Niagara Street Industrial Heritage .............................. Automobile Industry in Buffalo
Buffalo Gasolene Motor Company / Starks Associates
1280 Niagara St., Buffalo, NY
Addition, 20 Auburn Avenue
Both addresses: Contributing members in the Upper Black Rock Local Historic District
2017: Starks Associates Medical Supply Store
| Reprint Buffalo Gasolene Motor Co. Pub. on Vintage Machinery (online September 2017)  1280-1290 Niagara Street Buffalo NY [Niagara Street on right] ... Image courtesy of Brian Szafranski Another exhibit of considerable interest was that of the Buffalo Gasolene Motor Company of Buffalo,
which showed an assortment of its engines ranging in horsepower from 2
to 40. The engines are completely water-jacketed for cooling. They are
fitted with mechanically operated valves and have one-piece steel
forged cranks. The company showed a two horsepower engine, the smallest
two-cylinder four-cycle engine in the world. Including the flywheel and
all its fixings, its weight is but 137 pounds.
Information Sources
|
 4 Cylinder Buffalo Gasolene Engine in a 1904 South Bend at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum |
2017 photos  1280 Niagara Street at Auburn Avenue Left: Sterling Engine Company ... Middle: Starks Associates, Inc. ... Right: 1294-1300 Niagara St., Sowers Manufacturing/Northwest Community Mental Health Center ... "Starks Associates is located in
Buffalo, New York. This organization primarily operates in the
Commercial Research Laboratory business / industry within the
Engineering, Accounting, Research, and Management Services sector. This
organization has been operating for approximately 60 years [since 1957]
. Starks Associates is estimated to generate $2.3 million in annual
revenues, and employs approximately 25 people at this single
location."- Buzzfile (online September 2017) ...
"Starks Associates, Inc. was founded in 1957. The company's line of business includes providing commercial physical and biological research and development." - Bloomberg (online September 2017)  Left: Auburn Ave. ... To the right of 1280 Niagara: 1294-1300 Niagara St., Sowers Manufacturing/Northwest Community Mental Health Center  1903 building, 1280 Niagara St. ... 6 details below, starting at the top of the building:  Steel lintels over the windows ... Onondaga limestone sills ... 5-layer belt course visually separating the second and third stories  Brick vousssoirs over rounded arch windows on the first story ... Window arches have been filled in for economy ... Onondaga limestone water table  Onondaga limestone water table and foundation  Sun ornament in tympanum ... Greek fluted pilasters ... Transom windows  Bull's eye on Greek pilasters ... Fluted shaft |
1916 Addition Far left: 1916 addition, connected by fireproof passages to the north and south on the second floor.  Looking northwest toward the Belt Line Railroad ... 1016 addition at left  Note cinder block building (a different angle below:) ... Street at right: Mason Street  Foot of Auburn Avenue at the Belt Line Railroad bridge and tracks ... The Belt Line Railroad spurred industrial development, including on Niagara Street. |
The Buffalo Gasolene Motor Company building (1280 Niagara St), which occupies the block on the west side of Niagara Street on the block north of Auburn Avenue, was constructed in 1903, with an addition (20 Auburn Ave) in 1916. ' The company produced marine engines and combustion engines for automobiles. The company maintained their manufacturing enterprise at this address until 1946. - Upper Black Rock Historic District City of Buffalo, p. 6 |
|
Buffalo Gasoline Motor Company: 20 Auburn Avenue & 1280 Niagara Street (formerly 1280–1290 Niagara Street) The manufacturing buildings constructed located at 20 Auburn Avenue and 1280 Niagara Street were constructed by the Buffalo Gasoline Motor Company in to building campaigns. The building at the corner of Niagara Street and Auburn Street was constructed ca. 1903, the year the company is first listed at the Niagara Street address. By 1916 the building to the west facing Auburn Street and the Belt Line was constructed. The company manufactured marine engines. The red-brick masonry building constructed ca. 1903 is three-stories tall and eight bays wide raised on a rough-faced limestone foundation. 20 Auburn Street was constructed by 1916 and was historically connected by fireproof passages to the north and south on the second floor. The two story brick masonry building has eight bays along Auburn Street and six bays along the Belt Line. - Upper Black Rock Historic Preservation District. Reprinted on Meet the Upper Black Rock Historic Preservation District |
| "Starks Associates is
located in Buffalo, New York. This organization primarily operates in
the Commercial Research Laboratory business / industry within the
Engineering, Accounting, Research, and Management Services sector. This
organization has been operating for approximately 60 years [since 1957]
. Starks Associates is estimated to generate $2.3 million in annual
revenues, and employs approximately 25 people at this single
location."- Buzzfile (online September 2017) ... "Starks Associates, Inc. was founded in 1957. The company's line of business includes providing commercial physical and biological research and development." - Bloomberg (online September 2017) |
