Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time

Rosetta Petruzzi Way and Sally Mae Cunningham Drive – Work to Improve Your Neighborhood, Get a Street Named After You

March 8, 2024 by Angela Keppel

Today, we are going to talk about three streets in the Lakeview Neighborhood of the Lower West Side – two of which are named after women! Bonus women’s content: we’ll also discuss a prison designed by a female architect! Today’s post is a partnership with the Buffalo Women’s Caucus for Women’s History Month. Buffalo Women’s Caucus is an organization to empower women in all fields to become leaders and changemakers. You can follow the Buffalo Women’s Caucus by clicking this link: https://www.instagram.com/buffalowomenscaucus/ Today (March 8th) is International Women’s Day, a global holiday celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

The former location of Root Street shown in Yellow, directly between Rosetta Petruzzi Way and Sally Mae Cunningham Drive. The former Erie County Penitentiary Street, shown in Orange.

Root Street was a short street that ran one block between the Erie Canal and Fifth Street. Fifth Street is now Trenton Avenue. Root Street is no longer extant; it was removed during the construction of the Lakeview Projects.

Root Street was replaced by two new streets in the vicinity of where the street once was – Rosetta Petruzzi Way and Sally Mae Cunningham Drive, named after two women who lived in the neighborhood.

John Root was born in Southwick, Massachusetts, in 1773. He practiced law in Delaware County, New York, for about ten years and then came to Buffalo around 1810. When Mr. Root arrived in Buffalo, the lawyers in Buffalo were Ebenezer Walden, Jonas Harrison, and Heman B. Potter. Potter Street between Broadway and William Street was named for Mr. Potter, but has been replaced by Nash Street. Mr. Root’s first law office was at Washington and Exchange Streets, and he lived at Washington and Swan Streets.

Mr. Root married Christiana Merrill in May 1798. When they first arrived in Buffalo, the Roots shared their home with Christiana’s brother, Frederick W. Merrill and sister, Mary Merrill. Mary Merrill is the woman who is thought to have broken the heart of Seth Grosvenor, causing him to leave Buffalo. Christiana Root died in 1821. Mr. Root married Elizabeth Stewart in 1824. While married twice, John Root had no children.

John Root was considered a brilliant lawyer and orator and was known around town as “Counselor Root.” He was considered well-read in law and equity. Counselor Root practiced in Buffalo for about 30 years before retiring to a lakeshore farm in Hamburg. During his retirement, he provided advice to many young lawyers who’d come to visit him for consultations. He died at his farm in September 1846 at the age of 76. When he died, he was the oldest member of the Erie County bar. He is buried at the Lakeside Cemetery in Hamburg.

Sketch of Erie County Penitentiary. Source: Courier Express, June 1894.

In 1847, Root Street became the home of the Erie County Work House. This was designed as a workhouse for prisoners under sentence for minor offenses for whom there was neither room nor labor at the jail and whom it was not desirable to send to a State Prison. The stone building was located between Pennsylvania and Root Streets on Fifth Street. In 1851, the Work House name was changed to Erie County Penitentiary. In 1892, the Pen, as it was known, served an average of 416 prisoners “for the reformation of convicts, not younger than 16 years”. Most men committed to the Pen were “tramps” sent to the Pen for short sentences. Superintendent of the Pen, Alfred Neal, was quoted in 1894 saying that “committing tramps and disorderliness for such brief sentences is a travesty of justice” and that “it wipes out their self-respect and creates a feeling of contempt and anger towards more crime.” Quite progressive for that time!

View of the Women’s Cells with two matrons. The space was designed by Louise Bethune. Source: Buffalo News, March 1903.

In 1890, a women’s wing was added to the Erie County Penitentiary. It was designed by Louise Bethune, the first female architect. She was tasked with developing a new type of structure – the County had opted to update the entire facility with heat and water. Louise had been doing landmark work with property sanitation in public school buildings, making her an expert in creating safe and functional spaces.

The Pen was home to some famous guests! After assassinating President McKinley, Leon Czolgosz was first held at Police Headquarters. A crowd of several thousand people gathered, calling for a lynching. Police took Czolgosz away, spreading a rumor that they were taking him to a different city. They ended up bringing him to the Women’s Wing of the Penitentiary and keeping him in the dungeon. Another famous Pen resident was Jack London, the author, who spent 30 days at the Pen in 1900 for vagrancy.

1899 Sanborn Map showing the Erie County Penitentiary Site.

By 1903, the Pen no longer took on long-term sentences and was more of a home for petit thieves, habitual drunkards and “unfortunate women” than a place for genuine criminals. For some, it was a better home than on the streets. They had better food and a warm place to sleep. Around the same time, some people wanted to turn the Pen property over to the State to build a Prison and a new Penitentiary at the Erie County Almshouse site (where UB South Campus is now). At the time, the Pen saw about 4,000 to 5,000 persons received and discharged annually (sometimes the same person multiple times). The Head Keeper at the time described the Pen as not so much a prison but a boarding school for the “discipline of adults.”

Starting in the early 1900s, the county would use land in Alden, the Wende Farm, to use farm prison labor to feed the inmates at the Penitentiary. The land had been donated by Otto Wende to the County. The Work House/Penitentiary was located on the west side from 1847 until 1923, when they moved to a new facility at the Wende farm in Alden. The new facility was designed by William Beardsley, a noted prison architect, and built using inmate labor. The new facility opened on July 12, 1923. The city Penitentiary site was considered a “dungeon” compared to the 800-acre farm in Wende. Farm labor was considered appropriate for inmates, and the farm helped the County financially sustain the prison. The county-run farm had 40 Holstein cows, 200 pigs, and up to 12,000 chickens. Up to 80 inmate farm workers tended to the farm. Chicken raising was the first to go, then cows, but the pigs were still on the farm until 1984. The Erie County farm was one of the last county penitentiary farms in the state – the only other was in Nassau County. The State converted the Wende facility into a state-owned and operated correctional facility in 1983. The County then built a new facility at the site for a new Erie County Correctional Facility. The farm was also home to the Erie County Home and Infirmary, which moved to the site in 1928 and closed in 2005.

Children playing on the grounds of the abandoned Penitentiary. Source: Buffalo Courier, October 1929.

Once the inmates moved to Wende, some people, including the Penitentiary Board, hoped the Federal Government might want to buy the Root Street site for federal use. In 1925, the Acting Superintendent of United States Prisons, HC Heckman, had a press conference with Congressman James M. Mead to state that the federal government was not interested and probably never would be in the property. In 1926, the abandoned Erie County Penitentiary was recommended for purchase by the City. At this time, the City was working on building City Hall and moving out of the combined City-County Hall on Franklin Street (now referred to as Old County Hall). In 1929, the City would receive its share of the City-County Hall building value when the County took it over. The City’s share was set at $862,500. The old penitentiary site was 5.5 acres in size and valued at $225,000. The City considered turning the site into a playground, park or public stadium. The neighborhood around the old penitentiary was thickly populated and could benefit from some public recreation space.

Birdseye View of the Lakeview Housing Project. Rendering by Green & James. Source: Buffalo Courier Express, June 1938.

In 1938, the Lakeview Housing Project began construction on the site as a US Housing Authority project, part of the New Deal program. The project cost $5,000,000 to complete. It was one of the largest construction projects in Buffalo since the Great Depression began. The construction industry was excited to bid on the project, bringing thousands of man-hours of labor and a huge demand for material supplies. The project called for 350 tons of structural steel, 1200 tons of reinforcing, 250 tons of steel joists, 240 tons of steel roofing and 100 tons of steel window frames – a total of 2,140 tons of steel! Not to mention other building materials like cement, brick, lumber, paint, glass, nails, plumbing, etc. Lakeview Project was designed by architects Green & James, who also designed the Commodore Perry Homes, Lasalle and Langfield Projects. The Lakeview Housing was bounded by Jersey, Hudson, Lakeview, Trenton and the Erie Canal.

A 1995 Aerial Photo shows the Lakeview Housing Project outlined in Blue. Note that the Thruway I-190 runs over the former Erie Canal bed.

During the construction of the Lakeview Housing Project, John W Cowper Company, a Buffalo-based contractor, developed a concrete handling method. Their method allowed an entire concrete floor to be poured to cover thousands of square feet in a single day. The method was then used again on the Commodore Perry and Dante Place projects by the company here in Buffalo. By the 1950s, the method was used by most big contractors across the country. The old method involved loading concrete at ground level into two-wheel buggies, raising it on elevators to the construction floor, dumping and sending the buggy down the elevator empty. The new method brings the concrete in the mixer truck, dumping it into crane buckets that can carry 2 cubic yards of concrete each. The new method involved significant time and cost savings for construction projects!

The Erie Canal, forming the southwestern boundary of the Lakeview Housing site, was filled in to build Perry Boulevard, which is now the Niagara Section of the New York State Thruway. The Lakeview Project included 668 units but was increased to 1,028 by the end of 1939. Families began moving into the projects in July 1939.

By the mid-1950s, the Lakeview Housing Project was considered dangerous. The closeness of the projects to the Thruway meant that if there were an accident, a car could crash into one of the homes. Perry Boulevard running through the complex was so narrow that cars had to hop curbs when two cars needed to pass each other. The highway noise and the railroad noise made it impossible to sleep in the uninsulated houses.

