Buffalo Waterfront

Buffalo River
 Buffalo, New York


Downtown Buffalo - 2013 photo

Buffalo River
Length:
8 miles, beginning where Buffalo Creek and Cayuga Creek meet.
Mouth:
Eastern end of Lake Erie.
The river enters the lake between a United States Coast Guard station and the Erie Basin Marina near the head of the Niagara River.
Tributaries: - Cayuga Creek:  40 mile long creek that begins in primarily farmland/wooded areas
- Buffalo Creek:  a meandering stream beginning in Java Center (Wyoming County) before it becomes the Buffalo River.
- Cazenovia Creek: East Branch of Cazenovia Creek begins in Sardina and the West Branch begins in Concord.
Purposes:
- Transportation
- Source of water
- Waste receptacle.
Importance:
- Western terminus for the Erie Canal:  Entry to the River from the Canal was gained via the mouth of a small tributary, Little Buffalo Creek, which was excavated and stabilized to form the Commercial Slip leading from the Erie Canal.
- Industrial area with uses including grain elevators, steel mills and chemical production.
- Recreation.
Dredging:
The Buffalo River is a federal navigation channel maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers at a depth of 22 feet . 
The Army Corps of Engineers dredges the River and the City Ship Canal every two to three years, removing about 100,000 cubic yards of sediment. Dredging sediment is placed in a confined disposal facility located on Lake Erie near the former Bethlehem Steel facility.
Sites along the River:
- Indian village:  Established on Buffalo Creek by the British in the spring of 1780 for Senecas who had fled to Fort Niagara after the Sullivan Expedition of 1779.
- Industrial Heritage Trail
- Buffalo Lighthouse
- Gallagher Beach
- General Mills Elevators and Plant
- GLF Elevator/Riverworks
- St. Mary's Cement Elevator
- DL&W / NFTA Depot and Repair Shop
- Edward M. Cotter (fireboat)
- Michigan Avenue Vertical Lift Bridge
- Buffalo River Fest Park
- Small Boat Harbor
- Tifft Nature Preserve
- Ohio Street Vertical Lift Bridge
- Standard Grain Elevator
- Electric Grain Elevator Annex
- Perot Malting Elevator
- Lake and Rail Grain Elevator
- Marine A Grain Elevator
- E&B Holmes Machinery Co.

See also: Inner Harbor

2013 photo



2011 photo.
Left: General Mills   ...   Michigan Avenue Bridge   ...  Bottom:  River Fest Park dock



2013 photo ... Photo taken from the  Ohio Street Lift Bridge
Left: Standard Elevator ..... Center: Edward M. Cotter fireboat ..... Right: Perot Malting Co. Elevator




"Buffalo River Urban Canoe Trail, Guide".  1994, page 6 (online Feb. 2021)      ...   The 32 page Guide includes history of 48 sites along the Trail.



"Buffalo River Urban Canoe Trail, Guide".  1994, page 7 (online Feb. 2021)





Color photos and their arrangement © 2013 Chuck LaChiusa
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