acquiring shops, factories, and a hotel. Its tourism and commerce soon rivaled the town of Niagara Falls, New York; eventually, the village was merged into the town in 1892. Similarly, Clifton on the Canadian end of the bridge was integrated into the town of Niagara Falls, Ontario. The two Niagara Falls cities boasted commerce that surpassed neighboring settlements. Around the time of its official opening, the bridge was one of the busiest points of trade on the United States-Canada border, carrying $12 million of transitory goods and $2 million of bonded materials into Canada. To handle the large amount of goods exchanged over the border, the Lewiston customs house—the primary customs for the Niagara region—was relocated to the Niagara Suspension Bridge in 1863. The bridge's depiction as an engineering marvel and beautiful sight lured many visitors to the Falls. Travelers could, while crossing the bridge, enjoy a view of the Falls enhanced by the sensation of standing in the air. The Falls, however, proved distant and indistinct to some when there was overcast weather. On the whole, the Suspension Bridge was considered as an attraction that must be seen by visitors to Niagara Falls. In paintings and prints of the bridge, the Suspension Bridge became the focus, pushing the Falls into the background. Unlike paintings of the Falls that capture the viewer's eye with their majestic views of the natural wonder, pictures of the bridge impressed viewers with the utilitarian design of the structure. By 1897, the inbound trains to Niagara Falls brought 276,900 visitors during the months of May to August. A streetcar system was established in 1882 to handle the increasing cross-border pedestrian traffic. Initially pulled by horses, the trolleys were converted to run on electricity in 1892. The Suspension Bridge was the pride and symbol of the Great Western Railway, which touted it as the "only Route via Niagara Falls & Suspension Bridge." Travelers on the Suspension Bridge witnessed several death-defying stunts performed across the Niagara Gorge. On June 30, 1859, they saw Charles Blondin's feat of becoming the first man to cross the chasm on a tightrope. In mid-crossing Blondin sat down on the rope and lowered a line to retrieve a drink from the deck of the Maid of the Mist below. In his later tightrope acts at the same spot, the acrobat would perform a different stunt on each occasion. One time he cooked