By the 1960s, the area was home to fights and issues. Unemployment was an issue across the City of Buffalo as deindustrialization began to take effect, and thousands of Buffalonians were laid off from the steel mills. Unemployment impacts were much greater in the Black Community. Police misconduct was a major source of racial tension in Buffalo. On June 26, 1967, two white police officers intervened in a small fight between two Black teenagers in the Lakeview Projects. It quickly escalated into violence. The next night, approximately 200 people, many residents of Lakeview, responded to the excessive force with demonstrations. The protests that ensued were in response to the many issues facing the Black community at the time – substandard housing, public school education, unemployment and lack of neighborhood investment. The action spread across the East Side, continuing until July 1st. The five-night riot resulted in sixty injuries, over 180 arrests and approximately $250,000 worth of property damage to stores and homes. The Buffalo riot was part of a wave of riots that swept across urban areas of the North in the late 1960s. The Black Community today continues to fight for many of the same things that caused the riots back then, as was seen during the 2020 protests after the death of George Floyd.

Now, on to the women – Rosetta Petruzzi Way and Sally Mae Cunningham Drive! These two streets are named after women who were instrumental in the Lakeview Housing complex over the years.

Sally Mae Cunningham’s gravestone, Concordia Cemetery

Sally Mae Cunningham was a long-time resident of the Lakeview Housing complex. She was known by her neighbors as “the mother of the West Side.” Sally Mae was born in 1914 and grew up in Anniston, Alabama. When she was ten, her stepfather had defied a white shop owner who refused to sell to Black customers. That night, her house was visited by the local Ku Klux Klan. Her grandfather stood up to the Klansmen, unmasked one of them, called him by name and told them to leave. Mrs. Cunningham would later say that memory gave her strength throughout the rest of her life.

In 1952, Mrs. Cunningham and her three children became the first Black family to move into the Lakeview Projects. She was greeted by her neighbors by trash thrown on the lawn and a brick through her window. Sally Mae was quoted in the Buffalo News as saying, “I was threatened lots of times, but I was never afraid.” She was said to have countered the hostility and suspicion with kindness and was able to win over the neighbors and make many friends.

Mrs. Cunningham lived at 971 Perry Blvd for 38 years. She helped to organize the first Lakeview Tenants Council and took an active role in the tenants’ rights movement. She was also a Director of the Community Action Organization (CAO). CAO is a non-profit organized in May of 1965 that serves individuals and families to mitigate poverty throughout low-income communities. Mrs. Cunningham also served as the West Side representative of B.U.I.L.D.(Building Unity, Independence, Liberty and Dignity), a civil rights advocacy group. She was best known for her work during the late 1960s when fights between street gangs were common across the City. She worked with police and teenagers to help stem the violence in her neighborhood. In 1980, she received B.U.I.L.D.’s Outstanding Community Service Award for her youth activities. Sally Mae Cunningham died in January 1990. She is buried in Concordia Cemetery. Shortly after her death, State Senator Anthony Masiello renamed legislation he was proposing as the Sally Cunningham Bill. The legislation was to require the Common Council to to confirm housing directors of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority. Masiello said, “Sally Cunningham made decent public housing the focal point of her life.”

Rosetta Petruzzi at the new playground at the Lakeview Development. Source: Buffalo News, May 1995.

Rosetta Ann Petruzzi was also a long-time resident of the Lakeview Housing complex. She lived there for more than 50 years! Rosetta Petruzzi was born Rosetta Scott in Warren, Illinois, in 1926. She came to Buffalo in 1944 after marrying Anthony Petruzzi. She was very active in youth activities at the complex and helped to establish a well-baby clinic in the complex. Along with Mrs. Cunningham, she helped to establish the first Tenants Council. In the mid-1960s, Mrs. Petruzzi served as President of the Lakeview Community Council and helped open a wading pool/splash pad in 1965. The pool had been closed for 20 years at that point. The pool had been shut down due to often needing to be closed for cleaning. Glass was often being thrown into it, so the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority opted to close it rather than deal with the high cost of draining for cleaning out the glass. Mothers in the Lakeview Council, led by Mrs. Petruzzi, were instrumental in reopening the pool. The mothers agreed to watch the pool from 1pm to 4pm each day. She was quoted in the Buffalo News as saying, “Some people thought that we’d never get a pool closed down 20 years back in operation, but I guess you can get anything if you try long enough.” Mrs. Petruzzi was also active in the Cub Scout Pack at Lakeview Homes and was a den mother to the troop for many years.

Mrs. Petruzzi was active in the Democratic Party and served on the City of Buffalo Citizens Council on Human Relations. This group was formed in June 1963 to help with the problems of employment, education and housing affecting minority groups.

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Rosetta Petruzzi stone in Mausoleum at Forest Lawn

In May 1995, the Lakeview Tenant Council and the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority dedicated a playground and plaque to Rosetta Petruzzi at the complex. The picture above is from the playground’s opening. I was unable to determine exactly where the playground dedicated to Mrs. Petruzzi was located, though I know it is not the playground currently on Fourth Street. If anyone who lived at Lakeview remembers where it was in the 90s, let me know! Mrs. Petruzzi passed away in September 2001 and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

In the late 1990s, plans to demolish the Lakeview Housing project began to be developed. The reconfiguration of the Projects was part of the federally-funded HOPE VI initiative of the Clinton Administration. There was a lot of controversy involved with demolishing all of the units of Lakeview Housing to replace them. At the time, Lakeview was a little rundown, but most of the units had been renovated, and it was considered “Buffalo’s best family project.” One of the major issues around Lakeview was the substandard housing located in the neighborhood around the projects, as opposed to the actual Lakeview Housing itself. All 660 original Lakeview units were demolished. They were replaced by 360 new townhomes and 74 apartments in a new, four-story senior citizen building. There were also 40 townhouses for ownership. Phase 1 was completed in 2001. The units were designed for families with low to moderate income levels. The new streets in the Lakeview HOPE VI housing were named for Sally Mae and Rosetta, along with Hope Way (for HOPE VI) and Anthony Tauriello Drive, named for Anthony Tauriello, but we’ll learn about him another day – I wanted to focus on the ladies for today! The redevelopment project included a park setting with green space and newly planted trees between the Thruway and Fourth Street. With the exception of a small playground, the site is mostly a grassy field and a berm to protect from the highway. Plans for Ralph Wilson Park (the $110 Million reconstruction of Lasalle Park into a world-class park) include some plans for the Fourth Street site.

A Modern Aerial shows the outline of the former Lakeview Housing, highlighted in blue. Note the new Hope VI housing on the northeastern half of the site.

In 2004, Dierdre William from the Buffalo News described the Lakeview HOPE VI development as if “Someone took Pleasantville and put it in the middle of the Lower West Side.” The new development has a suburban look that’s a far cry from the brick public housing units they replaced. Critics of the Lakeview HOPE VI project stated that while the new units of housing are visually appealing, between the Lakeview houses and Niagara Street, the rest of the neighborhood was still in decline. It was anticipated that residents of Lakeview HOPE VI would open small businesses like daycare and beauty shops. The spin-off development that was expected to happen has been slow to happen.

Next time you’re over on the Lower West Side, or maybe taking the pedestrian bridge into Ralph Wilson Park, think of the Penitentiary and all the people sentenced to the site over the years; think of Louise Bethune, a woman architect breaking down barriers and designing prisons; and think of women like Sally Mae Cunningham and Rosetta Petruzzi who fought to improve conditions for everyone around them. I think sometimes, during months like Women’s History Month, it’s important to remember the major women who accomplished major things, but it’s also important to remember the work of regular women, too. Sally Mae and Rosetta were moms fighting for a better neighborhood. It’s important to remember them and all the other unsung women who’ve been working hard for decades to make their communities better. Happy Women’s History Month! Want to learn about other influential Buffalo women? Check out my roundup of Streets Named after Women here.

Sources:

“Mothers Pool Their Efforts to Reopen Wading Area.” Buffalo News. July 20, 1965, p10.
Hill, Henry Wayland, editor. Municipality of Buffalo, New York: A History 1720 – 1923. Lewis Historical Publishing Company: New York, 1923.
“Council Urged to Buy Disused County Prison.” Buffalo Evening News. October 25, 1926, p3.
“Weather Slows Progress on Redevelopment Project.” Buffalo Business First. January 15, 2001.
“US Not Interested in Old Penitentiary”. Buffalo News. February 28, 1925, p12.
Buyer, Bob. “Prison Farm Gets County Reprieve.” Buffalo News. June 22,1987, p12.
Hays, Johanna. Louise Blanchard Bethune: America’s First Female Professional Architect. McFarland & Company, Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. 2014.
Smith, H. Katherine. “Two Streets Memorial to Early Buffalo Lawyers.” Buffalo Courier-Express. March 1, 1942, Sec 4, p8.
“Local Companies Awarded Most MHA Contracts.” Buffalo Evening News. October 30, 1954, p13.
“In a Model Prison: A Humane Keeper and His Excellent Methods.” Buffalo Courier. June 1, 1894.
“Make State Prison Out of Penitentiary”. Buffalo News. March 13, 1903.
“Winter Resort of Buffalo’s Army of Unfortunates.” Buffalo News. March 1, 1903.
“Rosetta A Petruzzi, Active in Community”. Buffalo News. September 9, 2001, p13.
“Housing Cash.” Buffalo Courier-Express. April, 11, 1939, p7.
“Lakeview Housing Project Site Called Dangerous”. Buffalo Evening News. January 20, 1958, p18.
“Million-Dollar Canal Parkway Plan is Pushed.” Buffalo Courier-Express. March 7, 1939, p11.
Downs, Winfield Scott. Municipality of Buffalo, New York: A History, 1720-1923. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1923.
“Inequality, neglect – not just Floyd’s death- fuels protests.” Buffalo News. June 8, 2020, p1.
“Plan calls for razing entire Lakeview project.” Buffalo News. August 20, 1999, p31.
Tan, Sandra. “Hopeful Housing.” Buffalo News. September 18, 2000, p1.
Ashiley, Nii Ashaley Ase. “When Black New Yorkers Decided to Unite for their Own: Buffalo Race Riots of 1967”. Face2Face Africa. June 27, 2019. https://face2faceafrica.com/article/when-black-new-yorkers-decided-to-unite-for-their-own-buffalo-race-riots-of-1967
Alfonso, Rowena I. “They Aren’t Going to Listen to Anything But Violence: African Americans and the 1967 Buffalo Riot.” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, Volume 38, Issue 1. January 2014.
“Citizens Unit Established to Aid Minority Groups.” Buffalo Courier-Express. June 24, 1963, p7.
“Dynamite Ends Reign of Old Buffalo Pen” Buffalo Times, July 13, 1930
“Bill Will Honor Sally Cunningham. Buffalo Challenger. January 17, 1990, p7.
“Mother of the West Side: Sally Mae Cunningham Dies.” Buffalo Challenger. January 17, 1990, p7.
Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Volume 13. New York State Legislature, Assembly. 1892.
Williams, Dierdre. “A New Hope for Public Housing Suburban-Looking Community Rises on Vestige of Lakeview Homes.” Buffalo News. June 17, 2004.

