List of City of Buffalo landmarks and historic districts
The City of Buffalo designates landmarks and historic districts to recognize and protect places of local, state, and national significance.
The NYS General Municipal Law § 119-AA enables local governmental programs for the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the historical, architectural, archaeological, and cultural environment, and was adopted to promote a "spirit of stewardship and trusteeship for future generations."
The City of Buffalo has designated 139 local landmarks and 16 local historic districts, inclusive of about four percent of the parcels in the city.[1] In addition to local designations, Buffalo possesses many properties that are either individually listed, or are contributing resources to historic districts, on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Preservation Board
The City of Buffalo established the Preservation Board in 1976. Its powers and responsibilities are derived from Buffalo's Preservation Ordinance, which declares "as a matter of public policy that preservation, protection, conservation, enhancement, perpetuation, and utilization of sites, buildings, improvements, and districts of special character, historical or aesthetic interest, or value are necessary and required in the interest of the health, education, culture, prosperity, safety, and high quality of life of the people."
Designation Criteria
The City of Buffalo designates landmarks and historic districts according to a process and criteria established in the Preservation Ordinance. The Preservation Board makes a recommendation, and the Common Council makes a decision, as to whether a proposed landmark, landmark site, or historic district meets one or more of the following criteria:
- It has character, interest, or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the city, state, or nation.
- Its location is a site of a significant local, state, or national event.
- It exemplifies the historic, aesthetic, architectural, archaeological, educational, economic, or cultural heritage of the city, state, or nation.
- It is identified with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the development of the city, state, or nation.
- It embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, type, method of construction, or use of indigenous materials.
- It is the work of a master builder, engineer, designer, architect, or landscape architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the city, state, or nation.
- It embodies elements of design, detailing, materials, or craftsmanship that render it architecturally significant.
- It embodies elements that make it structurally or architecturally innovative.
- It is a unique location or contains singular physical characteristics that make it an established or familiar visual feature within the city.
Any structure, property, or area that meets one or more of the above criteria must also have sufficient integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship to make it worthy of preservation or restoration.
Project Review
Once the City of Buffalo has designated a landmark or historic district, the designated property or properties fall under the purview of the Preservation Board. The Preservation Board reviews exterior work only, and applies the Secretary of the Interior Standards & Guidelines in making decisions on projects.
List of Local Landmarks
A landmark is a structure, object, or site, which the City of Buffalo has designated per the criteria of the Preservation Ordinance, that has been determined to possess individual local, state, and/or national significance.
Local Landmark[2] | Assessment Address(es)[2] | Adopted[2] | Image | NRHP Status[3] | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blessed Trinity R.C. Church | 317 Leroy Avenue | 13 Jan 1977 | Listed | Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Church, built from 1923 to 1928 and designed by Schmill & Gould, may be the finest example of Lombard-Romanesque architecture in North America. | ||
Darwin Martin Complex | 125 Jewett Parkway, 143 Jewett Parkway, 118 Summit Avenue | 10 Mar 1977 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | The Darwin D. Martin House Complex was built between 1903 and 1905 and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Martin House Complex is among the most important works of Wright's Prairie School period. | ||
Gates Circle Fountain | 198 Soldiers Circle | 10 Mar 1977 | Contributing property, Delaware Park–Front Park System | The Gates Circle Fountain, designed by E. B. Green, was erected from 1902 to 1903 in the circle known up to that point as Chapin Place. The fountain was funded by Mrs. Charles Pardee in honor of her parents, Mr. & Mrs. George B. Gates. | ||
St. Mary's Seminary | 125 Edward Street | 10 Mar 1977 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | St. Mary's Seminary is a three and four story building with Federal and Italianate style detailing built in 1862, and occupied by the Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institute for Deaf Mutes until 1899. | ||
Franklin Square North | 556 Franklin Street, 558 Franklin Street, 564 Franklin Street | 10 Mar 1977 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | Franklin Square North is a site consisting of the Phineas Marsh House, built in 1867 in the Italianate style; Sullivan Drullard House, built in 1862 in the Second Empire style, with a Romanesque addition built in the 1890s; and a rear carriage house. | ||
Guaranty Building (Prudential Building) | 140 Pearl Street | 30 Mar 1977 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | The Guaranty Building is a skyscraper built from 1895 to 1896 and designed in the Sullivanesque style by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. The 13 story office building is among the earliest steel-supported, curtain-walled buildings ever built. | ||
