Ithaca is gorgeous. But did you know Ithaca is “historic” as well?

I went on a tour of Cascadilla Gorge today and was surprised by both the natural and historic transformations that have shaped the Cascadilla Gorge over the past centuries. A very long time ago, the entire Ithaca was underwater. Then platonic movements lifted the land up above sea level. The underwater period, together with erosion over time, has transformed the land into the one that we see today. The rock is actually a composition of hard sandstones and relatively softer materials like shale (that can be broken apart easily even by hand).

The the city of Ithaca began to form gradually thanks to its natural resources. People utilized the gorges for utilitarian reasons, building dams to generate power. The waterways also serve as important transportation paths before prior to the popularization of motorized vehicles. But later, as the main power source shifts to electricity, the gorges were transformed for recreation to become the beautiful park that we see today.