Posted in Lakeview, West Side | Tagged Erie County Penitentiary, HOPE VI, Housing Projects, Lakeview, West Side | 1 Comment »

Some Buffalo Women You Should Know

March 3, 2024 by Angela Keppel

Happy Women’s History Month!! As any reader of this blog knows, our streets are often named after rich white men. I think when we think of women’s history, we often remember the big changemakers, but I think it’s important to remember all the women who lived fairly regular lives. These women were daughters, maids, workers, wives, and mothers. They may never have held elected office, owned large amounts of real estate, or run successful businesses. And I think it’s important to celebrate these women, remembering that our lives today are built on these women. Behind every man I’ve written about, there was almost always a woman on the sidelines. Many of those women are forgotten to history, their names written as Mrs. Husband’s Name. Even more are completely forgotten in the pages of history all together. So, we remember those women.

I remember women like Sally Hodge. Sally married William Hodge when she was 14 years old. Sally arrived in Buffalo in 1805 as the 17-year-old bride of 23-year-old William and the mother of two babies. They came from Richfield, NY, by wagon to Utica, where they embarked on a boat up the Mohawk River, into Wood Creek, through Oneida Lake, down the Oswego River into Lake Ontario to the Niagara River. When they reached Lewiston, the boat was taken out of the river and carried on a wagon by an ox team and put back into the river past Niagara Falls and they traveled down to Buffalo Creek. The total trip took 20 days. Twenty days of boat travel with two babies under 3! The Hodge family had no money and no land. They existed on their own ingenuity and what they could do with their own hands. The family lived on the outskirts of town, near Main and Utica, well out of the Village of Buffalo limits. Sally had more children – Sophia in 1807, Philander in 1809, Sabrina in 1811, and Julia in 1813. Sabrina unfortunately died at 16 months old in May 1812.

On December 30th, 1813, during the Battle of Buffalo, the Hodge family originally thought they were ok. They figured that the Americans would not be defeated, plus they were well outside the Village (which only reached Tupper Street). When they saw the militia hurrying past their house, they realized it was time to leave. Sally bundled up her children and fled. The day was bright, but cold. There had been a heavy snowfall, which still lingered in the woods, but the roads were clear. The roads were full of villagers fleeing into the forest. The Hodges threw some household goods into a wagon, along with their children ages 11, 10, 7, 5, and a 2-month-old baby. Fleeing their home, they went to Harris Hill in Clarence. More than 500 settlers fled their homes. About 100 houses and numerous other buildings were reduced to ashes. Where there had been a thriving village with a promising future was left a scene of devastation and ruin where barely a living thing could be seen. The Hodge house was burned to the ground on New Year’s Day 1814, reportedly the last building burned by the British.

Six days later, on January 6th, 1814, Mr. Hodge brought his family back into town to live in the ruins of their house while he rebuilt it. Imagine living in a burnt-out shell of a house as a 26-year-old with your 5 children! Now imagine doing it in the middle of winter. While the Battle of Buffalo was over, the war had not yet ended. Twice during that winter, enemy troops crossed the river again. Thankfully, they were driven back by soldiers stationed here. Most of those who returned had little to live on except what was issued by the commissary department of the army. Sally’s next baby was born stillborn in December 1815. I can’t help but wonder if perhaps the trauma of all of this may have something to do with it? Sally went on to have more babies in 1816, 1821, 1824, 1826, 1830 and 1833. The rest of the babies all lived to adulthood. In total, Sally had 13 babies in 30 years. Hodge Street is named for her husband. I haven’t been able to find a photograph of her; all that remains is her gravestone.

Do you think Sally Abbott Hodge ever imagined a world where her life could have been different? A world where she could have choices? A world where Kathy Hochul, a girl who grew up in WNY, serves as Governor? Women back then were made of steel. Our city was built on the backs of these women. Women like Sally Hodge who persisted in a world where 14-year-old girls were expected to simply get married and have babies.

Here are the highlights of some of our streets named after women.

Mary Talbert Blvd – Mrs. Talbert was considered the “most famous colored person in the country” during her time. Read about her here in Part One, Part Two and Part Three.
Lovejoy Street – Sarah Lovejoy was the only woman killed defending Buffalo during the War of 1812. You can read about her here.
St. John’s Place – Margaret St. John’s home was the only house spared during the Burning of Buffalo during the War of 1812. You can read about her here.
Ripley Place – Mary Ripley was a teacher at Central High School. She was charged with taming the boy’s study hall classes, which were the source of riots and police calls during the 1860s. You can read about her here.
Marion Street and Wade Avenue – both named for Marion Wade Nicholson, an insurance saleswoman and singer. You can read about her here.
Sprenger Ave – Named for Magdalena Sprenger Warner by her husband. Likely the only street in Buffalo named after a Jewish woman. You can read about her here.
The Bristol Home – while Bristol Street is named for a man, this post about it discusses the Bristol Home, a home for women, run by women which existed in Buffalo for many decades. You can read it here.
Lovering Ave – Sarah Lovering Truscott, along with her niece and daughter give this street its name. Her niece, Mary Lovering, was one of the first society women in Buffalo to earn her living outside of the home. You can read about them here.
Gill Alley – Helen Gill decided to build a home in the Elmwood Village after her husband died. This was unusual at the time, since most Victorian era homes were run by the man of the house. You can read about her here.
Gladys Holmes Blvd and Mary Johnson Blvd – Gladys and Mary were community activists on the East Side of Buffalo, living in the Talbert Mall. You can read about them here.
Minnie Gillette Drive – Minnie Gillette was our first Black County Legislator and helped to save the Old Post Office in Downtown (now ECC City Campus). You can read about her here.
Ora Wrighter Drive – Ora Wrighter was a community activist on the East Side of Buffalo. You can read about her here.
Wasmuth Avenue – Caroline Wasmuth was the first female land developer in Buffalo, back in the 1880s. You can read about her here.
Austin Street – While the street is named after her husband, Livinia Austin took over his business (with her daughter Delia) after his death and did some developing of her own, including converting the Unitarian Church at 110 Franklin Street from a church into a commercial space. The county is currently rehabbing the building for use once again, calling it the Lincoln Building. You can read about Livinia and the Austin family here. Lavinia Austin
Shumway Street – while the street is named after Mr. Shumway, he was influential for women as he introduced to the New York State Legislature the first bill to guarantee the protection of a married woman’s property rights, which resulted in New York’s Married Women’s Property Act of 1848. You can read more about him here.
Many of the streets with women’s names were named after the children of a developer or landowner. Examples of some of these streets that I’ve written about here include – Alice, Edith, Fay, Gail, Janet, Kay, May, Phyllis and Millicent.

Of course, I have to give a shout-out to the original Buffalo Streets girl herself, H. Katherine Smith. She was a reporter for the Buffalo Courier for more than 40 years, and she was blind! I wish I could tell her how much her story inspires me every single time I read one of her articles. I owe her such a debt of gratitude for her work; so much of my research is based on the work she did in the 1930s documenting the next of kin of so many street namesakes!

Of course, these women are just a few examples of some of the great Buffalo Women over the years! We’ll have a new post this week for International Women’s Day that will discuss TWO more streets named after women. In the comments, feel free to tell me your favorite stories about your favorite Buffalo Women! I’ll go first: In 1881, Maria Love established the nation’s first daycare, the Fitch Creche on Swan Street, providing daycare services to the working poor.

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January 2024 Update

January 20, 2024 by Angela Keppel

Today, we’re not covering a street. I wanted to share some quick updates about a couple of things.