Old County Hall | 100 Franklin Street | 14 Apr 1977 | Listed | Old City & County Hall is a historic city hall and courthouse built from 1871 to 1875 and designed in the Late Victorian Romanesque style by Andrew Jackson Warner. The four story granite building features a 270-foot central clock tower. | ||
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral | 12 Church Street | 14 Apr 1977 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral was built from 1849 to 1851 and designed in the Gothic Revival style by Richard Upjohn. Upjohn is said to have considered St. Paul's his best commission, and it is arguably Buffalo's first nationally noteworthy building. | ||
McKinley Monument | 5 Niagara Square | 12 May 1977 | Eligible | The McKinley Monument is a 96-foot-tall obelisk dedicated in 1907 to the memory of President William McKinley, who was fatally shot at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. It was conceptualized by Daniel H. Burnham and designed by Carrère & Hastings. | ||
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site | 641 Delaware Avenue | 12 May 1977 | Listed | The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site is the location, at the Ansley Wilcox House, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President of the United States on 14 September 1901. | ||
Shea's Buffalo Theatre | 642 Main Street | 9 Jun 1977 | Listed | Shea's Buffalo is a movie palace, now a performing arts theater, built from 1925 to 1926 and designed by Rapp & Rapp in a combination of Spanish and French Baroque and Rococo styles, with the interior design by Louis Comfort Tiffany. | ||
Birge Mansion | 2 Symphony Circle | 14 Jun 1977 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | The Birge Mansion was built in 1897 and designed in the Georgian Revival style by Little & Browne of Boston. It was the home of George K. Birge, founder and president of the Pierce Arrow Motor Company. | ||
St. Casimir's R.C. Church | 138 Cable Street | 8 Sep 1977 | Eligibility undetermined | St. Casimir's R.C. Church was built from 1926 to 1929 and designed in the Byzantine Revival style by Chester Oakley. Pope John Paul II, then the cardinal of Kraków, stayed two nights at St. Casimir's rectory in 1976. | ||
Albright-Knox Art Gallery | 2182 Delaware Avenue | 10 Nov 1977 | Listed | The Albright Knox Art Gallery is an art museum built from 1890 to 1905 and designed in a Neoclassical style (modeled after the Erectheum) by E. B. Green, with a 1962 addition designed in the Modernist style by Gordon Bunshaft. | ||
St. Vincent de Paul R.C. Church | 2021 Main Street | 10 Nov 1977 | Eligibility undetermined | St. Vincent de Paul R.C. Church was built from 1924 to 1926 and designed in a Byzantine/Romanesque style by Thomas, Perry, & McMullen. | ||
The Church of the Good Shepherd | 96 Jewett Parkway | 10 Nov 1977 | Contributing property, Parkside East Historic District | The Church of the Good Shepherd was built from 1887 to 1888 and designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Marling & Burdett. | ||
Trinity Episcopal Church | 371 Delaware Avenue | 12 Jan 1978 | Listed | Trinity Episcopal Church was built from 1884 to 1886 in a Victorian Gothic style by Cyrus K. Porter, and is best known for stained glass windows by John LaFarge and Tiffany studios. The Christ Chapel, built in 1869, is the oldest part of the complex. | ||
Asbury Methodist Church | 341 Delaware Avenue | 12 Jan 1978 | Listed | The Delaware Asbury Methodist Church was built in phases from 1871 to 1876 in the Gothic Revival style by John H. Selkirk. Originally the Delaware Avenue Methodist Church, the name was changed in 1917 when it merged with the Asbury Methodist congregation. | ||
Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane | 400 Forest Avenue | 12 Jan 1978 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | The Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane was built in phases from 1870 to 1895 and designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Henry Hobson Richardson, with the grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. | Includes only Buildings 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 10, 9, and 12 | |
Old Post Office (ECC City Campus) | 70 Swan Street | 12 Jan 1978 | Listed | The Old Post Office was built from 1897 to 1901 and designed with Romanesque Revival, Chateauesque, and French Gothic features by James Knox Taylor. The building features a 244-foot tower and central light court. | ||
Buffalo City Hall | 65 Niagara Square | 12 Jan 1978 | Listed | Buffalo City Hall is a 32-story government building built from 1929 to 1931 and designed in the Art Deco style by Dietel, Wade, & Jones. At 378 feet in height, it is Buffalo's second tallest building and the fourth tallest city hall in the U.S. | ||
St. Louis R.C. Church | 782 Main Street | 12 Jan 1978 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | St. Louis R.C. Church was built from 1886 to 1889 and designed in the Gothic style by Schikel & Ditmars. The 245 foot tower is intended to recall the tower of the Cathedral of Cologne. | ||
St. John's Grace Episcopal Church | 13 Bidwell Parkway | 9 Feb 1978 | Contributing property, Elmwood Historic District–West | St. John's Grace Episcopal Church was built from 1925 to 1927 and designed in the English Perpendicular Gothic style by Mayers, Murray, & Philip with Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. | ||
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church | 598 Lafayette Avenue | 9 Feb 1978 | Contributing property, Elmwood Historic District–East | Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church was built from 1894 to 1896 and designed in the Romanesque Revival style by Lansing & Beierl. Bouck Street was renamed to Lafayette Avenue in honor of the church. | ||
