The
History of Buffalo: A Chronology
Buffalo,
New York
1886-1900
|
1886 |
Frances
Folsom
was born in Buffalo in 1864. She was the daughter of Oscar
Folsom, Grover
Cleveland
friend and law partner who dies while Frances was still
young. Cleveland becomes a close family friend and helps in
the upbringing of Frances. Philip Becker was the first German emigrant to be elected mayor of Buffalo, 1876-1877 and 1886-1889, and he is Buffalo's first three-term mayor. Little known fact: African-Americans played professional baseball in the 19th century but were forced out. Before Jackie Robinson, Buffalo had Frank Grant Buildings erected: |
|
1887 |
The
Pictorial
year-book and calendar for 1888. with Buffalo events in
1887, valuable statistics, etc.
Entire publication reprinted online by Cornell U. By 1887, Buffalo is the terminal point of 11 trunk line railroads that radiate north, east, and south. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux design the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls. Prior to the construction of the New York State Thruway, Church Street extends all the way to Genesee, where it crosses over the canal, bearing the Beltline Railroad north between the Canal and Niagara River. This is presently the site of Exit 7, just west of the Buffalo Gas and Light Company building facade The original Richmond Hotel (Architect: Cyrus Eidlitz), at Main and Eagle Streets, south east corner, burns down on March 18, 1887, one of the most horrific fires in Buffalo history. It kills 15 employees and guests and severely burns two dozen others. There are heroic rescues of trapped women and children. Nearby taverns and hotels throw open their doors to become makeshift hospitals. Nevertheless, guests plunge from windows, and a survivor testifies that the screams of the victims "were something I hope to never hear again." In the subsequent investigation, much blame falls upon Victorian high technology. The new telegraph and telephone companies had erected a dense network of overhead wires and cables that impede rescuers' access to the upper floor of the of the burning building. The City orders these wires be put in underground conduits, and the Richmond will be rebuilt, renaming itself the Iroquois Hotel. Presently the site of M& T Bank. Buildings erected:
|
|
1888 |
The
Pictorial
year-book and calendar for 1888. with Buffalo events in
1887, valuable statistics, etc.
Entire publication reprinted online by Cornell U. Charles Rohlfs, classified loosely as an artist in the Arts and Crafts movement, and his wife, Anna Catherine Green, who will become one of America's most successful detective fiction writers, move to Buffalo. International Industrial Fair: A forgotten predecessor to the Pan-American Exposition, the International Industrial Fair fair features industrial exhibits and all kinds of entertainments. The Exposition Grounds, a parcel bordered by Humboldt Parkway, E. Ferry, Dupont, Lonsdale Street, and Northland, was originally built by Chauncey Hamlin in 1868 as the Buffalo Driving Park - when "driving" meant carriages, not automobiles. Scajaquada Creek, not yet hidden under East Buffalo, traverses the northeast corner of the grounds. By 1903, the parcel will be subdivided into residential streets and lots, becoming the neighborhood known as Hamlin Park , and the Scajaquada will be buried in miles of underground tunnels. St. Paul's Church (Cathedral) on Church Street is destroyed in a fire on May 10, 1888. Based on electoral votes, Benjamin Harrison (right) defeats Buffalo's Grover Cleveland who wins the popular vote. Cleveland is the only person who won the popular vote for president three times. The Michigan Central distinguished itself from its railroad competitors by crossing through Canada, thereby providing a faster route to Chicago. Their offices were near present-day Cathedral Park. Building erected: Elam R. Jewett purchases the former Chapin farm for his retirement. He builds Willow Lawn, at Main Street, corner of Leroy, after the Civil War in the present day Central Park neighborhood, a country estate amidst active farms. It will be demolished circa 1890, and by 1900, Willow Lawn will be divided into the Parkside streets named for the man who donated the land. The Parkside neighborhood is envisioned as an tranquil alternative residential area to the rapidly growing industrial metropolis of late 19th century Buffalo. Designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted as the first planned suburb of a major American city, Parkside boasts curving tree lined streets and stately homes representing almost every type of residential architecture popular at the time. By 1888, soon after the completion of the Beltline Railroad, the neighborhood is surveyed and paved. With new electrical power lines from Niagara Falls and easy access to the city center via the Beltline, construction begins in earnest in the area adjacent to Olmsted's Delaware Park. Parkside is one of the most desirable addresses in Buffalo and attracts many professionals and business leaders, including
The designs and influences of such noted architects as E. B. Green, H. H. Richardson, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Sydney Wicks, are represented in the houses found here, along with numerous Victorian, Craftsman, Tudor, Bavarian chalet and traditional American Four Square styles. Buildings erected: |
|
1889 |
Monument to "Buffalo's Own Regiment" - the First Battalion, Thirteenth US Infantry dedicated at old Fort Porter (Front Park).
The enlargement of
the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and the construction of gigantic
lake freighters like the Buffalo and Susquehanna
Railroad's "Frank H. Goodyear," leads to an enormous
increase in the amount of iron ore received in Buffalo. By
the end of the 1880s Buffalo is ready to challenge
Pittsburgh as the iron and steel capital of the
country. Because Buffalo could now receive ore directly from
Lake Superior without breaking bulk at Cleveland, Erie, or
other lake ports, it is far cheaper to ship ore directly
here than to Pittsburgh.
Five electric street cars begin service from Cold Springs to Delaware Park ("The Park").