This week, I became a bit of a Taylor Swift influencer. I shared a post from my Patreon account from June about how Taylor’s Great-Great-Grandparents are from Dunkirk, New York. It’s gotten a LOT of views this week. It’s been really fun and very silly. A lot of people think history is really boring (I’m sure most of you reading this don’t think that), but I think this is one of those instances where history can be really fun. I know some of you are probably sick of hearing about Taylor, but I’m a fan. I think it’s pretty cool that her family had a music store here in Western New York. Here’s the link to the Taylor post if you’re interested in learning more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/83061148

The Taylor story got picked up by a bunch of news outlets:

Dunkirk Observer – https://www.post-journal.com/news/top-stories/2024/01/swifts-dunkirk-ties-no-wildest-dream/
WGRZ – https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/taylor-swift-dunkirk-wny-buffalo-connections-bills-chiefs/71-b6c6874e-583e-44e0-82f1-f8d83ff4c434?fbclid=IwAR0cvsG_mMRxwDR9zmXMQt9vU6AYxU7qMYDhrkS8L8uJff5n4V6VfP8ooTc
Erie News Now (who didn’t cite me at all, unfortunately) – https://www.erienewsnow.com/clip/15446313/taylor-swifts-surprising-family-connection-to-western-new-york
Syracuse.com – https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/2024/01/taylor-swift-has-ties-to-buffalo-area-despite-cheering-for-kansas-city-chiefs.html

Secondly, did you read my last post about Hersee Alley? Remember I mentioned not being able to find pictures of the house at 33 Linwood? Photos were found in the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church archives!!! David Hehr, who provided a great description of the house that I included in the previous post, was able to find these. These photos definitely match up to his memories!

Late 1960s view of 33 Linwood Ave. Source: Holy Trinity.

Late 1960s view of the rear of 33 Linwood. Source: Holy Trinity

Detail of 33 Linwood. Source: Holy Trinity.

Once someone invents a time machine, I will be going back in time to visit this house, because it truly looks awesome!. Other places I plan to visit: to May 1901 for the Opening Day of the Pan American Exposition; to WWII era Lackawanna to see Bethlehem Steel at peak operation; to 1865 Buffalo to take a walk down Swan Street when it was the “fashionable neighborhood”; and probably to 1910s St. Patrick’s School on Division Street so I can see my Great Grandma Susie in school and see if the nuns really made her put her gum on her nose as often as she said they did!

Lastly, I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. I am now a Revitalization Specialist with the New York State Department of State. Still in the urban planning field, just now at the state level. I’ll be working on revitalization projects in communities across Western New York. As you all know, starting a new job is a big change, so I thank you in advance for your patience as I may not be able to get out as many posts in the next few months – I promise I have a bunch of stuff coming up that just needs to be flushed out and finished so stay tuned! This also means I won’t be on the upcoming University Express schedule for the spring/summer. But don’t worry, I’ll be back once things get settled! I do hope to do tours again this summer, so we have that to look forward to as well.

Me in the Grosvenor Room at the Downtown Central Library.

I hope you’re all staying warm and doing alright after winter arrived with a vengeance here in Western New York. To the ex-pats who’ve moved to sunnier climates, please send us some warmth or at least some sunshine! The library reopened after being closed for a couple of days, so I’m back in the Grosvenor Room today, working on some research for some upcoming posts. Some things to look forward to – information about a convent, a skating rink, a penitentiary, and a housing project. That sounds like the start-up of some kind of joke….I promise they’re all related to different streets! If anyone wants to guess what streets those things refer to, I’ll give you a gold star.

All the best to you all! I hope 2024 will be a great year. It’s certainly been an adventure for me already!

Love,

Angela

And, of course, GO BILLS!!!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged music, nfl, sports, taylor-swift, travis-kelce | 11 Comments »

Hersee Alley – A Street Named After A Business

December 16, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Map showing Hersee Alley in Red.

Hersee Alley is an alley that runs between Ellicott Street and Oak Street in Downtown Buffalo. It was originally Koons Alley until March 1886, when it was renamed. One of the reasons the street was changed was because there was confusion between Koons Alley and Koons Avenue. Hersee Alley is named for a business that was located on Ellicott Street adjacent to the alley, Hersee Furniture Company, which was in business for nearly 100 years.

Thompson Hersee was born in Arundel, Sussex, England, on May 13, 1814. He came to Buffalo in 1834 and engaged in the furniture trade. Hersee & Co. was established in 1836. Mr. Hersee was in business for a few years with Benjamin Timmerman, and the company became known as Hersee & Timmerman, but most people reportedly still called it Hersee & Co. during those years. Mr. Timmerman left the firm in 1866 and the firm name became Hersee & Co once again. Mr. Hersee’s stores were at 307-309 Main Street for several years. Main Street has been renumbered; Mr. Hersee’s store was midway between Eagle and Clinton Streets. The site of his store was later replaced with the J.N. Adam Department Store and then AM&As, which many of you may remember.

Hersee & Co. was known as a business that provided quality, quantity, service, and value. Thompson Hersee felt that a business should never charge more than an article was worth and refused to mark prices up for some and down for others, a common business practice.

Hersee & Co. was well known throughout Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania but also sold across the country. Following the Gold Rush in California, they’d send furniture destined for California office buildings around “the Horn” (of South America) by steamship. They also had vessels that sailed the Mississippi River to deliver chairs and desks made by the Hersee factory. The firm furnished many homes over the more than three generations they were in business. They made much of their own furniture at their factory in Buffalo but also dealt with some of the best-known furniture makers in Grand Rapids and other manufacturing centers.

25_Linwood_Ave_Buffalo_NY_Courier_Express_1902

Ad for the sale of 25 Linwood Avenue. Source: Courier Express, April 1902

Mr. Hersee married Annette C. Moses from Attica in September of 1844. They had six children – Thompson Jr, William, Orton, Walter, Carrie, and Porter (who was called Benny). The Hersees lived at 371 Washington Street, at the corner of Eagle Street. They attended Trinity Episcopal Church. The family later moved to 25 Linwood Avenue. They then attended the Church of the Ascension on North Street, practically across the street from their house.

Sadly, many of the Hersee children died young. Son Orton died in 1859 at the age of 9. Son Benny also died in 1859, one day after Orton. Benny was just one year old. Orton and Benny’s death notices were published together in the newspaper. The fact that the two boys died so close to each other, I wonder if they died from an illness. Son Water died tragically at the age of 11 when he was playing on the steps of Trinity Church in 1863. He tried to jump over the iron fence but slipped and fell onto the fence, which pierced his stomach. Son Thompson Jr. died in 1875 at the age of 30 of rheumatism. Son William died in 1891 at the age of 43 of congestion of the brain.

In 1849, Mr. Hersee was nominated by the Democratic Party for Mayor but lost to Henry K. Smith.

Sherwood Pages from The_Picture_Book_of_Earlier_Buffalo

Sherwood Mansion at 652 Main Street, Downtown Buffalo. Source: Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo

Hersee & Co. built a mill on Elm Street. In 1870, they built a large showroom in what was then the old Sherwood Home at 652 Main Street. We discussed this house a bit in our last post. Hersee & Co took over the mansion and decorated the various rooms to showcase furniture – i.e., the parlor, chamber, dining room, and library were all set up as such to show examples of how people could furnish their own homes. You could view things in the showroom, and then you could make a purchase from the store, just a few blocks away down Main Street. This was modeled after the example of Mr. Chickering in New York City, who did something similar with a large private dwelling on 14th Street. They also had a large upholstery department and also manufactured and finished interior fittings such as mantels, doors, wainscotings, etc. The Sherwood house was a great place for Hersee & Co to do this, as there were 34 rooms in total in the house!

Hersee Factory on Ellicott Street. Source: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Scrapbook.

In 1872, son William Hersee took over management of the company. The company closed the Showroom and the store on Main Street company moved to 303-311 Ellicott Street, along what would become Hersee Alley fourteen years later. The new store included six stories of sales floor and warehouse space. The company had a staff of 100 skilled cabinetmakers. The factory was situated between Ellicott Street and Blossom Street, just south of what became Hersee Alley.

1899 Sanborn Map showing the location of Hersee & Co furniture factory.

The 652 Main Street property remained in the Hersee Family’s hands after the showroom closed. They turned the Sherwood house into a hotel called the Hersee House. At the time, the City lacked hotel accommodations, particularly in this part of town. Mr. Hersee also purchased land on the south and north side of the house. He worked with Cyrus K. Porter, a well-known architect, to prepare plans for a larger hotel that would incorporate the Sherwood house into its design. The Sherwood House would form the middle of the structure, with wings on either side, connected to the house via hallways. The plan was for the Hersee Hotel to have 150 rooms. Instead of building the larger hotel, the Hersee family turned the house into a boarding house. The house was referred to as The Sherwood and also as Hersee House.

Hersee Family Plot at Forest Lawn. Photo by Author.

Mr. Thompson Hersee died on December 1, 1884. He died on the same day as Cyrenius Bristol of Bristol Sarsaparilla fame! Thompson Hersee is buried in the Hersee family plot in Forest Lawn Cemetery, which is the eternal home of 18 members of the Hersee family.

Son William ran the Hersee business following Thompson’s death, along with his mother Annette. Annette Hersee also managed the Hersee’s large real estate portfolio. They owned several properties around Symphony Circle, including the lands where St. John and Orton Places. Annette Hersee established the grading and paving of those two streets in April 1885. I have no documentation, but I surmise that Orton Place may have been named for Orton Hersee, who was the first of the children to die. Annette also managed the estate of Harry Hersee, her brother-in-law, after he died in 1898.

In 1888, William and Annette Hersee submitted a bid to the US Government to build a new post office on the 652 Main Street site. There were 11 bids received. Interestingly, none of the sites were selected for the post office building. The Post Office ended up being built at the corner of Ellicott and South Division Streets in 1897. The building still stands today and is home to Erie Community College.

Daughter Carrie was the only of the Hersee children to grow old. Carrie married George Coit in 1877. George Coit was hired and rose up in the ranks at Hersee & Co., becoming Managing Partner and Director of the firm’s business policy in 1887. Carrie and George lived at 33 Linwood, next door to the Hersee home. George Coit was the third generation of Coits in Buffalo; his grandfather was also George Coit, the one who built the Coit House, which still stands on Virginia Street and is generally believed to be the oldest house still standing in Buffalo. Coit Street is named after the Grandpa George Coit.

When William Hersee died in 1891, Annette took over the Hersee & Co. business, with George Coit as managing partner of Hersee & Co. Annette C. Hersee passed away on June 10, 1901. The newspaper listed the hymns sung at her funeral at the Church of the Ascension as “Lead Kindly Light,” “Abide With Me,” and “Hark, Hark, My Soul.”

When Annette died, the entirety of the estate went to her daughter, Carrie Coit, the last remaining Hersee child. The estate of Mrs. Hersee was estimated to be around $800,000 (about $28.6 Million in 2023 dollars). The estate also included some of the best real estate in Buffalo, including the family home on Linwood, the Hersee factory on Ellicott Street, the property on Main Street above Chippewa Street, a building at Chippewa and Main Streets, and other properties.

A cousin of Carrie Hersee Coit, Stanford Whiting, tried to claim that he was supposed to be left a part of the estate since he had lived with the Hersees for several years as a child. He sued for $200,000 (about $7 Million in 2023 dollars) of the estate. He lost his fight in April 1904 when the jury voted against his claim for 1/3 of the estate. Carrie Coit became the sole inheritor of the Hersee estate. She and George ran the Hersee & Co. business.

Hersee Building on Main Street. Photo by author.

In 1902, Carrie and George decided to build a commercial structure on the property where the Sherwood Mansion stood. The building was designed by Lansing & Beierl and took up the site of two former houses – the Sherwood Mansion and another house. When it opened, the building was known as the Hersee Building and consisted of 8 storefronts on the first floor and offices on the second floor. At the time, there was a trend of businesses locating in this portion of “uptown” from the city’s original business district, on Lower Main Street. Division Street was named such because it divided the business and residential districts. Around the turn of the century, many other residential properties in what we now call the Theater District were converted into commercial sites – such as the Spaulding Building and the Sidway Building. The Hersee Building is still standing at 646-662 Main Street.

In 1924, the Hersee Building was leased to Shea’s Amusement Company for 60 years at a cost of about $5,000,000 (about $90 Million in 2023 dollars). Michael Shea, head of Shea’s Amusement Company, constructed his theater with the lobby at 646-648 Main Street, just south of the Hersee Building. The Shea’s Theater wraps around the west side of the Hersee Building along the Pearl Street frontage on what was the Hersee property. Shea’s Buffalo opened in January 1926.

Location of Hersee Building and Shea’s between Main and Pearl Streets. Hersee Building is outlined in red, and Shea’s is outlined in Blue.

Laub_s_Old_Spain_April_1936_Courier_Express

Interior of Laub’s Old Spain, located in the Hersee Building, as it looked in April 1936. Source: Buffalo Courier Express.

The Hersee building was the long-time home to Laube’s Old Spain restaurant beginning in 1928. After leasing the Hersee Building in 1924, the building was eventually purchased by Shea Operating Corporation in July 1931. The upper floor was occupied by the Hippodrome Billiard Academy beginning in 1931. The City of Buffalo obtained the building through tax foreclosure in 1975, the same year that Shea’s closed. In 1976, many of the interior fixtures, including leaded and stained glass windows, wrought iron, mirrors, and woodwork, were stolen during a robbery. After Laub’s closed in 1968, two other restaurants tried to locate in the building but failed and went out of business.

Hersee Building on Main Street 1988. Source: NYS SHPO.

In 1985, the Herseee building was purchased by George Smilanich, owner of George & Co. The building was partially renovated by Mr. Smilanich and partly by the Swiss Chalet restaurant. Swiss Chalet was located across the street at 643 Main Street, but their structure was destroyed by a fire in May 1984. Swiss Chalet is a Canadian chain mostly known for its rotisserie chicken. George & Co. originally began in Buffalo as Buffalo Novelty Bazaar in 1901. George & Co. was looking for a new space because their space across the street at 615 Main Street was being taken by the City of Buffalo for the Days Inn and Market Arcade Movie Theater project. George & Co. and Swiss Chalet were located on the first floor of the Hersee Building. George & Co.’s dice and poker chip manufacturing operation was located on the second floor of the building.

In 2002, George & Co. separated the business and manufacturing sides of the business. The manufacturing moved to Florida. George & Co. is in its fourth generation of operation and still operates as “Buffalo’s most unusual store” in Transit Town Plaza at Main and Transit(Note from Angela: I went to elementary school with a member of the family that runs the store…if you see this, Hi Jill!) Swiss Chalet left downtown in 1996 and closed all of the WNY restaurants in 2010. You can still find them in Canada and can often find me there, feasting on rotisserie chicken.

The Hersee Building was purchased by Shea’s O’Connell Preservation Guild LTD in 2000. They currently use the building for their box office, Shea’s Smith Theatre, and Shea’s Bistro & Bar. Shea’s Smith Theatre has operated since 2000 and is a 200-seat black box theater.

Back to the Hersee furniture business – After George Coit died in 1920, the Hersee & Co. firm was managed by Carrie Hersee Coit and her son Thompson Hersee Coit.

Hersee Ad from January 1924. Source: Buffalo Courier Express.

Carrie and George Coit’s graves. Photo by author.

Carrie Hersee Coit died in 1930. Carrie’s estate was valued at $1,000,000 (about $18 Million in today’s dollars) and was to be evenly divided between her six children. The heirs decided to sell several of the properties and close Hersee & Co. to settle the estate. This is also when the Hersee Building was sold to Michael Shea. The Hersee heirs listed the Hersee & Co. property for sale in November 1930. They had a sizeable going-out-of-business sale. After 94 years in business in Buffalo, Hersee & Co. closed in January 1931.

Fun fact: Downtown Buffalo used to be home to many furniture companies. Today, the only remaining furniture business is Scherer Furniture, which actually got its start with Hersee Furniture. Frederick Scherer began working with Hersee & Co. in the 1890s. On April 7, 1897, he established his own firm at 156 Genesee Street. He did business at that site until 1937 when he bought the present location of Scherer Furniture at 124 E Genesee Street. Scherer is currently run by the fourth generation of the Scherer family.

The Hersee & Co. building on Ellicott Street was demolished in 1932 by the Liberty Housewrecking Company. Many of the building materials from the building were salvaged to be resold by the Liberty Housewrecking Company at their site at the corner of Seneca and Oneida Streets.

Hersee Co. on Ellicott Street before demolition. Source: Buffalo Times.

A parking lot was established at 303 Ellicott Street in 1933 by James A Watt and Hector MacDonald. They developed three parking lots in the Ellicott and Oak Streets area. The lot was later operated by Gusto Mattioli and then his wife, Mary Mattioli. In 1951, the site was looked at as a possible location for a parking ramp. The ramp ended up being constructed across Ellicott Street, which is still the site of the Mohawk Ramp today. The parking lot has been owned since 1968 by Ferguson Electric, which operates its business out of the buildings north of the parking lot.

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The only known picture of the Hersee Family’s Main Street Orchard. The orchard is where Holy Trinity is now. Source: Holy Trinity.

What happened to the Hersee Estate on Linwood? The Main Street portion of their property was formerly their orchard. The orchard was a popular place for the Hersees to host parties. The orchard portion of the property was sold to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in 1899, which opened its “new” church on the site in April 1905(note from Angela: this is my church). Holy Trinity Church was designed by Lansing & Beierl, the same architects who designed the Hersee Building on Main Street.

Holy Trinity, located at 1080 Main Street, the former location of the Hersee family’s orchard. Photo by Author

The 1899 Sanborn Map shows Hersee Property outlined in red, with the houses along Linwood. The orchard was located along Main Street.

1951 Sanborn Map with the former Hersee Property outlined in red. Note Holy Trinity Church along Main Street and the two houses still standing along Linwood Avenue.

The Hersee Family house at 25 Linwood was sold in 1911. The house stood until the early 1960s. The Coit family heirs converted Carrie and George Coit’s house at 33 Linwood into a rooming house. The 33 Linwood House was purchased by Holy Trinity in 1946. The house was used as a parish house and as a meeting space for various groups. I have been trying to find pictures of the house, but I have not yet been able to. I have contacted a former resident of the house and one of the Hersee-Coit descendants. If I can find a picture, I will add it to the post and share it on Facebook. I was, however, able to talk with a long-time member of Holy Trinity, David Hehr, who was able to provide me with this great description of the house:

“A grand shingle style mansion, 3 stories high, and very dark green colored in its last iteration. It had a protruding three-story side entrance that was circular in shape, and surmounted by a cupola, I recall. This columnar shaped appendage contained the side stairwell that went all the way up to the third floor. You ascended a short flight of maybe 6 or 8 rickety wooden steps up to the porch that led to the side entrance door. Just inside the side entrance door there was a foyer. Believe it or not, in those Baby Boom years, all of the Sunday School classrooms in the rooms above the church offices were filled to capacity, so 33 Linwood was used for overflow classrooms. Three rooms on the first floor of the mansion were used. The front room, along the south and east (possibly the dining room and adjoining kitchen?), was where I had my 5th grade class. The front room, along the south and west side, was where we had my 6th grade class. There was also a room in the middle, which led from the foyer off in a northerly direction, and which had no windows. Each of these three rooms fanned out from the side entrance. I recall white marble fireplaces in each of the three rooms. Each room also could be closed in from the foyer by pocket doors containing multiple panel grid-like glass lites. Directly behind 33 Linwood, between the mansion and the church offices, the Sunday School created the “Garden of Praise,” a nice flower and shrub garden with a picket fence, curving trellis with roses and ivy climbing up it, etc.”

