Beaver Falls is a hamlet in the town of Croghan, west of the village of Croghan, in Lewis County, New York, United States. The hamlet was home to a population of around 500 as of 2007. The hamlet is split into two sections divided by the Beaver River, which flows down from the village of Croghan. Three bridges cross the river, two vehicle bridges at the upper and lower ends of the hamlet, and a third railway trestle which crosses the river in the center. Main Street, once a busy district during the early 20th century, is now home to Beaver River Central School, a blacktop business, Beaver Falls Health Clinic, the post office, two churches, a deli, a pizza restaurant, and a town park, as well as the Omniafiltra plant, the Beaver Falls Library, and the Beaver Falls Volunteer Fire Department. The hamlet of Beaver Falls, back in the 1850s, was all farmland. The land was owned by the Farneys and was passed down for many decades. The house still resides in this local hamlet. Later in the 20th century, the Farneys sold the farmland, and houses and churches were built. The Beaver Falls Grange Hall No. 554 and Harry and Molly Lewis House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Industry
Beaver Falls, once a turn of the century industrial center, is home to two paper mills. Interface Solutions operates out of the former J.P. Lewis Company Mill on the western edge of the hamlet. Omniafiltra, an Italian-owned filtration paper manufacturer, runs the former Latex Mill in the center of the hamlet. The Beaver Falls Generating Facility is a 95-megawatt co-generation power plant situated along the banks of the Beaver River on the west edge of the hamlet. The plant, completed in 1995, produces power for the New York stateenergy grid using both natural gas and #2 fuel oil. It is owned and operated by WPS Power Development, which purchased the plant in May 2002. The plant also supplies steam to the Omniafiltra mill, located just east on the same side of the river.
