Reprinted with permission as a public service by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, now the Preservation Buffalo Niagara
Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York
By James Napora
Table of Contents
Reprinted with permission as a public service by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, now the Preservation Buffalo Niagara
Kaisertown
MAPDepending on who one would question regarding the origin of the name Kaisertown, the neighborhood surrounding the intersection of Clinton and South Odgen, two different answers could be returned. These answers would directly result from that person's ethnic origin.
Buffalo Creek Reservation: The land on which the neighborhood is located constituted one of the final vestiges of Native American occupation and ownership in the Buffalo area. Once part of the Buffalo Creek Reservation, the Seneca Indians originally lived in a village at a bend in Buffalo Creek in the vicinity of South Odgen Street. On 15 January, 1838, the Senecas deeded the land to Thomas L. Odgen who later transferred ownership of it to the Clinton and Odgen Land Company. It was subsequently divided and sold to farmers and developers of the neighborhood.
The majority of the early farmers in the area were German immigrants. As their numbers increased, they formed a tightly knit community. Typical of the German communities in the rest of the city, the local tavern became a hub of their social lives. Forerunners of social clubs, they would sponsor free Sunday picnics for families in a picnic grove at the city line. Their inherent love of their homeland and their fondness towards the Kaiser there, forms one idea for the origin of the nickname of the neighborhood.
By the 1890s, the population of the German neighborhood increased significantly as Polish immigrants began to make their homes there. Settling in the western corner of the district, they found work in the railroad yards or at the Snow Steam Pumps factory, later known as Worthington Compressor. Typical of their characteristic of settling in the vicinity of a Catholic house of worship, in 1890 the earliest arrivals established St. Casimer Church as the social and religious center of their lives."Kaisertown" origin: This formed the basis of the second theory on the origin of the name Kaisertown, as a slang pronunciation of St. Kazmierza, the patron saint of their church.
Hungarians: A third immigrant group, the Hungarians, also established a small colony in the area. They too arrived here seeking employment in the pump works and the railroads. Although considerably smaller than the colony in Riverside, they did support one house of worship in the area.
© 1995 James Napora
Page by Chuck LaChiusa with the assistance of David Torke
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