Trinity Towers at 33 Linwood Avenue

The Coit House at 33 Linwood Avenue was demolished in 1970 to build Trinity Towers, an 83-unit senior housing complex. The $2 Million apartment building, Trinity Towers, opened in 1971. It was the first private development in Buffalo in which financing through the New York State Housing and Urban Renewal Commission was combined with federal interest subsidy loans. Trinity Towers still operates as affordable senior housing today.

Modern view with Former Hersee property outlined in red. Holy Trinity Church along Main Street and Trinity Towers along Linwood Avenue.

The next time you drive past Hersee Alley, think of the nearly 100 years of a furniture business that operated here in Buffalo. Check the back of any old furniture pieces; you can still find Hersee pieces occasionally. If you have a piece, I’d love to see pictures of it! Here’s a link to an example of one of their pieces: https://www.chairish.com/product/8404637/early-1900s-hersee-co-furniture-american-empire-period-flame-mahogany-veneer-mirrored-tall-chest-of

Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on Facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please share it with your friends; It really does help! Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on Patreon, where I post unique extra content at least once a month. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/ to join.

Sources:

“Died.” The Buffalo Advocate. July 30, 1863, p3.
“Died.” Buffalo Courier Express. August 16, 1859, p2.
“Death of William M. Hersee.” Buffalo Courier Express. October 1, 1891, p5.
“George Coit’s Sudden Death a Great Shock”. Buffalo Times. January 22, 1920, p1.
“85th Birthday of Hersee Co.” Buffalo Times. September 30 1931, p4.
“Plumbing and Building Supplies at Low Prices.” Buffalo Times. February 20, 1932, p14.
“Hersee & Co to Close Forever on Wednesday”. Buffalo Courier. January 18, 1931.
“Hersee & Co Closing up After 94 years in City”. Buffalo Courier. October 19, 1930.
“Old Established House of Hersee and Co Still Leads for Best Goods in All Grades.” Buffalo Express. March 23, 1902.
“Thompson Hersee.” Buffalo Times. September 3, 1921.
“Incorporation Papers Are Filed By Local Concerns.” Buffalo Courier Express. April 21, 1932, p22.
“New Building On Main Street”. Buffalo Commercial. April 29, 1902, p9.
“A New Feature.” Buffalo Commercial. May 18, 1879, p1.
“A Model Establishment – The Furniture Exhibition Rooms of Messrs T. Hersee & Co.” Buffalo Commercial. April 29, 1870, p3.
“New Hotel Enterprises – The Hersee House.” Buffalo Courier Express. March 8, 1873, p1.
“Corporation Proceedings.” Buffalo Times. April 21, 1885, p3.
“The Sites Offered for the New Buffalo Post Office.” Buffalo Commercial. April 25, 1888, p3.
“Notice to Creditors.” Buffalo News. May 12, 1888, p25.
“Funeral of Mrs. Hersee.” Buffalo Commercial. June 12, 1901, p9.
“Seeks Part of Hersee Estate.” Buffalo Enquirer. April 12, 1904, p6.
“Lost His Fight for a Fortune.” Buffalo News. April 16, 1904, p1.
“Parking Privilege Nearly Upsets Main Street Deal.” October 12, 1924, p86.
“Chippewa and Tupper Streets Fashionable Center When Main Street Was Van Stophorst Avenue.” Buffalo Courier. October 26, 1924, p68.
“Laube’s Building to Be Renovated.” Buffalo News. February 12, 1985, p32.
“Old Spain Renovation Has May Target Date.” Buffalo News. March 4, 1980, p35.
“Mrs. Mary P Mattioli.” Buffalo Courier Express. July 23, 1963, p13.
“Lux Baffled by Associates on Ramp Votes.” Buffalo Courier Express. July 11, 1951, p1.
“Furniture Man Reviews his 50 Years in Field.” Buffalo Courier Express. November 19, 1944, p39.
“Building Permits.” Buffalo News. February 28, 1936, p37.
“Hersee Home Sold.” Buffalo Times. March 16, 1911, p13.
This Faith Tremendous. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, 1979.
“Coit Will Disposes of $1,000,000 Estate.” Buffalo News. July 9, 1930, p14.
“Site Embracing Shea’s Buffalo Changes Hands.” Buffalo Courier Express. June 7, 1931, p35.
“Linwood Rezoning Asked by Church for Elderly Housing.” Buffalo News. June 25, 1970, p38.
“Holy Trinity Lutheran Battles City Blight.” Buffalo News. October 10, 1970, p5.

Posted in Downtown/Harbor | Tagged downtown, George & Co, George Coit, Hersee Building, Hersee Furniture, Holy Trinity, Linwood, Shea's, Sherwood, Swiss Chalet | 8 Comments »

Sherwood and Sidney Streets – Invent a Way to Cure Meat, Get a Street Named After You

November 20, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Map Showing Sherwood Street on West Side.

Today we are going to talk about two streets – Sherwood and Sidney. They were both named for members of the same family. Sherwood Street is a short street, running one block between Hampshire and Arkansas Street on the Lower West Side of Buffalo. It is named for Merrill Bennett Sherwood, Jr, a soap manufacturer.

The second street, Sidney Street, runs between Humboldt Parkway and Fillmore Avenue in the MLK Park Neighborhood on the East Side and is named for Merrill Sherwood’s son, Sydney.

Map showing Sidney Street on the East Side.

George Washington’s Vault at Mount Vernon which Adiel Sherwood based on his family vault on. Photo by author.

The first Sherwood family member to live in Buffalo was John Adiel Sherwood, who went by Adiel. He was born in 1785 in Kingsbury in what is now Washington County, New York. Adiel’s cousin was General Isaac Sherwood who served with George Washington at Valley Forge. Adiel arrived in Buffalo in 1815, when it was still a small village. Adiel Sherwood purchased a farm in what was known as Buffalo Plains. The farm was in the vicinity of what is now Bennett High School. Adiel erected a vault on his lot which was an exact replica of the Washington’s Vault at Mount Vernon. When Forest Lawn opened, a city ordinance was passed that prohibited burials on private property. All bodies were removed from the burying ground on the Sherwood Farm and moved to the Sherwood family plot at Forest Lawn in 1886. Adiel Sherwood died in 1839.

Adiel Sherwood Grave. Photo by Author.

Adiel Sherwood invested heavily in Buffalo because he believed in the future of the community. At one time, he owned 3,000 acres, most of it on Main Street. He was appointed Commissioner of Deeds by the Governor. Adiel Sherwood married Anna Woods and they had eight children. Their son, Merrill Bennett Sherwood, Sr. was born in 1809.

Merrill Sr came to Buffalo with his family as a child in 1815. He later purchased oil properties in Pennsylvania and was involved in various Buffalo banks. In 1840, he was President of Erie County Bank. He was also President of the Farmers’ Joint Stock Company. Many farmers were lured by Mr. Sherwood to place their savings in the bank, however, there were reports that the bank was a scam. The story goes that Mr. Sherwood was threatened by the farmers and fled Canada never to return again, but plenty of sources list Mr. Sherwood as still living in Buffalo until his death. Other reports said that the banknotes were good and were widely used throughout Erie County. Either way, the bank was affected by the Panic of 1857, so many lost money. All banks in Buffalo suspended business during the panic, except for White’s Bank down by the Canal. In 1912, Frank Hayward Severance wrote about the story about the bad bank notes and fleeing to Canada in the Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo that “this, however, is ancient gossip and not history.”

Merrill Sherwood married Harriet Griffin, daughter of Zachariah Griffin in 1837. Mr. Griffin, Harriet’s father, had a farm on the site of what is now City Hall. Merrill and Harriet Sherwood first live in a modest home on Main Street north of Chippewa. They had five children, Griffin, Merrill Jr, Hiram, Harriet, and Mary.

Sherwood Mansion at 652 Main Street, Downtown Buffalo. Source: Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo

In 1854, the Sherwoods built a home which was a three-story brick mansion and a showplace for Buffalo. The house had 50 rooms and was topped by a massive square observatory. Nearly everything in the house was brought from France via sailing vessels. The doors were of solid mahogany. The lawns and gardens were surrounded by an ornamental handwrought iron fence. The house was known for its beautiful rose garden. In 1860, the Sherwood family lived in the house with hostler (a caretaker of horses) James Reed and servants Bridget McGowan, and Rosa Reine.

The Sherwoods moved out of the house by 1867. After the Sherwoods moved out, the house had several uses. It was used as a display house for Hersee Furniture (we’re going to learn more about them in our next post!). The Sherwood Mansion was then used as an upscale boarding house called The Sherwood. It was used for visitors to the Pan American Exposition in the last year of its life. The Sherwood Mansion on Main Street was torn down in 1902 to make way for the growing business district of the City of Buffalo. The site is now home to Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

Merrill Sherwood Sr. suffered during the financial panics of the 1870s and 80s and was forced to sell off much of his oil property and real estate in Buffalo. Mr. Sherwood Sr died in April 1886. He is buried in Forest Lawn.

Pages from MB Sherwood Patent for curing meat

M. B. Sherwood, Jr.’s patent for meat preservation. Source: Google Patents.

Merrill Sherwood Jr, for whom the street is named, was born in Buffalo in 1837. He grew up in the Sherwood Mansion. Merrill Jr originated a formula for a nationally used toilet soap and operated a soap factory in the City of Buffalo. The firm was called Sherwood & Hovey and was located at 39 Lloyd Street. In 1868, he also patented a method for curing and salting meat. This method was said to be more useful for preserving meat, particularly in warm climates.