Central Park United Methodist Church | 216 Beard Avenue | 9 Feb 1978 | Eligibility undetermined | The Central Park United Methodist Church was built from 1921 to 1923 and designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style by Charles Bolton & Sons. | ||
First Presbyterian Church | 393 Pennsylvania Avenue | 9 Feb 1978 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | First Presbyterian Church was built from 1889 to 1891 and designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Green & Wicks. Its offset, 163 foot tall tower is the predominant visual feature looking south along Olmsted's Richmond Avenue. | ||
Unitarian Universalist Church | 646 West Ferry Street | 9 Mar 1978 | Listed | The Unitarian Universalist Church was built from 1904 to 1906 and designed in the English Perpendicular Gothic style by Edward Austin Kent. The Buffalo Nine, a group of Vietnam War protestors, were arrested at the church on 19 August 1968. | ||
Market Arcade | 615 Main Street | 11 May 1978 | Eligible | The Market Arcade was built in 1892 and designed in the Neoclassical/Beaux Arts style by Green & Wicks. Buffalo's only historic covered shopping arcade connected Main Street to the Chippewa Market. | ||
Lafayette Square | 415 Main Street | 11 May 1978 | Eligibility undetermined | Lafayette Square, named Court House Square until 1879, was laid out by Joseph Ellicott in his 1804 city plan. Mayor Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in 1882. | ||
Dun Building | 110 Pearl Street | 11 May 1978 | Eligible | The Dun Building is a 10-story office building built from 1894 to 1895 and designed in the Neoclassical style by Green & Wicks. Robert Graham Dunn, for whom the highrise was built, founded the R.G. Dun & Company, predecessor to Dun & Bradstreet. | ||
Courier-Express Building | 785 Main Street | 11 May 1978 | Eligible | The Courier Express Building was built from 1929 to 1930 and designed in the Art Deco style by Monks & Johnson. The Buffalo Courier Express was a daily newspaper published from 1926 to 1982. | ||
Polish Singing Circle Building | 1168 Broadway | 11 May 1978 | Eligible | The Polish Singing Circle Building was designed by Władysław Zawadzki. The Polish Singing Circle was organized in 1897 and occupied this building starting in 1916. | ||
Lafayette High School | 348 Lafayette Avenue | 14 Sep 1978 | Listed | Lafayette High School was built from 1901 to 1903 and designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Esenwein & Johnson. | ||
Connecticut Street Armory | 781 Niagara Street | 14 Sep 1978 | Listed | The Connecticut Street Armory is a New York Army National Guard facility built from 1897 to 1899 and designed in a Richardsonian Romanesque style by Williams Lansing with Isaac G. Perry. | ||
St. John the Baptist R.C. Church | 62 Hertel Avenue | 12 Oct 1978 | Eligible | St. John the Baptist R.C. Church was built from 1925 to 1927 and designed in the Italian Romanesque style by Oakley & Schallmo. | ||
St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church | 575 Humboldt Parkway | 12 Oct 1978 | Contributing property, Hamlin Park Historic District | St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church was built from 1926 to 1927 and designed in an Italian Romanesque Revival style by Murphy & Olmsted with George J. Dietel. | ||
Orrin Foster Mansion | 891 Delaware Avenue | 12 Oct 1978 | Eligible | The Orrin Foster Mansion was built from 1903 to 1905 and designed in the Mediterranean Revival style by Frank M. Chappelle. It is associated with patent medicine manufacturer Orrin Foster. | ||
Durham Memorial AME Zion Church | 170 East Eagle Street | 11 Jan 1979 | Listed | The Durham Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was built in 1922 and designed by Louis Greenstein. Founded as St. Luke's AME Zion Church, it is the oldest surviving building associated with the Buffalo AME Zion congregations. | ||
New York Central Terminal | 495 Paderewski Drive | 8 Feb 1979 | Listed | Buffalo Central Terminal is a 17-story former railroad station built from 1925 to 1929 and designed in the Art Deco style by Fellheimer & Wagner. It ceased operations as a railroad station in 1979. | Includes only the Central Terminal Tower and Concourse | |
Lafayette Hotel | 391 Washington Street | 12 Apr 1979 | Listed | The Lafayette Hotel is a seven-story hotel built in phases between 1902 and 1926 and designed in the French Renaissance style by Bethune, Bethune, & Fuchs. Louise Blanchard Bethune was the first registered female architect in the U.S. | ||
158 Swan Street | 158 Swan Street | 12 Jul 1979 | N/A | Demolished | ||
159 Swan Street | 159 Swan Street | 12 Jul 1979 | N/A | Demolished; Includes only the original rowhouse site at the former 159 Swan | ||
Buffalo History Museum | 25 Nottingham Court | 12 Jul 1979 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | The Buffalo Historical Society, built from 1900 to 1901 and designed in a Neoclassical style by George Cary, was the only permanent building constructed for the Pan-American Exposition. | ||
Colored Musicians Club | 145 Broadway | 13 Sep 1979 | Listed | 145 Broadway has been the home of the Colored Musicians Club, a historic jazz institution of national renown, since 1935. The building was constructed in 1910 and designed by Joseph Geigand. | ||
IRC Building | 847 Main Street | 11 Oct 1979 | Delisted 1 Jan 1981 | N/A | Demolished (formerly 855 Main) | |
St. Mary's on the Hill Episcopal Church | 783 Niagara Street | 13 Dec 1979 | N/A | Demolished | ||
St. Mary's R.C. Church Complex | 215 Broadway, 217 Broadway | 14 Feb 1980 | Eligibility undetermined | St. Mary's Lyceum, all that remains of the St. Mary's R.C. Church Complex, was built in 1909 and designed in a Neoclassical style. The architect is not known. | ||
Engine No. 28 | 1170 Lovejoy Street | 10 Apr 1980 | Listed | Engine No. 28 is a firehouse built in 1897 and designed in the Queen Anne style by Frederick Mohr. | ||
