Buffalo, New York, USA
1916

Buffalo, a city, port of entry, and seat of justice of Erie co., N.Y., is situated at the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, in lat. 42° 53' N., Lon. 78° 55' W., 352 miles W. of Albany by the Erie Canal and 300 miles by the New York Central and Hudson River R. Other railroads centring here are the Pennsylvania, the Erie, the Lackawanna, the West Shore, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Lehigh Valley, the Grand Trunk, etc. The city has a wharf-frontage of over 7 miles, and es tends along the Niagara River, which is crossed here by the International Bridge, completed in 1873 at a cost of about $1,500,000. The site on the lake-front gradually rises, and at the distance of about 2 miles becomes an ex tended undulating plain 50 feet above the water-level of the harbor. The more elevated portion of the site affords fine views of the city, the Niagara River, the Canada shore, the lake and bay, and the hilly country to the SB. Buffalo, especially the west side residence portion, is handsomely built. Among its more noteworthy thoroughfares are Main Street, Delaware Avenue, Front Avenue, Niagara Street, Broadway, and the Humboldt Parkway. Most of the important streets are traversed by electric trams, which are operated by power generated by the Niagara Falls. A belt railroad makes the circuit of the city. At the point where the waters of the lake merge in the Niagara River, Buffalo Creek enters the lake from the E. and the Erie Canal from the SW., being nearly parallel in their passage through the city and harbor. The streets in the more elevated portions of the city are bordered with a profusion of shade-trees, and there are numerous elegant residences and imposing mercantile and office structures. The Ellicott Square building is one of the largest office-buildings is the world, and accommodates a community numbering 4000-5000. Favorably located for business, and with many advantages as a place of residence, Buffalo shows a ratio of in crease in population far above the average of that of cities in the eastern and older portion of the United States, taking rank as the eleventh in population in the census of 1890, end eighth in the census of 1900. The city claims to be the cleanest, best-lighted, and healthiest city in the United States, with the best water and the best and most complete sewerage ; it has an ample water-supply, obtained from the Niagara through a tunnel extending nearly to the middle of the river. Among the more noteworthy buildings and institutions of Buffalo are the government building, city-hall (with a tower 200 feet nigh), the public library, with over 200,000 volumes (the building alto containing the rooms and collections of the Fine Arts Academy, the Buffalo Historical Society, and the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences), the university, comprising departments of medicine, law, dentistry, and pharmacy, the Grosvenor library, and the state insane asylum. The city is well provided with charitable and ecclesiastical institutions, and among the churches may be mentioned the Gothic St. Paul's church, Trinity church, and the synagogue. The Erie county almshouse is located here. The city has, in addition to other parks, a magnificent public park of 442 acres, and there is a tastefully laid-out cemetery of 75 acres, called the Forest Lawn, in the suburbs. The outlying gigantic coal-elevators are a feature of the city. Buffalo is an important and prosperous centre of trade, and has extensive manufactures. Its commerce has made prodigious strides during many years, — a fact due to its location at the outlet of the great chain of lakes, and to its being the terminus of the Erie Canal and of the various trunk railroad lines that converge here and give direct communication with many of the more important commercial foci of the country. Through its intermediate position and facilities for shipping Buffalo is made the emporium of a large portion of the trade between the East and the Northwest. Grain is the most important article of commerce, and the facilities for handling and storing it are unexcelled by those of any other city on this continent ; the growth of this branch of trade may be estimated by the fact that it was only in 1843 that Joseph Dart built the first grain-elevator here, and that the storing capacity of the elevators to-day is nearly 30,000,000 bushels, with facilities for transferring upward of 5,000,000 bushels per day. Buffalo is now the eastern distributing centre of western flour. In the live-stock trade Buffalo is second to Chicago only. The city has also a large trade in anthracite and bituminous coal, received from Pennsylvania and distributed both west ward and eastward, and it is now the distributing point of nearly all of the west-bound anthracite coal, shipping yearly several million tons by lake alone. The lumber- trade is also very important, the annual receipts in shipment rising to 600,000,000-700,000,000 feet. In iron and steel manufacturing and working Buffalo ranks next to Pittsburg. Among the other industries of the city are those of car-building, oil-refining, distilling and brewing, the manufacture of clothing, soap, starch, and leather, slaughtering, meat-packing, etc. Buffalo, originally laid out by the Holland Company in 15*3-94, became in 1812 a military post. It was burnt in 1913, when of the 200 houses composing the village all bat two were destroyed by the British and Indians. In April, 1822, it was incorporated as a city, and in 1853 it annexed its former rival, Black Rock. Pop. in 1810, 1508 ; in 1820, 2095 ; in 1830. 865.1 ; in 1840, 18,213 ; in 1850, 4*261 ; in 1860, 85,500 ; in 1870, 117,714 ; in 1880, 155,134; in 1599, 255.664 ; and in 1900, 352,387, an increase of nearly 40 per cent, in a decennium. The Pan-American Exposition was held in Buffalo in 1901.

Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher

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