Sources said that Merrill Jr was not as successful in business as his father, but filled his time with his hobbies – music and the study of the Bible. He was also a pianist.

Merrill Jr. married Phoebe Cordelia Burt, daughter of George Burt of East Aurora. They had five sons, Sydney, Charles, Hiram, Edwin, and William. They lived at 365 Franklin Street, next to the Cyclorama Building. They later moved to 50 Park Street.

Merrill Jr also worked as a traveling salesman. He died in a hotel in Newark, New Jersey in 1888. His death was determined to be from apoplexy and not to accident. Mrs. Sherwood, his widow, had to sue the Insurance Company to cover his life insurance costs, claiming that there were bruises on his head, indicating that he had likely fallen and that caused his stroke. Mrs. Sherwood was successful and received a judgment of $4,918.66 ($166,363 in today’s dollars).

Sydney Sherwood. Source: Buffalo News.

Sherwood Street and Sidney Street were both named by Merrill’s son, Sydney G. Sherwood (in sources, sometimes his first name was spelled Sydney and sometimes Sidney…since his grave says Sydney, I will use that.). Sydney was born on February 5, 1857. He attended old Central High School on Niagara Square and at the medical college of the University of Buffalo. He had a keen interest in people, which is what led him to medicine, but he decided not to continue his studies, instead, he moved his interests to reporting on people. Sydney Sherwood was a well-known local newspaperman and said that his desire to understand human nature stemmed from the same quest for understanding that had led him to medical school originally, and it helped him as a writer. Sydney Sherwood started his career in 1879 as a reporter on the Sunday News, a publication of the Buffalo Evening News. In 1885, Sydney became a railroad editor of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. He founded the Buffalo Real Estate and Building News. In 1894, he became editor of the Eastern Contractor and also edited the Mercantile Review. From 1901 to 1905, he was commercial editor of the Buffalo Express and then published the Buffalo Live Stock Record. In 1912, he became editor of the Co-Operative Magazine. From 1920 to 1925, he was financial editor of the Buffalo Times.

Sydney Sherwood Grave. Photo by Author.

Sydney Sherwood was also a partner in the land company that developed the land that became Sherwood Street. He requested that the street be named after his father, Merrill Sherwood, Jr. Sydney also developed the tract that includes Sidney Street. Sydney passed away in 1935. Like his father, grandfather, and Great Grandfather, he is buried in the Sherwood family plot. There are 17 Sherwood family members buried in the plot. Interestingly, both Merrill and Merrill Jr are buried in the lot, but neither had headstones. There are only headstones for about half of the family members in the plot.

Sherwood Family Plot in Forest Lawn includes the headstone in the front, the five headstone stones in the center, and the three ledger (flat to the ground) stones to the right of the center stones. Photo by author.

William Sherwood Pages from The_Picture_Book_of_Earlier_Buffalo-2

William Sherwood House on Niagara Street. Source: Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo.

Merrill Sherwood Senior’s brother, William Sherwood, also had a well-known house in Buffalo. His house was at the corner of Carolina and Niagara Streets. It was built in the 1850s. This house was demolished in 1892 to build the current apartment building which is located at the site. You sometimes see sources that say that the Sherwood Mansion on Main Street was demolished in 1892, which is incorrect – they are talking about this house on Niagara Street. It is confusing because newspapers of the time referred to both houses as the “Sherwood Homestead”. William Sherwood worked as a merchant. In 1860, he lived in this house with his wife Frances Lord, children William and John, and three Irish servants – Rose Mooney, Isabella Cowan, and James Dow. Several years before his death, William and his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He died in 1897 in Clinton Missouri.

So, the next time you head to Shea’s, think about the house that was located there before and the family that lived there! Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on Facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please be sure to share it with your friends, it really does help. Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on Patreon. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/ to join.

Sources:

Smith, H. Katherine. “Sherwood Street Carries Name of Local Pioneers’ Descendant.” Buffalo Courier Express. July 6, 1941, p19.
“End of the Sherwood House.” Buffalo Courier Express. May 18, 1902, p8.
“Did He Die By Accident?” Buffalo Commercial. May 4, 1892, p9.
“Joint Stock- Public Meeting”. The Buffalo Daily Republic. December 11, 1854, p2.
“Recalls Story of the Sherwood House and Others”.. Buffalo Courier Express. May 6, 1902, p7.
Sydney G. Sherwood, Newspaperman Dies.” Buffalo News. April 22, 1935, p17.
Smith, H. Katherine. “Sidney Street is Memorial to Newswriter, Developer of Area.” Buffalo Courier Express. September 14, 1941, p17.
“For Sale”. Buffalo Courier Express. March 12, 1867, p3.
“Landmark to Go”. Buffalo Courier Express. April 29, 1892, p.6.

Posted in East Side, West Side | 4 Comments »

Sidway – Build a Block that Stands for 135 Years, Get a Street Named After You

October 28, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Screenshot (84) Sidway Street runs for three blocks between South Park Avenue and a railroad line property in the First Ward neighborhood of South Buffalo. The street is named for Jonathan Sidway and runs through land that used to be a farm that was owned by the Sidway family, an influential early Buffalo family.

Jonathan Sidway. Source: Ancestry.com User lhstjohn1

Jonathan Sidway was born on April 1, 1784 in Goshen, New York in Orange County. He worked as a farmer in the Goshen area until he came to Buffalo in 1812. His parents, James and Rebecca Sidway also came to Buffalo around that time. Jonathan was looking for work in the shipping business when he came to Buffalo. He became a successful merchant and the owner of the brigs Union and Huron and the Schooner Rachel. These were some of the first vessels to sail out of the Buffalo Harbor. Jonathan Sidway was also founder of Buffalo’s first gas company and a director of Farmers and Mechanics National Bank. He was also involved in real estate, including a large farm on Doat Street and the farm where Sidway Street is now located.

Approximate boundary of the former Sidway Farm in the First Ward.

Mr. Sidway married Parnell St. John on January 1, 1826. Parnell was the daughter of Margaret St. John. During the Burning of Buffalo during the War of 1812, Margaret St. John’s house was one of only three buildings left standing after Buffalo was burned by the British. St. John Place is named for the St. John Family. Jonathan and Parnell Sidway had 9 children – daughters Katherine, Maria, Parnell and Helen, and sons Dewitt, Jonathan, Franklin and James. Only Katherine, Jonathan, Franklin and James lived to adulthood. The Sidway family were members at First Presbyterian church. The Sidway family originally lived on a farmhouse on Elk Street (now South Park Avenue) on the land that became Sidway Street. When the City of Buffalo was formed in 1832, the Sidway farm was along the eastern boundary of the city of Buffalo, which was considered to be “way out in the countryside.”

Shea_s_Music_Hall_Bethune__Bethune_Fuchs

Michael Shea’s Proposed Music Hall to be built on the site of Jonathan Sidway’s former house in 1895. Designed by Bethune, Bethune and Fuchs. Source: Buffalo Courier

On January 3, 1826, Mr. Sidway purchased Holland Land Company Lot 27 – located on the east side of Main Street between Huron and Chippewa Streets (now the location of M&T Center at Fountain Plaza, just north of the Gold Dome bank). In the mid-1830s, Jonathan Sidway built a two-story frame house on the site. The house had an orchard and gardens. Over the years, the block became more commercialized and the family moved north of downtown. The Sidway house on Washington Street was demolished in the 1895 for Michael Shea to build a concert hall. The Concert Hall was designed by architects Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs (the firm of Buffalo Gal Extraordinaire – Louise Bethune, the first female architect! However, newspaper articles of the time indicated that this building was designed by W.L Fuchs, not by Louise.) The building was to be an Italian Renaissance style building, built of brick with a frontage along Washington Street of a light buff colored brick. It was to have a grand lobby, fitted with mirrors and onyx trimmings and a mosaic floor. It was to be one of the largest theatres in the country. It was to have 24 dressing rooms, which were conveniently located and of sufficient size, which were not found in any other Buffalo theatre at the time. The main auditorium was to be 91 feet square and have a seating capacity of between 700 and 800, and 55 feet high ceilings. The building was to be lit by electricity with a large chandelier in the center of the auditorium, 34 feet in diameter. The theatre was to be funded half by Iroquois Brewery and half by Mr. Shea. It was expected to cost between $75,000 and $100,000 (between $2.7 and $3.6 Million in today’s dollars). However, they had difficulty getting loans to build a building on for theatrical purposes, so the plans were abandoned and it was decided that stores would be built on the site instead. Mr. Shea eventually did build a theater in this area – the west side of Main Street between Huron and Chippewa was the long time home to the Hippodrome Theatre which opened in 1914. And of course, Michael Shea eventually got his large, super grand theatre on the next block to the north – now known as Shea’s Performing Arts Center, still a popular theatre today!

1872 atlas map showing the Sidway Mansion. Hudson Street is located at the bottom of the image. Note the house on the lower part of the block with the circular drive in front of it and the pathway leading to the carriage house in the center of the block. The carriage house was later a part of son Franklin Sidway’s property at 30 Plymouth after the property was subdivided and parts of it are still standing today.

