The Buffalo History Gazette

11/17/2025

Buffalo's fireboat, the EDWARD M. COTTER, celebrated its 125th Birthday as an official part of Buffalo's waterfront on Nov. 15th. 2025. Originally named the W.S. Grattan (Full story at Link) https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/today-in-buffalo-history-september-2.html

-- Elizabeth N. J., Sept. 1 1900 --
A HANDSOME NEW FIRE TUG which has been built for the Fire Department of the City of Buffalo, was launched at Lewis Nixon's shipyard, at Elizabethport, shortly before 1 o'clock this afternoon. She will cost $91,000 and is the Finest craft of its kind afloat.

LIKE A SWAN the fire boat W.S. Grattan, sped on it's initial trip from it's cradle at Nixons Ship yard, Elizabethport NJ. The fireboat was christened the W.S. Grattan, in honor of Buffalo's Fire Commissioner. Little Miss Lucia Grattan stood at the bow and smashed a bottle of wine on the nose of the boat as it slid down the ways amid the cheering of 1,000 people, and the blowing of many whistles in the Harbor. The Fire Commissioners were all present on the stand, as was also Chief McConnel. The boat is 118 feet long and is built entirely of steel. She is able to make over fourteen knots, and will crush ice twenty inches thick.

IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE two weeks or more to make the vessel ready for the trip to Buffalo. When prepared for the voyage, the tug will be taken through the St. Lawrence River and the Welland Canal. It is expected that the trip will take about three weeks. As the Tug slid down the ways she was christened by Miss Lucia Virginia Malone, daughter of Fire Commissioner of Buffalo. The Buffalo Visitors came from New York on the fire tug Vigilant. The commissioners were all accompanied by their families. https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/today-in-buffalo-history-september-2.html

THE GRATTAN LEFT New Jersey on October 20, 1900 and arrived in Buffalo to great celebration on November 6th docking at Porters Wharf. Many tests and adjustments to equipment happened over the next couple of weeks. After a test run with commissioners on board it was accepted by the Buffalo Fire Dept. on November 15, 1900 and put into service. David Welch was Captain on board who brought the Grattan to Buffalo. He also oversaw her construction in NJ, and then went on to pilot the vessel until the early 1920s. He is buried at Forest Lawn.

RENAMED the Edward M. Cotter in mid 1950's, it is the oldest operating Fire Boat in the world, and a National Historic Landmark. FULL STORY IN THE BUFFALO HISTORY GAZETTE
https://www.buffalohistorygazette.net/2010/09/today-in-buffalo-history-september-2.html

11/13/2025

Ran across this short film created in 1949 featuring Buffalo as an industrial lake port. 20 minutes covers grain elevators, the old lighthouse on the breakwater, shipping and the steel industry here. Buffalo was at its peak as an industrial and railroading center and grain port in 1950. Also in population at over ½ million people.

Email us at [email protected] if you have questions about the footage and are interested in using it in your project."An Industrial Lake Port" showcases Bu...

11/04/2025

AMHERST VILLA RIDING ACADEMY FIRE
A fire shortly before 7 a.m. August 8, 1946, destroyed the stables and huge arena of the Amherst Villa Riding Academy at the Amherst-Villa Stables in Youngs Rd. Cheektowaga, a little north of the airport near Aero Dr. (where airport runway 23 extension is now) Great columns of black smoke and sheets of flame visible for miles attracted thousands of spectators while passengers in planes, entering and leaving Buffalo Airport had a bird's-eye view of the conflagration directly beneath them.

Stable hands risked their lives to save all but one of 66 horses which were led safely from the L-shaped barn. The fire destroyed a two story cow barn, a two story stable, and a large one story arena, 250 by 125 ft. owned by Michael Moran of 535 North Forest Rd., Williamsville. 'The Riding Academy was operated by Mrs. Lucille Hovannes, who resided near the stables.

The family of Clinton Saunders, an employe of the stable, lived in a two-room apartment near the "tack" or equipment room in the horse barns. They lost all their possessions with the exception of the clothing they had on.
When they heard someone shout, "Fire!" Mrs. Saunders and her son, Robert, 16, and daughter, Barbara, 14, ran into the stables. *We started opening the box stalls and driving the horses out." said Mr. Saunders. "Some of them didn't want to go and turned around and ran back into the burning barn. We had an awful time with them. "We got them all out though, except one horse that didn't have a bridle on.”

