…”
(Eckel, PM: Flora of DeVeaux College Woods, Clintonia 1986:1 [supp.])
TeamRover felt this little known forest and park deserved a cache of its own, so that fellow cachers could discover and share another hidden treasure of WNY, as we have done in finding other’s caches. The south section of the woods, unfortunately, appears to be an area of occasional bonfires/gatherings and there are many bottles strewn about. You may also come across an old gravestone here dating back to the 1800’s (its inscription is now illegible due to vandalism). Please practice cache in/trash out to help clean up these magnificent and sublime woods. Enjoy.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER ANY OF THE BUILDINGS
First to Find = gifireman
 Poison Plant Alert  Cache In - Trash Out!  Bicycles permitted on paths
 Restrooms nearby
 Accessible in Winter
 Wear bug repellant! |
|
|