Episcopal Church Home (Thornton Building and Hutchinson Chapel) | 825 Busti Avenue | 14 Aug 1980 | Eligible (only Hutchinson Chapel) | The Hutchinson Chapel was built in 1895 and designed in the Gothic Revival style by W.A. Archer. It is all that remains of the Episcopal Church Home Complex. | Thornton Building demolished, only Hutchinson Chapel remains standing | |
Little Harlem Hotel | 494 Michigan Avenue | 11 Sep 1980 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Kleinhans Music Hall | 360 Pennsylvania Avenue | 9 Oct 1980 | Listed, also National Historic Landmark | Kleinhans Music Hall was built from 1938 to 1940 and designed in the International Style by Eero & Eliel Saarinen. Among others, Margaret Truman, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy have performed or spoken there. | ||
Knights of Columbus | 498 Delaware Avenue | 13 Nov 1980 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | The Knights of Columbus was built in about 1870 as the home of Chillion M. Farrar. The Knights of Columbus occupied the building in 1916. | ||
Fosdick Masten High School | 186 East North Street, 161 Best Street, 180 East North Street | 12 Mar 1981 | Listed | Fosdick Masten High School, now known as City Honors School, was built from 1912 to 1914 and designed in the Beaux Arts style by Esenwein & Johnson. | ||
St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church | 175 Sherman Street, 212 Peckham Street | 12 Mar 1981 | Listed | St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church was built from 1884 to 1885 and designed by L. Saenger. | ||
Delaware Avenue Baptist Church | 965 Delaware Avenue | 9 Jul 1981 | Eligible | The Delaware Avenue Baptist Church was built from 1894 to 1895 and designed in the Romanesque Revival style by John H. Coxhead. | ||
Hook & Ladder No. 3 | 308 Spring Street | 9 Jul 1981 | N/A | Demolished (now part of 412 William) | ||
Wood Row Houses | 17 Emerson Place | 10 Sep 1981 | Delisted 20 May 1988 | Demolished | ||
Wood Row Houses | 29 Emerson Place | 10 Sep 1981 | Listed | Built in 1894, this is part of a series of wood frame row house developments built in Cold Spring, the only Buffalo neighborhood with a significant concentration of such buildings. | ||
Wood Row Houses | 75, 77, 79, & 81 Woodlawn Avenue | 10 Sep 1981 | Listed | Built in 1897, this is part of a series of wood frame row house developments built in Cold Spring, the only Buffalo neighborhood with a significant concentration of such buildings. | ||
Wood Row Houses | 147 Woodlawn Avenue | 10 Sep 1981 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Wood Row Houses | 210, 214, & 218 Glenwood Avenue | 10 Sep 1981 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Wood Row Houses | 1335 Michigan Avenue | 10 Sep 1981 | Listed | N/A | Never formally delisted from the NRHP despite having been demolished in 1997 | |
St. Mary of Sorrows R.C. Church | 938 Genesee Street | 23 Jan 1986 | Eligible | St. Mary of Sorrows R.C. Church was built from 1887 to 1891 and designed in the Rhenish Romanesque style by Adolphus Druiding. | ||
Buffalo Lighthouse | 1 Fuhrmann Boulevard | 8 May 1986 | Listed | The Buffalo Lighthouse, also called the Buffalo Main Light, was built in 1833 and deactivated in 1914. The 1961 effort to save the lighthouse was the starting point for the preservation movement in Buffalo. | ||
Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral | 182 Sobieski Street | 12 Jun 1986 | Eligible | Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral was built from 1900 to 1906 and designed in a Gothic Revival style by Sidney Woodruff. It is now Masjid Zakariya. | ||
Rohlfs House | 156 Park Street | 31 Mar 1987 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | The Rohlfs House was built in 1912 and designed in the Craftsman style by Hudson & Colson. The house is associated with Charles and Anna Katherine Green Rohlfs, noted furniture designer and writer of detective stories, respectively. | ||
Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation | 1000 Delaware Avenue | 31 Mar 1987 | Listed | The Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, originally known as North Presbyterian Church, was built in 1906 and designed in a Gothic Revival style by George F. Newton. It became the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in 1952. | ||
Niagara Falls Boulevard | -- | 29 Sep 1987 | N/A | Niagara Falls Boulevard, between Main Street and Kenmore Avenue, was built in 1913 and surfaced with brick. | Public ROW between Main/Kenmore | |
Promiseland Baptist Church | 225 High Street | 2 Feb 1988 | Eligibility undetermined | Promiseland Baptist Church was built in 1883 and designed in a Gothic Revival style with Eastlake elements. The church was originally occupied by the Third German Baptist Church. | No assessment address | |
Former M&T Bank (Broadway/Mills Branch) | 1036 Broadway | 10 May 1988 | Eligibility undetermined | The M&T Bank Broadway/Mills Branch was built from 1923 to 1924 and designed in the Neoclassical style by Bley & Lyman. It is identical to the M&T Bank Grant-Boyd Branch completed in 1923. | ||
Hayes Hall Complex | 3425 Main Street | 18 Oct 1988 | Listed (only Hayes Hall); eligible (Hayes Annex D, Wende Hall, Townsend Hall, Beck Hall); eligibility undetermined (Grounds) | The Hayes Hall Complex include five of the earliest buildings of the University at Buffalo South Campus, and their landscaped grounds. The oldest building is Hayes Hall, built from 1874 to 1879 as the Erie County Alms House and Poor Farm. | Includes only Hayes Hall, Hayes Annex D, Wende Hall, Townsend Hall, Beck Hall, and their grounds | |