The horse that was lost was identified as, LADY BE GOOD, a prizewinning animal owned by Mr. Moran. Many of the horses saved were owned by residents of Buffalo and suburbs and were boarded in the stables, according to Mrs. Hovannes.

Other employees of the stable and a nearby farm turned loose cows in the dairy barn which burned to the ground. Several men risked their lives driving huge trucks away from the advancing flames, but three of the trucks caught fire and were destroyed as they were pulled away. As the spectators watched helplessly, small explosions occurred as drums of gasoline and oil blew up in the barns.

The only farm house that was endangered was that of John Kazmierczak immediately south of the stables. Firemen saved the farm house but a poultry barn and a cow barn were destroyed. Mr. Kazmierczak was milking cows with several assistants when he noticed smoke was filling the barn. He and others began immediately removing the cattle consisting of 72 calves and cows, ten horses and a Holstein bull.

The alarm was answered by the Williamsville, Cheektowaga, Cleveland Hill Fire Depts, The U-Crest Hose Company, The Community Fire Dept. of the town of Amherst, attracting more than half a dozen pieces of equipment. Water was pumped from nearby Ellicott Creek but the fire had too good a start to be extinguished. Fire companies from Cheektowaga and Amherst were on the scene quickly but firemen were helpless in the face of the terrific heat and the rapidity with which flames spread. They were hampered by an inadequate water supply and the hose lines they did get into operation were not effective. The sign says: AMHERST VILLA RIDING STABLES - House of Champions

10/28/2025

Automobile Cub of Buffalo 50TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE
An estimated 225,000 persons yesterday witnessed a gigantic parade of automobiles, trucks, floats and land bands which participated in a colorful panorama depicting the evolution of the automobile and highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Automobile Club of Buffalo. June 24, 1950

The parade passed over a 22•mile route from downtown Buffalo, north in Main to Goodell, thence to the Broadway-Fillmore section and out to the club's grounds in Clarence N.Y., where thousands later milled around an exhibit of parade entries. The parade was as modern as it was nostalgic. Shiny 1950 cars, fresh from assembly lines, crept along silently in the motorcade interspacing ancient models, some cherished relics — which sputtered and gasped along the two-mile downtown route between curbs lined with nearly 75,000 spectators…..

The Chevrolet Motor Division was featured by a huge float carrying two automobiles, one a 1950 convertible and the other a 1914 model. That motor company also sponsored a red white and blue decorated float titled Soap Box Derby. It carried a Butler-Mitchell Club coaster and several youngsters in official Derby T•Shirts and crash helmets distributed by The Courier Express, which co-sponsors the Derby with Chevrolet…..

Center of attraction in the parade were the ancient cars which chugged along, puffing clouds of blue smoke from their exhausts. Most of them moved along smoothy but a few turned awkwardly from Main into Goodell. A few of the museum pieces pumped horns which sounded like tug boat t***s. Many of the old models had brilliant finishes, with drivers and passengers dressed in the fashion current when the cars first sputtered along city streets.

Silver loving cups were presented to the four parade winners at the club's anniversary dinner last night. The award classifications and winners were: Oldest original car. a 1902 Oldsmobile. Charles Hulse of Flint (Mich.) group; car driven the greatest distance under its own power. a 1904 Oldsmobile. George C. Green of Lambertville, N. J., best Buffalo-made car, a 1913 Pierce Arrow, A. H. Kellogg Clarke of Derby. and most interesting and most unusual car. a 1914 custom-built Cadillac. equipped with arm-chair seats, air-conditioning system and telephone, William Moore of Caro. Mich. Judges were R. I. Oshei and William C. Baldwin.

10/26/2025

Even though the ERIE CANAL construction was well underway at the Eastern end, no decision as to the western terminus at Lake Erie, had been made. The two communities fighting for the terminus were Buffalo and Village of Black Rock. Black Rock at the time had far more advantages than Buffalo. If not for the efforts of Wilkeson and his workers, we could all be living in the City of Black Rock right now! The village of Buffalo had few friends that not even Joseph Ellicott supported the efforts of getting the terminus here by building a suitable harbor. This is where Buffalo first "Circled the Wagons".

