City of Buffalo history

The square was part of the original urban plan for the city as laid out by Joseph Ellicott in 1804.

They selected the name New Amsterdam, but the settlers insisted on Buffalo, which was the name adopted when Buffalo was incorporated as a town in 1810.

In November 1812, American troops attacked Fort Erie on the Canadian side.

Located in the 1815 office of the Holland Land Company, the museum focuses on the country’s rich and diverse history and the Holland Land Company.

The first steamboat on the upper Great Lakes, Walk-on-the-Water, was built at Buffalo in 1818.

The first Great Lakes steamship, Walk-on-the-Water, was built in Buffalo in 1819.

Outside there is the first Seneca Longhouse raised in Allegany since 1820.

Buffalo, city and port, seat (1821) of Erie county, western New York, United States It is located where the eastern end of Lake Erie narrows into the Niagara River.

The Van Horn Mansion was built by Judge James Van Horn in 1823.

The Mansion includes 16 rooms and five bathrooms. It is the site of the Town of Newfane’s first town meeting, April 6, 1824.

Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1825.

Built in 1837, the former Wilcox mansion stands today as a vital part of Buffalo’s historical heritage.

The building was erected in 1845 and became a legendary Underground Railroad station, providing sanctuary for hundreds of freedom seekers before they crossed the border to freedom in Canada.

Presidential history was made in Lafayette Square when former United States President Martin Van Buren received the Free Soil Party nomination for the 1848 election.

When you enter the Museum, you are standing in an original Lower Ebenezer Society House, built around 1850.

Founded in 1859, Concordia is the final resting place for over 21,000 residents of Western New York.

It is located in the former 1863 United States Custom House attached to the new Niagara Falls Amtrak Station.

The exciting new gallery focuses on the history of the Larkin Soap Co., founded in 1874.

It included the surveying of the city, development of her economy including symbols of both agriculture and industry, the building of the Erie Canal and the opening of the previous City Hall (the old City and County Building) on the United states' one-hundredth birthday in 1876.

Said to be haunted, this former 1895 church/funeral home has been seen on Sci-fi Ghosthunters.

It was built in Elizabeth, New Jersey and arrived in Buffalo November 6, 1900.

The international Peace Bridge to Fort Erie, Ontario, was opened in 1927 as a memorial to 100 years of peaceful relations between the United States and Canada.

Niagara Square, dominated by the McKinley Monument and site of the City Hall (1932) and federal buildings, is the focus of the city.

The wind off the lake was usually strong enough to power air through this system.Seven years later, in 1939, defects would appear in the building that would cause quite a ruckus.

The West Seneca Historical Society was founded in 1946 with Phillip Wiegand as its first president.

State University of New York, state-supported system of higher education established in 1948 with some 64 campuses located throughout the state of New York.

In November 1974, five young scholars and community leaders came together to establish an organization focused on the collection, preservation and dissemination of Buffalo and Western New York’s African American history.

The Market Arcade re-opened in 1995 after a $10 million renovation featuring terra cotta, Corinthian columns and elaborate ornamentation.

The Black Rock Historical Society was established in 2011 to preserve the heritage and culture of the historic communities of northwest Buffalo.

The Freedom Wall was created by John Baker, Julia Bottoms-Douglas, Chuck Tingley, and Edreys Wajed in 2017.