Fisherman's Wharf | 64 West Chippewa Street | 21 Feb 1989 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Plymouth Methodist Church & Parsonage | 443 Porter Avenue, 453 Porter Avenue | 28 Mar 1989 | Contributing property, Fargo Estate Historic District | The Plymouth Methodist Church & Parsonage were built from 1911 to 1912 and in 1889, respectively, and designed by Cyrus K. Porter & Sons. | ||
Boarding House Restaurant | 140 Seneca Street | 27 Jun 1989 | Eligible | 140 Seneca Street is a three-story brick Italianate commercial block built in about 1865. | ||
St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum Complex | 1313 Main Street, 1140 Ellicott Street | 25 Jul 1989 | Eligibility undetermined | The St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum includes the Robinson-Squier House, built c. 1860; Orphanage, built from 1898 to 1899 and designed by Green & Wicks; G. Barrett Rich House, built c. 1890; and Gymnasium, built in 1935 and designed by George Dietel. | ||
Great Northern Elevator & Pillsbury Mill | 8 City Ship Canal | 10 Apr 1990 | Eligible | The Great Northern Elevator, built in 1897 and designed by engineer Max Toltz, is an outstanding example of an intermediate steel grain elevator, and is believed to be the sole surviving "brick box" elevator in North America. | ||
Calumet Building | 233 Franklin Street | 13 Nov 1990 | Listed | The Calumet Building, built in 1906 and designed by Esenwein & Johnson, is the most exuberant example of glazed architectural terra cotta in Buffalo. | ||
Buffalo Gas Light Works | 257 West Genesee Street | 23 Dec 1991 | Listed | The Buffalo Gas Light Works was built in 1859 and designed in the Romanesque Revival style by John H. Selkirk, Buffalo's first architect. | ||
Marine Hospital (former UB Chronic Disease Institute) | 2211 Main Street | 21 Jan 1992 | Eligible | The Marine Hospital was built in 1909 and designed in the French Renaissance style by James Knox Taylor. | ||
Buffalo Savings Bank | 575 Main Street | 18 Feb 1992 | Eligible | The Buffalo Savings Bank, built in 1901 and designed by Green & Wicks, is among the most outstanding examples of neoclassicism in Buffalo. The building marked more than half a century of growth of Buffalo's first savings institution. | ||
Saints Peter & Paul Orthodox Church | 40 Benzinger Street | 15 Sep 1992 | Listed | Saints Peter & Paul Orthodox Church was built from 1932 to 1933 and designed in a Byzantine Revival style by Joseph E. Fronczak. | ||
Breckenridge Street Church (First Presbyterian Church of Black Rock) | 44 Breckenridge Street | 29 Sep 1992 | Eligible | The Breckenridge Street Church, built in 1827, is an outstanding example of the Federal style, rare in Buffalo, and the only Federal church surviving in Buffalo. | ||
60 Hedley Place | 60 Hedley Place | 8 Dec 1992 | Listed | 60 Hedley Place is a vernacular farm house with Greek Revival characteristics built in about 1850. | ||
Parkside Lutheran Church | 101 Linden Avenue | 8 Dec 1992 | Eligibility undetermined | Parkside Lutheran Church was built from 1924 to 1925 and designed in the Tudor Gothic Revival style by Frank A. Spangenberg. | ||
Transfiguration R.C. Church | 929 Sycamore Street | 12 Jul 1994 | Eligible | Transfiguration R.C. Church was built in 1896 and designed in the Gothic Revival style by Karl G. Schmill. | ||
St. Vincent de Paul Rectory (Martin Hall) | 15 Eastwood Place | 21 Feb 1995 | Eligibility undetermined | St. Vincent de Paul Rectory was built from 1913 to 1914 and designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Max G. Beierl. | ||
Jefferson Street Shul | 407 Jefferson Avenue | 27 May 1997 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Engine No. 2/Hook & Ladder No. 9 | 310 Jersey Street | 9 Jun 1998 | Listed | Engine No. 2/Hook & Ladder No. 9 is a Second Empire style firehouse built in phases in 1875 and 1897 and designed in the Second Empire style by Cyrus K. Porter and Eckel & Ackerman, respectively. | ||
Swannie House | 170 Ohio Street | 23 Feb 1999 | Eligible | The Swannie House, built in 1893 by James Swannie, is one of Buffalo's oldest taverns and an important landmark of Buffalo's industrial waterfront. | ||
Rev. J. Edward Nash Sr. House | 36 Nash Street | 20 Feb 2001 | Listed | The Rev. J. Edward Nash Sr. House is a vernacular house built in 1893 and best associated with the Rev. Nash, pastor of the Michigan Street Baptist Church from 1892 to 1953. Nash lived in the house from 1925 to 1957. | ||
Carlton Ladd House | 11 Plymouth Avenue | 8 Jul 2003 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | The Carlton Ladd House is a two and one-half story single unit dwelling built in 1887 and designed in a vernacular Queen Anne style by builder Richard Caudell. Carlton T. Ladd, the first owner, was a supervisor with the Watson Elevator. | ||
Dellenbaugh Block | 163 Broadway, 167 Broadway | 22 Mar 2005 | Eligible | The Dellenbaugh Block is a series of four interconnected structures built from 1842 to 1922. Frederick Dellenbaugh, a prominent German immigrant, built the 1842 Federal Style house. | ||
Park Lane Condominiums | 771 Lafayette Avenue | 12 Sep 2006 | Listed | The Park Lane Condominiums, originally called the Parke Apartments, is a ten-story building built from 1924 to 1925 and designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style by H.L. Stevens & Company. | ||
School 46/Elmwood Park | 149 Edward Street, 175 Edward Street | 2 Sep 2008 | Contributing property, Allentown Historic District | School 46, built in 1888 and designed by H.H. Little, is the oldest continually operating public school in Buffalo. | ||
607 Jefferson Avenue | 607 Jefferson Avenue | 15 Sep 2009 | Eligibility undetermined | 607 Jefferson Avenue is a two and one half story, front gable mixed use building built in about 1860. A rescue mission of the Volunteers of America once occupied the site. | ||
609 Jefferson Avenue | 609 Jefferson Avenue | 15 Sep 2009 | Eligibility undetermined | 609 Jefferson Avenue is a two and one half story, front gable Queen Anne style residence built in about 1890. A rescue mission of the Volunteers of America once occupied the site. | ||
