The Palace of Light

At one time, the second biggest attraction in Niagara Falls, NY after the famed waterfalls was the Shredded Wheat Company (later known as Nabisco). The company was established in 1901 on Buffalo Avenue. 

Before factory tours were discontinued in 1946, 100,000 people visited the factory every year. The tour was “part of the marketing of Niagara Falls.” People from all over the world, everyone from tourists to honeymooners, visited the Falls and the factory. 

The five-story factory was known as ‘The Palace of Light’ because it had almost 850 windows, which allowed natural light to filter through all 30,000 panes of glass. When construction of the plant began, the Niagara Gazette ran a headline that read: “It Sounds Like a Dream, Reads like a Fairy Tale, Seems too Good to be True.” 

The factory was the brainchild of Ohio native Henry D. Perky, who wanted to create “a pleasant place for workers.” It boasted marble bathroom facilities, “a chandeliered lobby, a library, an 800-seat theater, a roof garden with a view of the falls, [and] even a ballroom.” 

The Olmsted Brothers designed the exterior “landscaped paths, winding drives, playground, tennis court, [base]ball diamond and plots for employee gardens.” These features were “decades ahead of American corporate thinking.” The mammoth factory was dubbed ‘One of the Wonders of Niagara.’

Perky built his factory in Niagara Falls because of the cheap and recent invention of hydroelectricity, which was needed to power the machinery and ovens used to make Shredded Wheat. “He also knew that building his factory in a famous place would help sales.” 

A jack-of-all-trades, Perky invented Shredded Wheat in 1890 to cure his indigestion. He was a huge proponent of the larger natural health movement and vigorously marketed his product by claiming that it had “restored his own health.” 

Perky believed that factory tours were the best way to get people to buy his products and to buy into his philosophy of health. As part of the tour, visitors assembled for “lectures on diet, cooking and good living.” 

What’s more, every box of Shredded Wheat “contained messages about healthy living” and a picture of “the unofficial symbol of America”--Niagara Falls. 

“When Nabisco moved the plant to Rainbow Boulevard in 1950, the towering silos were such a landmark that they played a part in the 1953 movie ‘Niagara,’ starring Marilyn Monroe.” The Buffalo Avenue factory was soon demolished.



While Perky didn’t stay in Niagara Falls for very long, Shredded Wheat was made there until 1992 when production moved elsewhere. That June, 12,000 people showed up for the 100th anniversary of the popular cereal. Breakfast was served at the brink of the Falls with host Dick Clark presiding.

Hope L. Russell, Ph.D.