Buffalo, New York

: See Buffalo for other places with this name.

History

Naming Dispute

Curiously, the city's name arose not from the same-named animal, but from its location at the origin of the Niagara River. Some claim the name comes from the French "beau fleuve" ("beautiful river"). Other historians cite the fact that Buffalo Creek was so-named long before the naming of the city, and they suggest that the city's name more likely honors the Seneca Indian after whom this small waterway was named.

Related Topics:
Niagara River - French - Buffalo Creek - Seneca

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Early history of Buffalo

Most of western New York was granted by Charles II of England to the Duke of York (later known as James II of England), but the first European settlement in what is now Erie County was by the French, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek in 1758. Its buildings were destroyed a year later because of an impending British attack. The British took control of the entire region in 1763, at the conclusion of the French and Indian War.

Related Topics:
New York - Charles II of England - Duke of York - James II of England - Buffalo Creek - 1758 - 1763 - French and Indian War

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The first American to settle in present day Buffalo was Cornelius Winney, who set up a log cabin store there in 1789 for trading with the Native American community. Dutch investors purchased the area as part of the Holland Land Purchase, and parcels were sold through the Holland Land Company's office in Batavia, New York, starting in 1801. The village was initially called New Amsterdam. In 1808, the new Niagara County, New York was formed (including what is now Erie County), and newly renamed Buffalo became its county seat. By 1811, the predominantly Anglo-American village had grown to 500 people.

Related Topics:
Log cabin - 1789 - Native American - Dutch - Holland Land Purchase - Batavia, New York - 1801 - 1808 - Niagara County, New York - 1811 - Village

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The 19th century

Around 1804 the future city was planned by Joseph Ellicott, a principal agent of the Holland Land Company. His plan for the city included a radial street and grid system that branches out from downtown and is one of only three completed radial street patterns in the U.S.A. In 1810 the Town of Buffalo was formed from the western part of the Town of Clarence while still part of Niagara County. On December 30, 1813, during the War of 1812, British troops and their Native American allies captured the village of Buffalo and burned much of it to the ground. Buffalo was rebuilt and re-established as a town in 1816. In 1818 the eastern part of the town was lost to form the Town of Amherst, and in 1839, the northern part of the Town of Buffalo became the Town of Black Rock.

Related Topics:
Joseph Ellicott - 1810 - Town of Clarence - Niagara County - December 30 - 1813 - War of 1812 - Town - 1816 - Town of Amherst - Town of Black Rock

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Upon the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Buffalo became the western end of the 524-mile waterway starting at New York City. At the time Buffalo had a population of about 2,400 people; with the increased commerce of the canal, the population boomed and Buffalo became a city in 1832. Buffalo was re-incorporated as a city in 1853, at which time it had some 10,000 people. The re-incorporation included the Village and Town of Black Rock, which had been Buffalo's early rival for the canal terminus.

Related Topics:
Erie Canal - 1825 - New York City - 1853

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Buffalo was a terminus of the Underground Railroad, an informal series of safe houses for runaway slaves who had escaped from the U. S. South in the mid-19th century. After hiding at the Michigan Street Baptist Church, the slaves could take a ferry to Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada and freedom.

Related Topics:
Underground Railroad - Fort Erie, Ontario - Canada

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Several U.S. presidents have connections with Buffalo. Millard Fillmore took up permanent residence in Buffalo in 1822 before he became America's 13th president; he was also the first chancellor of the University of Buffalo (later University at Buffalo). Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, lived in Buffalo from 1854 until 1882, and served as Buffalo's mayor from 1882?1883. William McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, and died in Buffalo on the 14th. Theodore Roosevelt was then sworn in on September 14th, 1901 at the Wilcox Mansion (now the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site), becoming one of the few presidents to be sworn in outside of Washington, D.C..

Related Topics:
U.S. presidents - Millard Fillmore - 1822 - Grover Cleveland - 1854 - 1882 - William McKinley - September 6 - 1901 - Pan-American Exposition - Theodore Roosevelt - September 14th - Washington, D.C.

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John Roberts the Chief Justice of the United States was also born in Buffalo. Other historical personages of note include Nobel laureate Herbert Hauptmann, Iroquois leader Red Jacket, Wells Fargo founder William G. Fargo and Wilson Greatbatch, Inventor of the Pacemaker.

Related Topics:
John Roberts - Chief Justice of the United States

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The 20th century

At the turn of the century, Buffalo was a growing city with a burgeoning economy. Immigrants came from Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Poland to work in the steel and grain mills which had taken advantage of the city's critical location at the junction of the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal. Hydroelectric power harnessed from nearby Niagara Falls made Buffalo the first American city to enjoy widespread electric power.

Related Topics:
Great Lakes - Niagara Falls

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The opening of the Peace Bridge linking Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario on 7 August, 1927 was an occasion for significant celebrations. Those in attendance included Edward, Prince of Wales (later to become Edward VIII of the United Kingdom), his brother Prince Albert George (later George VI), British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Canada's Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, US Vice President Charles G. Dawes, and New York governor Alfred E. Smith.

Related Topics:
Peace Bridge - Fort Erie, Ontario - 7 August - 1927 - British - Stanley Baldwin - William Lyon Mackenzie King - Alfred E. Smith

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Buffalo's new City Hall was dedicated on July 1, 1932.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1932

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The city's importance declined in the later 20th Century for several reasons, perhaps the most devastating being the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1957. Goods which had previously passed through Buffalo could now bypass it using a series of canals and locks, reaching the ocean via the St. Lawrence River. The city, which boasted over half a million people at its peak, has seen its population decline by some 50 percent, as industries shut down and people left the Rust Belt for the more moderate winters and air-conditioned summers of the South and Southwest. The metropolitan area as a whole has not shrunk by nearly as much, but it is still one of the few metropolitan areas of over 1 million population that has been losing population.

Related Topics:
20th Century - St. Lawrence Seaway - 1957 - St. Lawrence River - Rust Belt

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