Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in Niagara Falls, New York that was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor companies efforts to construct a canal used for hydraulic mill power. In 1918, the company merged with Niagara Falls Power Company, which later became Niagara Mohawk and in 2002 was acquired by National Grid plc. Early history Porter, Barton and Company In 1805, "Porter, Barton & Company," which comprised Augustus Porter, Peter Porter, Benjamin Barton, and Joseph Anim, purchased the Niagara River and the American Falls from New York at a public auction. The purchase also included the water rights from above the upper rapids to below the Falls. The company portaged goods by land from Lake Erie to Lewiston on the Niagara River, then shipped them east on Lake Ontario. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, it made the portage obsolete and plans to develop Niagara Falls suffered. Augustus proposed a hydraulic mill canal in 1847 and offered the right of way for the canal to any person ready to build it, but the Porter brothers died before interest in the project led to construction. Company history Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company In 1852, Caleb Smith Woodhull and his associates purchased the land and the water rights from the heirs of the Porter brothers with the intention to build a canal, and in 1853 formed the "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company." A grant was obtained from the owners of a strip of land 100 ft. wide extending from a point above the upper rapids to the high bank below the Falls. The company started with the construction of the canal in 1853 but stopped after sixteen months because construction costs of the canal significantly exceeded estimates and the company went bankrupt. Niagara Falls Water Power Company In 1856, Stephen N. Allen bought the company, which was renamed the "Niagara Falls Water Power Company." The company completed the entrance and river portion of the canal by 1857, with the exception of a narrow extension at the south end of the basin which was completed in 1881. Niagara Falls Canal Company In 1860, Horace H. Day purchased the company and renamed it the "Niagara Falls Canal Company." At an investment of $1.5 million, () the canal was finally completed in 1861, but could not be