Larkin District - Table of Contents ............. Hydraulics District, History - Table of Contents
2013 photos
John F. Kamman Building
755 Seneca Street, Buffalo NY
| Built: |
1883/1884 - State and National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Historic District nomination, Section F, p. 6 |
| Architect: |
Franklin W. Caulkins |
| Style: |
Commercial
Romanesque Revival |
| Building materials: |
Brick, Medina sandstone, cast iron pilasters |
| 2010 Rehabilitation: |
Chaintreuil, Jensen, Stark Architects. (online April 2014) See Construction Watch: Kamman Building Restoration 2010 Buffalo Rising |
| Status: |
Eligible for inclusion in a State and National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Historic District. See the nomination. |
| During
the later half of the nineteenth-century, Buffalo was home to a
thriving cattle and livestock trade, and at the time, Buffalo boasted
being second to only Chicago in the number of cattle and hogs which
came through the city. Given the Hydraulics neighborhood’s proximity
to these livestock yards and rail lines, the area became a popular
place where many German butchers settled to practice their trade. The Kamman family immigrated to the Hydraulics neighborhood in the mid-1800s from their native Germany, and brought their family trade of meat packing and butchering to their adoptive neighborhood. While Henry ran his shop at 573-575 Seneca Street at the corner of Jefferson Avenue, his brother John F. began purchasing property in the 700 block of Seneca between the 1850s and the early 1860s. Here in the center of a large parcel of land, the J. F. Kamman Slaughterhouse with its series of barns, processing buildings and sheds was constructed. By the 1870s, fronting onto Seneca Street on the property was a shop run by the Kammans located at 759 Seneca which also acted as the family homestead for several members of the large Kamman clan. Around 1886 the Kamman Building was constructed by John F. Kamman at 755-757 Seneca Street. Butchery was the Kamman family trade; John H. Kamman (son of Henry) and the John H. Kamman Company became one of the city’s largest meat markets and grocery store chains in the area, operating over 30 stores in the city, at least one located in the Hydraulics area in the Kamman Building at 757 Seneca Street in 1903. |
| 1884 - The property was owned by the Kamman family 1893 - On October 5, 1893, the South Buffalo Post Office Station “D” was opened at 755 Seneca, serving as the first post office branch in this area of the city of Buffalo. It later was housed at the corner of Hydraulic and Seneca Streets. 1916 - Sold to the Larkin Company. Summary: Former home of a soda fountain, drug store, meat shop, medical offices, apartments, and a U. S. Post Office for the Larkin Company. |
 1999 photo ... Kamman Building at right before Chaintreuil, Jensen, Stark Architects rehabbed it ... Photos BELOW taken in 2013:  Seneca Street facade ...Top down details below:  4th story: Corbel tables ... Medina sandstone voussoirs and sills  4th story: Band (ribbon) windows Medina sandstone: ... lintels ... Sills  3rd story. Medina sandstone: Gibbs surround ... lintels ... Sills  2nd story  1st story: Terra cotta building name ... Cast iron pilasters  1st story: One of the paired lion heads at belt course corners  1st story: Bottom of a cast iron pilaster - F. W. Caulkins  1st story: Bottom of a cast iron pilaster - Washington Iron Works (photo) |
 Neighbor to the right: Larkin Square  Empty lot was part of the Kamman slaughterhouse and meat market complex. Building in the background is the Larkin Co. Terminal Warehouse / Larkin @ Exchange.  The building is a Commercial style building with a storefront and multiple units of housing that was the compound for the extended Kamman family.  Some of the balusters are original  |