Wilkeson-Storms House | 771 Busti Avenue | 13 Oct 2009 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Buffum Street Site | 129 Buffum Street | 29 Nov 2011 | Eligibility undetermined | The Buffum Street Site is an archaeologically significant as a prehistoric Wenro and Seneca settlement. | ||
Erie Freight House | 9 South Street | 10 Jan 2012 | N/A | Demolished | ||
Buffalo Terminal House | 2280 Niagara Street | 10 Jul 2012 | Eligibility undetermined | The Buffalo Terminal House was built by the Cataract Power and Conduit Company in 1901 as a transformer building for alternating current electric power transmitted from Niagara Falls. | ||
St. Ann R.C. Church & Shrine | 651 Broadway, 371 Watson Street, 466 Emslie Street, 468 Emslie Street | 12 Nov 2013 | Eligible (only St. Ann's Rectory, 371 Watson); eligibility undetermined (651 Broadway, 466 Emslie Street, 468 Emslie Street) | The St. Ann R.C. Church & Shrine is a complex of three buildings dating between 1878 and 1895. The 1878 church was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Francis Himpler. The school, built in 1895, was once the largest in the Buffalo diocese. | ||
Wende House | 2256 Bailey Avenue | 1 Sep 2015 | Eligibility undetermined | The Wende House was built in about 1870 and designed in an Italianate style. The house is associated with Gottfried H. Wende, an attorney and politician for whom the adjacent Wende Street is named. | ||
Fosdick Masten High School Great Lawn | 172 East North Street | 9 May 2016 | Eligibility undetermined | The Fosdick Masten High School Great Lawn encompassses the entirely of the site of what is now City Honors School, originally occupied by a Potter's Field and later redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted as Masten Place. | ||
North Park Branch Library | 2351 Delaware Avenue | 21 Mar 2017 | Listed | The North Park Branch Library was built from 1928 to 1929 and designed in the Tudor Revival style by Howard Beck. | ||
John C. Lord Cottage | 794 Potomac Avenue | 18 Apr 2017 | Contributing property, Elmwood Historic District–East | The John C. Lord Cottage, built sometime between 1866 and 1872, is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the Elmwood Village. | ||
224 Plymouth Avenue | 224 Plymouth Avenue | 28 Nov 2017 | Eligible | 224 Plymouth Avenue is a Greek Revival front gable house built in about 1850. | ||
Wildroot Building | 1740 Bailey Avenue | 6 Feb 2018 | Eligible | The Wildroot Building, originally built for Grennan Bakeries in 1929 and expanded for Wildroot in 1946, was the longtime home of the iconic hair tonic manufacturer. | ||
82 Allenhurst Road | 82 Allenhurst Road | 6 Mar 2018 | Contributing property, University Park Historic District | 82 Allenhurst Road, built in 1921 by developer Anthony Huck, is an exceptional example of a craftsman bungalow in the University Park “planned" neighborhood. | ||
Knapp Building | 238 Carlton Street | 17 Apr 2018 | Eligibility undetermined | The Knapp Building, built in about 1876 by grocer Peter Knapp, is a rare surviving example of an Italianate mixed-use building in the Fruit Belt neighborhood. | ||
Kensington Evangelical Lutheran Church | 983 Kensington Avenue | 15 May 2018 | Eligibility undetermined | Kensington Evangelical Lutheran Church, now the New Testament Revival Cathedral, was built from 1926 to 1927 and designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style by Charles F. Obenhock. | ||
General Electric Tower | 20 East Huron Street | 15 May 2018 | Listed | The General Electric Tower is among the most familiar and identifiable features of the Buffalo skyline. The 14 story, 294-foot tall office building was built from 1911 to 1912 and designed in the Beaux Arts style by Esenwein & Johnson. | ||
Masten Avenue Armory | 188 East North Street | 29 May 2018 | Eligible | The Masten Avenue Armory is a New York Army National Guard facility built in 1933 and designed in a Tudor Revival style by William E. Haugaard. | ||
Bennett High School & All High Stadium | 2837 Main Street | 29 May 2018 | Eligible | Bennett High School is a public high school built from 1923 to 1925 and designed in a Georgian Revival style by the Associated Buffalo Architects. All High Stadium was built in 1928 and designed in a neoclassical style by Ernest Crimi. | ||
Michigan Street Baptist Church | 511 Michigan Avenue | 12 Jun 2018 | Listed | The Michigan Street Baptist Church, built from 1845 and 1849, is Buffalo's oldest remaining African American church structure. It is significant for its association with the Abolition, Underground Railroad, and African American civil rights movements. | ||
Grover Cleveland High School | 100 Fourteenth Street | 12 Jun 2018 | Eligible | Grover Cleveland High School was built from 1913 to 1914 and designed in a Georgian Revival style by architect Herman W. Hoefer. It was originally built as the Buffalo State Normal School, and taken over by the Buffalo Board of Education in 1931. | ||
Kensington High School | 319 Suffolk Street | 26 Jun 2018 | Eligible | Kensington High School is a public high school built from 1934 to 1937 and designed in the Art Deco style by Daniel G. McNeil. The school was funded by the Public Works Administration, a New Deal program established in 1933. | ||
Riverside High School | 51 Ontario Street | 26 Jun 2018 | Eligible | Riverside High School is a public high school built from 1928 to 1930 and designed in a neoclassicial style by F.J. & W.A. Kidd. | ||
Engine No. 26 | 693 Tonawanda Street | 26 Jun 2018 | Eligible | Engine No. 26 is a firehouse built from 1894 to 1895 and designed in the Chateauesque style by Frederick W. Humble. Robert B. Howard, Buffalo's first African American firefighter and Fire Commissioner, served as captain of Engine No. 26 from 1960 to 1966. | ||