Later in 1896, the International Railroad Company's streetcar system in Buffalo will be the first in a large city to be electrified. Buildings erected: |
|
1890 |
East
Side
Surnames from the 1890 Buffalo City Directory Buffalo's population: 255,664; Erie County's: 322,981.
The
Buffalo Bisons baseball team played 132 games during
the 1890 season and won 36 games, lost 96 games, and
finished in eighth position. Buildings erected: |
|
1891 |
Buildings erected: |
|
1892 |
The
Livestock Exchange, at 1167 William Street, is used
for the buying and selling of the millions of cattle brought
to Buffalo by rail. Beginning in the 1860s, William Street
was lined by enormous stockyards built by the New York
Central Railroad. Between the stockyards and the
nearby slaughterhouses, East Buffalo certainly had a
distinctive aroma By World War I, the stockyards will cover
l00 acres, making them among the largest in the world.
Architect: Louise
Blanchard Bethune City charter changed. Mayoral term is increased to three years. Buildings erected:
|
|
1893 |
Grover
Cleveland elected to his second term of office
as US president. He is the only President to serve two
nonconsecutive terms. Seymour H. Knox opens store at 519 Main Street, circa 1894. This store is opened on December 18, 1893, four days after his first Buffalo store at 409 Main Street is completely destroyed in the Wonderland Building fire. In 1895 Knox will move his store to 395 Main street. Elbert Hubbard leaves the Larkin company and goes on to found the Roycrofters. Buildings erected: |
|
1894 |
Ellicott Square Block buildings are torn down for erection of Ellicott Square Building ____________________________________________________________
Buildings erected:
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|
1895 |
Ely Parker dies. He was born in Indian Falls, NY (then the Tonawanda Reservation) in 1828. As an aide to General Ulysses S. Grant, Ely Parker wrote the final draft of the surrender terms at Appomattox. He became the first Indian named Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1897, his remains will be buried in Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Red Jacket plot. Buildings erected:
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|
1896 |
1896
Buffalo
map
Excellent detail On November 16,1896, the first electricity is transmitted from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, at 12:01AM (so the Sabbath Sun Nov 15th would not be disturbed); all of it is allocated to the Buffalo Street Railway Company for streetcar operation, the first streetcar system in a large city to be electrified Buildings erected:
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|
1897 |
Building erected:
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|
1898 |
Dr.
Conrad Diehl elected mayor. First mayor to serve
a four-year term. The United States declares war on Spain on April 21 , 1898. Local citizens join in the war effort. Building erected: |
|
1899 |
In addition to
adequate means of transportation - railroads - industry
requires labor and energy. Both were plentiful and cheap in
Buffalo. The first is provided by the thousands of eastern
European immigrants willing to work for almost nothing under
practically any conditions. The supply of electrical
power from nearby Niagara Falls is equally cheap and
virtually unlimited. Cecil B. Wiener and Helen Z. M. Rogers are the first two women to graduate from UB Law School. Both will practice law for twenty years before they will be allowed to vote. Wiener will go on to become a judge; Rogers will be the first woman to argue a case before the New York Court of Appeals. Buildings erected: |
|
1900 |
Buffalo
is
second largest railroad terminus in U.S. (Chicago is
first). John J. Albright has quietly has bought over 1,000 acres of lakefront property for the relocation of Lackawanna Steel of Scranton, Pennsylvania. There are 25 electric streetcars in Buffalo (whereas in 1885 there were none), draining the old neighborhoods. Buffalo Automobile Club formed. Dr. V. Mott Pierce is president. Novelist Janet Miriam Taylor Holland Caldwell is born in Manchester, England. Her family will move to Buffalo when she is 6. As Taylor Caldwell she will write more than 40 books that sell more than 30 million copies. Two are television films: "Dear and Glorious Physician" (1959) and "The Captains and the Kings." (1972) Buffalo finishes in seventh place in baseball's American League, not yet a major league. In 1901, when the league will break away, Commissioner Ban Johnson will dump Buffalo to put a franchise in Boston. It is later learned Johnson had money invested in the Boston franchise. Henry Perky decides to make his shredded wheat breakfast food in Niagara Falls. C. 1900. Shelton Square is named after the Eminent Rev. William Shelton, rector (1829-1882) of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Buffalo's population: 352,387; Erie County's: 433,686. Johnson Park and Elmwood Avenue: In 1900 Johnson Park is an elegant residential mall within walking distance of the heart of downtown Buffalo. Originally the suburban home of Ebenezer Johnson, Buffalo's first mayor, and developed during the 1850s as an elite, in-town residential section, Johnson Park retains many of the qualities that had for so long made it the most venerable and exclusive residential quarter in the city. Its tree-lined mall is the home of many of the families listed in the social register. Here too is the Buffalo Female Academy (later renamed Buffalo Seminary), the most selective school in the city. Thus, close enough to downtown to be convenient, and yet far enough away to preserve its uniqueness, Johnson Park is a well-defined and cohesive urban place. Yet the expansion of downtown is such that peripheral residential areas soon become expendable and the characteristics that had made Johnson Park a cherished corner of the city barely survive the nineteenth century. Because it lay on an east-west axis, Johnson Park blocks movement to and from the new central business district. It is in the in the way. And despite the intense opposition of the wealthy and presumably influential residents of the park, the broad mall is cut in half in 1907 and Elmwood Avenue is extended through it to the downtown area. The park now changed quickly. A streetcar line is put on the Elmwood Avenue route and soon Johnson Park, its days as a fancy, in-town residential neighborhood over, is on the way to becoming tattered and tawdry, existing marginally on the fringes of downtown. Buildings erected: |
See also:
