The Buffalo History Gazette

09/11/2026

The other 9/11 less people know about occurred in 1942. When a disabled P-40 on a test flight crashed through the roof of the Curtiss-Wright Plant on Genesee St. in Cheektowaga. Read a newspaper account of this tragedy by clicking the link below. These people should also be remembered. My mother was there to witness this accident.

Local history stories about Buffalo and Western NY.

09/05/2026

1980s Main St......Oh, the Memories......Traffic snarls, detours, barricades......Fun times for commuters.

08/14/2026

The Opening Game at Rich Stadium in 1973 was chaotic at best. 80,000 tickets were sold but less than that actually got to the game. Fans were still entering the stadium into the fourth quarter. Hopefully our opening game at Highmark has a smoother "Entrance Exam".

I'm guessing that with over 50 years of practice, the fans will figure out any hurdles they will face on Saturday in getting to the game, and parking. One thing for sure, at least Highmark will have its name on the building from the start, unlike Rich Stadium. See : "Rich Signs Missing at Arena Debut" below.

08/10/2026

GOODBYE RICH STADIUM, which was its first given name. As the old Stadium is torn down, here are some photos highlighting the earliest days of its existence, even before the first player ever stepped on its turf. Go Bills! All aerial photos: Martin R. Wahl, Pittsford N.Y.

08/04/2026

THE PETER A. FRASSE & CO. INC. was a historic New York City-based distributor and manufacturer that originated from a 19th-century machine shop rooted in a partnership with inventor ROBERT FULTON. When Swiss immigrant Henri Frederic Frasse established his initial machine shop in New York City in 1803, and later opened his retail store on Fair Street (Fulton Street) in 1816, the business centered around watch and clockmakers' tools, precision repair components, mechanical repair services, and custom prototyping.

For example, manufacturing clock gears, springs, watch movements, and specialized hardware parts. Imported Precision Swiss and French files, delicate pliers, nippers, and specialized tweezers used by jewelers and watchmakers. Complex fixing of delicate instruments, clockwork, and early engines. Building early machinery designs for inventors. Most notably, ROBERT FULTON hired Frasse to build the first working miniature model of his famous steamboat engine, as well as the specialized internal clockwork mechanisms for Fulton's experimental naval torpedoes.

As Peter A. Frasse took over mid-century, the company pivoted from these delicate instruments into a heavy industrial supply warehouse, importing broader lines of machinists' tools, anvils, vises, and eventually massive wholesale stocks of seamless steel tubing. In 1897 Peter A. Frasse & Co. begins producing bicycles, bicycle supplies, steel tubing, and tubing parts. In 1901 the company focused on producing automobile parts, and discontinued the manufacture of bicycles and bicycle parts.

In 1909 a branch office opened in BUFFALO N.Y. at 50-52 Exchange St. By 1920 the Frasse Co. disposed of remnants of its hardware and tool business and committed entirely to the distribution of metals. In 1953, the company built a brand-new, centralized office and steel warehouse at 1275 Sheridan Drive, in Tonawanda, N.Y. (photo) This modern facility consolidated all of Frasse's regional industrial distribution and sales operations—specifically for alloy, stainless, and carbon steels—under one roof to serve the Buffalo and Rochester markets. This plant was positioned explicitly to capture the post-WWII manufacturing boom sweeping across the Niagara Frontier. It acted as a regional warehouse supplying fabricating plants, automotive factories, and aerospace machine shops in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester. Beyond mere storage, the facility housed heavy machinery for custom cutting, grinding, and preprocessing steel stock to match client specifications.

Their Western New York inventory focused heavily on specialty mechanical steels rather than raw construction beams. In the the late 1980s with the general decline of the industrial sector in WNY and many other areas, Frasse ceased operations not just here but the corporaton as a whole, ending its long history dating from 1803.

Photo is of the new facility on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda, completed in 1953 by the John W. Cowper Co.

08/02/2026

Founded in 1909, the INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CORPORATION was an American multinational company specializing in the production and distribution of crop nutrients, including phosphates and potash, as well as animal feed ingredients, serving agricultural and industrial markets worldwide. The company grew through strategic acquisitions and operational expansions to become one of North America's largest fertilizer producers, with key facilities in Florida, Louisiana, Saskatchewan, New Mexico, and Michigan.

Its core operations focused on mining phosphate rock and potash, processing them into many fertilizing products, supporting global agriculture and animal nutrition with an annual capacity exceeding 10 million short tons. In 1941, the International Agricultural Corporation rebranded as the International Minerals & Chemical Corporation, IMC Global. Their Buffalo office was at the Marine National Bank Building, 100 Main St. and production plant on William St. in Sloan about a mile past the city line.

In 1923 the BEMIS BAG CO. moved into Buffalo. Sale of the Kelly-Springfield plant at 711 Northland Ave.(Photo) & Chelsea Place to the Bemis Bros. Bag Company St. Louis, was announced in 1923. The price was said to be $300,000 cash. The Bemis Bag Co. was one of the largest concerns of its kind in existence and operated factories in seventeen cities.

The directors of the company expect that Buffalo will be a lucrative field in view of the fact that it is the second largest milling center in the country. Work in installing the necessary machinery is to be started immediately, engineers of the company arriving in Buffalo today. When completed and in operation 400 persons will be employed. JUTE, PAPER, COTTON & BURLAP BAGS will be manufactured.

The building is comparatively new, the front section facing Northland Avenue, containing the executive offices, is of five story fireproof construction. The rear larger section of the building contained the machinery, and is of two story construction. (1923)

Available at the Niagara Emporium Antique Mall Niagara Falls N.Y.

04/26/2026

Here is a bridge with a few pieces missing. Name that bridge.

04/23/2026

At the Dock this past weekend.
The MV Tamarack is a state-of-the-art, nearly 14,000 ton capacity mechanical/pneumatic cement carrier for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. It has a shallow draft, enabling it to navigate tight, shallow areas. It was delivered in July 2025 to Eureka Shipping from the Netherlands, the first new build cement ship in the Great Lakes in over 20 years.

It is a 403-foot diesel-electric with four generators, has a powerful bow thruster, and two 360-degree rudder propellers for maneuverability. The vessel is designed for low emissions, with HVO biofuel capability (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) and advanced automated cargo handling.

It was docked at the HOLCIM Cement Elevator and packaging plant on the Buffalo River next to the Ohio St. Lift Bridge.

04/15/2026

MYSTERY INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE ON THE NIAGARA RIVER.
Remnants of some industrial heritage on the Niagara river at The Raymond Klimek Veterans Park off River Rd. Read captions on each photo. What was the story here? There are docks and slips to go along with the Large Blocks. I found no markings on the blocks to indentify an industry or purpose. Thank you in advance for your contributions.

As per the comments below there was the Tonawanda Iron Works on this site. Those are floating mooring camels, specialized marine structures designed to facilitate safe berthing and mooring of vessels. They serve as a buffer between ships and docking structures, helping to distribute the ship load across the pilings. They had different designs depending on the varied application. The old slip was referred to slip 2 or 3. - Thank you