From his "Recollections of the West," and "First Building of Buffalo Harbor," Sam Wilkeson wrote: "The war which has swept over the Niagara Frontier, had impoverished the inhabitants of the little place . . Their property had been destroyed — they were embarrassed by debts contracted in rebuilding their houses, which had been burned by the enemy; they were without capital to prosecute to advantage, mechanical or mercantile employments; without a harbor or any single means of participating in the lake trade, and were suffering, with the country at large, all the evils of a deranged currency. "In the midst of these accumulated embarrassments, THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ERIE CANAL WAS BEGUN, and promised help. However distant, might be the time of its completion, Buffalo was to be its terminating point; and when the canal was completed, our village would become a city."

These were the words and hopes of Samuel Wilkeson, a man who saw this city, at perhaps, its most degrading time in our history. He had, along with three other resolute Buffalonians, recognized that Buffalo's fate, lie in its getting a harbor. A good harbor, would most certainly bring the termination of the ERIE CANAL to Buffalo. Working with only $12,000, from the state, Wilkeson and the others, discharged an "experienced harbor builder," so as not to risk any of the precious funds; then chose Wilkeson himself, as the superintendent. Wilkeson was a man of action, seeing the desperate need of the city, he abandoned his own business, and called out his men to work, the next morning at daylight. — Without suitable tools, without boats, teams or scows, the harbor work had commenced.
READ THIS INCREDIBLE 5 PART SERIES IN THE BUFFALO HISTORY GAZETTE, AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE ERIE CANAL!

Local history stories about Buffalo and Western NY.

10/23/2025

Originally called THE TOWN CASINO, the venue looms large in Buffalo's history. The Town was founded and run by Harry Altman and Harry Wallens throughout its golden years from the 1940s through the ‘60s. In the midst of her heyday, the club at 681 Main St. was the city's finest restaurant and night spot. It billed itself as "the largest nightclub between Chicago and New York City." They advertised three shows a night, at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., and 1:30 a.m. Dinners were served from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and included the show and dancing.

She was home to shuffling showgirls and tough guys playing cards in the basement (Al Capone among them). The room also hosted a myriad of musical legends such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Danny Thomas, Julius La Rosa, Milton Berle, Mae West, Frank Sinatra, and some of the top Jazz singers of the day, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, George Shearing, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Les Paul and many others. Anyone who was anyone played the Town Casino. During the heyday of New York nightclubs like the Copacabana, the Town Casino booked many of the same stars.

After the ‘60s as things declined downtown, A number of different venues called that address their home like the Studio Arena and Pfeiffer Theaters. Finally, in 2005, noted Buffalo promoters Artie Kwitchoff and Donny Kutzbach stepped in to restore it to her former glory. Their vision was to bring the venue back to life as the City's premier concert venue. This included further renovation of the space to ensure the stage was not only magnificent for performers, but was also the best place for fans to see a show. The crowning glory was christening the club the TOWN BALLROOM, which called to mind the legendary grandeur of the Town Casino.

10/22/2025

One of the most historic sites in NYS and on the Erie Canal, right on our doorstep. A great place to learn about the Erie Canal at the local Canal museum, and walking in the footsteps of the lock tenders of a century and more past who kept the commerce of NYS and America moving. Please support the local history scene in nearby Niagara County. They have done a wonderful job in Lockport making a walkable and educational attraction of the great Flight of Five. Stop by this weekend or any day of the week in this 200th year of the Erie Canal. Photo Source:NYS Archives

A double set of five locks looking west towards Buffalo. Source: New York State Archives

10/20/2025

THIS FLOOD OCCURRED OCTOBER 18, 1844. It was the most disastrous that has ever occurred since the city was founded. It came without warning, an avalanche of waters upon a sleeping community, many of whom were drowned and many of whom had narrow escapes from a similar fate.

For several days before the occurrence of the flood a strong north-east wind had been driving the water up the lake, but on the evening of the 18th a sudden shift of the wind took place, and it blew from the opposite direction with a tremendous force never before or since known to the inhabitants of Buffalo.

It brought with it immense volumes of water in a tremendous wave, which overflowed the lower districts of the city and vicinity, demolishing scores of buildings, and spreading ruin along the harbor front, playing havoc with shipping, and causing an awful destruction of human life.
CONTINUED IN the BUFFALO HISTORY GAZETTE

Local history stories about Buffalo and Western NY.