Concrete Central Elevator | 175 Buffalo River | 10 Jul 2018 | Listed | Concrete Central Elevator, built from 1915 to 1917 and designed by Harry R. Wait of the Monarch Engineering Company, is Buffalo's largest grain elevator and was the largest in the world when it was completed. | ||
East High School | 794 Northampton Street | 24 Jul 2018 | Eligible | East High School is a public high school built from 1925 to 1927 and designed in a neoclassical style by architects F.J. & W.A. Kidd. | ||
Cargill Superior Elevator | 2 Buffalo River | 24 Jul 2018 | Eligible | Cargill Superior Elevator is a grain elevator complex built from 1914 to 1925 in phases: Elevator A, B, and C. With a 3.7 million bushel capacity, it is among Buffalo's largest elevators. Elevator A was the city's first of slip form concrete construction. | ||
341 Franklin Street | 341 Franklin Street | 30 Oct 2018 | Not eligible | 341 Franklin Street is a mixed-use building constructed in about 1854. | ||
Samuel Schenck House | 3451 Bailey Avenue | 13 Nov 2018 | Eligibility undetermined | The Samuel Schenck House may be Buffalo's oldest house still located at its original site. The house was built from 1822 to 1823 by Mennonite migrants Michael and Samuel Schenck in what was then the Town of Amherst, now Grover Cleveland Park. | ||
Wonder Bread Factory | 356 Fougeron Street | 13 Nov 2018 | Eligible | The Wonder Bread Factory is an industrial bakery built from 1914 to 1915 and designed by Corry B. Comstock. The plant, closed in 2004, is associated with Ward & Ward Incorporated and the Continental Baking Company, maker of Wonder Bread and Hostess Cakes. | ||
Engine No. 22 | 1522 Broadway | 13 Nov 2018 | Eligible | Engine No. 22 was built from 1890 to 1891 and designed in the Romanesque Revival style by August C. Esenwein. It is the city's second oldest continually operating firehouse, and may be the oldest surviving Esenwein designed building in Buffalo. | ||
Burgard Vocational High School | 368 Kensington Avenue | 13 Nov 2018 | Not eligible | Burgard Vocational High School was built from 1929 to 1930 and designed in an Art Deco style with Collegiate Gothic elements by Ernest Crimi. | ||
Sweet House | 246 Jersey Street | 11 Dec 2018 | Contributing property, Fargo Estate Historic District | The Sweet House was built in about 1880 and designed in the Victorian Gothic style by Holmes & Little. It was originally built for baby carriage manufacturer Joseph Buffum Sweet. | ||
Engine No. 19 | 209 Forest Avenue | 11 Dec 2018 | Eligible | Engine No. 19 was built from 1887 to 1888 and designed by Hugh Macdiarmid in an Italianate style with Eastlake detailing. It is the oldest continually operating firehouse in the City of Buffalo. | ||
Near-Lewis House | 1029 West Avenue | 2 Apr 2019 | Not eligible | The Near-Lewis House, built in about 1865, is a one story, cross gabled, vernacular workers cottage designed with Italianate style elements. | ||
Ford Motor Company Fuhrmann Plant | 901 Fuhrmann Boulevard | 16 Apr 2019 | Eligible | The Ford Motor Company Fuhrmann Plant is an automobile assembly plant built from 1930 to 1931 and designed by Albert Kahn & Associates. About two million automobiles were made at the plant prior to its 1958 closure. | ||
Public School 18 | 75 School Street | 14 May 2019 | Eligible | Public School 18 is a public school built from 1939 to 1941 and designed in an Art Moderne style by Daniel G. McNeil. | ||
Public School 38 | 360 Vermont Street | 14 May 2019 | Not eligible | Public School 38 is a public school built from 1952 to 1954 and designed in the International Style by James W. Kideney & Associates. | ||
Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church | 55 Grape Street | 1 Oct 2019 | Eligibility undetermined | Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church (originally St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church) is a complex built in phases from 1875 to 1989. After 1962, the church under Rev. Herbert V. Reid became Buffalo's most active in the fight for racial justice. | ||
Stritzinger Building | 871 Seneca Street | 15 Oct 2019 | Eligibility undetermined | The Stritzinger Building, a commercial block built by Anton Stritzinger as a saloon by 1893, is a prominent and familiar visual feature of the Hydraulics neighborhood. | ||
William R. Heath House | 76 Soldiers Place | 17 Mar 2020 | Contributing property, Elmwood Historic District–East | The William R. Heath House is a single unit house built from 1903 to 1905 and designed in the Prairie Style by Frank Lloyd Wright. | ||
Walter V. Davidson House | 57 Tillinghast Place | 17 Mar 2020 | Contributing property, Parkside East Historic District | The Walter V. Davidson House is a single unit house built in 1908 and designed in the Prairie Style by Frank Lloyd Wright. | ||
Police Station No. 13 | 348 Austin Street | 13 Oct 2020 | Eligible | Police Station No. 13 was built from 1894 to 1895 and designed by Frederick C.H. Mohr in the Romanesque Revival style. | ||
Concordia Cemetery & Farmhouse | 438 Walden Avenue | 27 Oct 2020 | Listed | Concordia Cemetery was established in 1859 by three German Lutheran churches. The farmhouse, used as a cemetery office, predates its establishment. | ||
Engine No. 16 | 1416 Main Street | 22 Dec 2020 | Eligible | Engine No. 16 was built from 1884 to 1885 and designed by Hugh Macdiarmid in an Italianate style with Eastlake detailing. It is the oldest surviving firehouse erected by the Buffalo Fire Department. |
List of Local Historic Districts
A historic district is geographically definable area, which the City of Buffalo has designated per the criteria of the Preservation Ordinance, that possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically by past events or united aesthetically by plan or development. A historic district may also comprise individual elements, separated geographically, but linked by association or history.
