Western New York’s largest independent bookstore is a repository of all things Niagara Falls. Its shelves act like a museum of the city’s past, holding a trove of second-hand collections, works by local authors, and even old high-school yearbooks.

The Book Corner has been around since the 1920s. It’s one of the touristy city’s most cherished and valuable entities, as it houses fascinating facets from its past.

The store has bounced around to a few different locations and had a few owners throughout its long life. Alongside Niagara’s public library and City Hall archives, the Book Corner constitutes more than an incredible bookstore. It remains, in this city without a museum, one of the vital keys to Niagara’s life.

Its collection spans three entire floors, with one floor dedicated entirely to secondhand books. Wander around, and you’ll find anything from stacked collections of old Niagara high school yearbooks to telephone directories to local almanacs. There are shelves of local poetry and fiction, as well as historical works about subjects like the Underground Railroad, Nikola Tesla, the Italian mafia, Native American diplomacy, the War of 1812, and, of course, daredevils.