Local Historic District[2] | Adopted[2] | Image | NRHP Status[3] | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Delaware Historic District | 22 Mar 1977 | Listed | The Delaware Historic District is a two block section of Delaware Avenue home to the grand mansions—Renaissance, Georgian, English Gothic, and Greek Revival in style—of individuals prominently connected with the Buffalo's growth and development. | ||
Allentown Historic District | 21 Mar 1978 | Listed | The Allentown Historic District comprises the Allentown neighborhood, and represents a range of vernacular and common architectural styles, as well as architecture having national significance, from the early nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries. | Boundaries clarified 18 May 1982; Expanded 25 Jun 1985; Boundaries of NR and local historic districts do not match | |
Linwood Historic District | 17 Oct 1978 | Certified | The Linwood Historic District encompasses Linwood and Delaware avenues, and includes outstanding examples of architectural styles ranging from Gothic to Renaissance, Tudor, Italianate, and Queen Anne. | Expanded 23 Dec 2014, 6 May 2015; expansion in 2015 not certified | |
West Village Historic District | 6 May 1980 | Listed | The West Village Historic District comprises a principally residential neighborhood developed around Johnson Park in the mid to late nineteenth centuries, and encompassing styles ranging from Italianate, Second Empire, Greek Revival, to French Gothic. | Boundaries of NR and local historic districts do not match | |
Joseph Ellicott Historic District | 20 Nov 1982 | Certified | The Joseph Ellicott Historic District represents a century of growth of downtown Buffalo, with contributing structures including St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Guaranty Building, Old Post Office, Ellicott Square Building, Dun Building, and City Hall. | ||
Theatre Historic District | 15 Nov 1983 | Certified | The Theatre Historic District encompasses the 600 and 700 blocks of Main Street, with contributing structures including the Market Arcade, Shea's Buffalo, Greyhound Building, and Courier Express Building. | ||
Olmsted Parks & Parkways Historic District | 1 Oct 1985 | Listed | The Olmsted Parks & Parkways Historic District encompasses the park and parkway system, America's first, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux after 1870. | ||
Cobblestone Historic District | 12 Jul 1994 | Certified | The Cobblestone Historic District, comprising granite block streets and commercial and industrial buildings, is virtually the city's last continuing link to its Erie Canal heyday. | Amended 1 Dec 1998; Eligible for NRHP | |
Hamlin Park Historic District | 15 Dec 1998 | Listed | The Hamlin Park Historic District is a principally residential neighborhood developed between 1860 and 1975. The neighborhood was first German, Polish, and Jewish, and after 1950 predominantly African American. | ||
500 Block of Main Street Historic District | 8 Jan 2008 | Certified | The 500 Block of Main Street Historic District, centered at Main and Genesee streets, is historically and architecturally significant as a concentration of small-scale mixed-use buildings from the mid-nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century. | Expanded 20 Mar 2018 | |
Genesee Gateway Historic District | 6 Jul 2010 | Certified | The Genesee Gateway Historic District is significant as a rare surviving mixed-use block with architectural styles dating between the 1840s and 1915. | ||
Larkin Historic District | 22 Jul 2014 | Certified | The Larkin Historic District comprises the buildings and sites of the Larkin Company, one of the largest mail order firms in the U.S. The district comprises some of the best artifacts of Buffalo's "Golden Age" of industrial architecture from 1895 to 1925. | ||
Upper Black Rock Historic District | 28 Apr 2015 | Certified | The Upper Black Rock Historic District consists principally of industrial buildings with some remnants of the early to mid nineteenth century hamlet of Upper Black Rock. | ||
High Street Historic District | 16 May 2017 | Neither listed nor certified | The High Street Historic District is a three-building district comprising the Meidenbauer-Morgan House (1876), Henry Schirmer's meat market (1871), and Promiseland Baptist Church (1883). | ||
Michigan Sycamore Historic District | 16 May 2017 | Neither listed nor certified | The Michigan Sycamore Historic District consists of a grouping of structures dating from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries, representing an important period in African American life in Buffalo. | 68 Sycamore Street burned in 2018; 72 Sycamore Street is individually eligible for NRHP; Expanded 11 Jun 2019; Expanded 24 Nov 2020 | |
Broadway Fillmore Historic District | 29 May 2018 | Certified | The Broadway Fillmore Historic District was developed from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, comprises several architectural styles and notable buildings, and is strongly associated with Buffalo's Polish immigrant history. |
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to City of Buffalo landmarks and historic districts. |
External links
References
- "Office of Strategic Planning | Buffalo, NY". www.buffalony.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- Buffalo (N.Y.). Common Council. Common Council proceedings of the City of Buffalo. 1977-present.
- "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)".