In 1843, the Sidway family moved from Washington Street into a large home at 290 Hudson Street. The house was originally built by Benjamin Rathbun around 1834 for Mayor Pierre Barker and was also considered to be far out in the country at the time. The house sat on the center of the block, bounded by Plymouth, West, Hudson and Pennsylvania. The house was surrounded by old trees and flowering shrubs in a park-like setting. The grounds were laid out in large circles, one directly in front of the house and another between the house and West Avenue. The house was considered to be one of the most beautiful in the City. It had ornate gilt cornices above the doors and windows, exquisite lace curtains hung in the windows. The house had three drawing rooms on the first floor facing the West Avenue side of the house. The rooms were furnished with carved rosewood furniture upholstered in satin damask. On the other side of the main hall was a sitting room with large black marble mantle and a dining room with a glass enclosed piazza in front of it. The house was so large that in order to be comfortable in it during the winters, the family would close off the upper rooms. They kept a cow in the backyard barn to provide milk for the family.

Sidway Block – Main Street is on the right, Upper Terrace is in the foreground. Source: https://www.rootneal.com/

In 1832, Jonathan Sidway built one of Buffalo’s first brick block buildings. The Sidway Block consisted of 19 stores. The Sidway Block was located along Main and Upper Terrace at 172-194 Main Street and 7-25 Upper Terrace (now a part of One Seneca Tower). Mr. Sidway had owned a portion of the property since 1819! The offices of Jonathan Sidway’s ship chandler firm – Sidway, Skinner & Moore were located on the second floor of the building. The building stood for more than 130 years before it was torn down. Starting in 1905, the building was home to Root & Neal, an industrial supply company. Root & Neal moved to Peabody and Perry Streets in 1960 and they still in business today as a fourth generation Buffalo-business.

1894 City Atlas. Sidway Block outlined in red. Note Bemis Alley and John Street, two non-extant streets on the same block as the Sidway Block of buildings.

As you can see in the image above, to the rear of the Sidway Block were two additional streets that no longer exist – Bemis Alley and John Street. Bemis Alley was named for Asaph Bemis, Jr, who married to Jonathan Sidway’s daughter Katherine in 1844. Asaph Bemis was a grocer and Alderman. Asaph was the daughter of Asaph Bemis, Sr. and Aurelia St. John. Aurelia was Parnell St. John Sidway’s sister. So, Asaph and Katherine were first cousins who married! I’m not sure who John Street is named for….but I wonder if it were in homage to the St. John family? St. John Place did not exist in Buffalo until the late 1880s and John Street was named before that. I wasn’t able to find any information about John Street, so it’s all just conjecture. Bemis Alley and John Street are no longer extant, they are now part of the site of Seneca One Tower.

sidway grave Jonathan Sidway died in 1847. His estate was estimated to be worth $1 Million (about $30 Million in today’s dollars). Sidway street was laid out and named in Jonathan’s honor in January of 1854. The street was proposed by Alderman Asaph Bemis. Both Fitzgerald Street and Katherine Street were laid out and named during the same council meeting, so I believe that Katherine Street may have been named for Katherine Sidway Bemis. Do any First Ward historians know? I wasn’t able to find any sources indicating any rationale behind the name.

sidway mansion from picture book of earlier buffalo

Sidway Mansion on Hudson Street. Source: Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo.

Mrs. Parnell Sidway lived in the Hudson Street house after the death of her husband, until her death in 1879. After Mr. Sidway’s death, several family members came to live with the family to help Parnell with the kids – who were ages 20, 15, 13, and 8 when Jonathan died.

In 1850, Parnell, Jonathan Jr, Franklin and James lived in the house with Parnell’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Sidway(who had been Jonathan’s sister-in-law technically), along with servants Francis Skinner, Elizabeth Lafever, Mary Bertrand, William McDonald, M Dolan and Anna Page.

drawing room sidway house picture book of earlier buffalo

One of the Drawing Rooms at the Sidway Mansion. Source: Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo

In 1860, the house was home to Parnell and her sons, Franklin and James. Daughter Katherine and her husband, Asaph Bemis also lived with the family, along with Parnell’s brother, Le Grand St. John, and servants John McGinnis, Bridget McGinnis, Margaret Hoag, and Agnes Kearns.

In 1870, Parnell lived with son Jonathan, his wife Caroline and their children Gertrude, Jonathan, William and Kate. Also living in the house were servants Jane Baudin, Sarah Smith, Elizabeth Jeffcott, Nellie Riley, Ann Singleton and William Smith.

1872 Atlas showing the Sidway family properties near Sidway Street that were still owned by the Sidway family – Franklin, Jonathan Jr, Mrs. Parnell Sidway and Katherine Bemis.

When Parnell Sidway was close to death in 1879, the Buffalo Times reported that “she has survived her husband thirty years and has managed his big estate with great ability. She has been a woman of great force of character and was benevolent and generous to a large degree.” Mrs. Sidway had also been involved with the Old Settler’s Festival, along with Mr. and Mrs. Bristol who we learned about in our last post.

After Parnell’s death, in 1880, the Hudson Street house became home to Parnell’s son Franklin Sidway, his wife Charlotte Spaulding Sidway, and their sons Harold, Franklin, Edith and Clarence. They were joined by their servants Ann Dewey, Ellen Hanrahan, Mary Dewey, John Beckman, Peter Villikes, Jennie Villikes, and Annie Clark.

The Sidway Mansion was demolished around 1891 and the property was sold off to be developed with houses. Franklin Sidway built a house on the family property at 30 Plymouth Avenue. The 30 Plymouth Avenue house includes the original brick stable from the Sidway Mansion, both of which are still standing today. The Sidway property at 30 Plymouth Avenue, was sold by son Frank Sidway in 1907. It has been subdivided into apartments, but it is still standing.

Edith Sidway Stevens and her husband Stevan Stevens in their office at the Spaulding Block in 1959. Source: Buffalo News. Note the picture of the Sidway block in the rear, which I believe is the same picture seen earlier in this post.

The Sidway Block building stood for more than 13 decades. After Jonathan’s death, his wife Parnell took over the firm of Sidway, Skinner & More, which shifted from ship chandlery to real estate over time. Sons Franklin and Jonathan Jr and daughter Katherine were all involved with the company as well. Son James became a firefighter, and unfortunately perished at the age of 25 in the fire which destroyed the American Hotel on Main Street near Court Street in 1865. Franklin married Charlotte Spaulding, whose father was Elbridge Spaulding and had the Spaulding Exchange, a mercantile operation across the Terrace from the Sidway block. Franklin helped to manage the Spaulding Exchange and the offices of the Spaulding Exchange were located in the Sidway Block. The Sidway Block stood until the late 1960s. In later years, only the first floor spaces were occupied, with the exception of the second floor offices of Stevens & Strong, a real estate company run by Steven Stevens, the husband of Edith Sidway – a fifth generation Buffalo Sidway. Edith worked as a real estate agent and had a desk in the offices, following a long tradition of Sidway women who had offices in that space, starting with her Great Grandmother Parnell St. John Sidway!

The Sidway Block was demolished in 1969 as part of the Waterfront Renewal project undertaken by the City of Buffalo. The City was looking to take possession of the property to convey the land to Cabot, Cabot & Forbes for the Marine Midland Project to build the tower now known as Seneca One Tower. In December 1967, exactly 154 years after Margaret St. John refused to let her house burn during the War of 1812, Margaret’s Great-Great Grandaughter, Edith Sidway Stevens was interviewed while sitting in her office, the last occupant in the Sidway Block, watching buildings get demolished all around them. She was quoted as saying, “We would have stayed indefinitely, we had no interest in going anywhere else. Oddly, we like the location.”

The Sidway Block property underwent condemnation proceedings in February 1969 and the Supreme Court set a price of $282,750 (about $2.4 Million in today’s dollars) for the property. City Council appealed the price. The City of Buffalo had given the owners a low-ball offer of $104,000 for the property (about $850,000 in today’s dollars). City Counsel met with the Sidway family owners and a compromise price of $250,000 was arrived at for the property, which would have saved the City $32,000 (about $260,000 in today’s dollars). City Council then refused to accept the compromise price, preferring to go through the Courts. The Court then affirmed the fair market value at $282,750 and the City had to pay that, as well as the additional costs of the appeal.

Sidway Building at Main and Goodell. Source: Matthew Friend, Google Maps Images

In 1907, Franklin Sidway erected the Sidway Building, a six-story terra cotta building designed by architects McCreery, Wood and Bradney. The building was located on the site of the house where Franklin’s wife, Charlotte Spaulding, had grown up. It must have been confusing when people would refer to the Sidway Building and the Sidway Block, which were two separate buildings on Main Street in either end of the Central Business District! The building has been renovated into apartments.

Charlotte_Sidway_School,_Grand_Island,_New_York

Sidway School, Grand Island. Source: Wikipedia

Franklin Sidway and Charlotte preferred country life to city life. Franklin built a home on Grand Island in 1898, called River Lawn, and they moved to River Lawn from their home at 30 Plymouth Avenue. River Lawn was occupied by Charlotte Spaulding Sidway until 1931 when the 400-acre estate was sold to New York State to become a part of Beaver Island Park. Charlotte was the daughter of Elbridge Spaulding. Charlotte Sidway Elementary School on Grand Island is named after Charlotte, who passed away just before the school opened. You can learn more about the Sidway Building, River Lawn and Charlotte’s family in the post about Spaulding Street here: https://buffalostreets.com/2022/12/23/spaulding/

So the next time you drive past Sidway Street or the Sidway Building, think of the Sidway family and remember when there were farms in the First Ward and that Hudson Street was way out in the country. And next time you visit Seneca One, stop for a moment to think about the 135 years of the Sidway Block standing at its location. Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please be sure to share it with your friends, it really does help. This past week, a reader posted an old post in a facebook group and more than 5,600 people read that post this week! If you’re coming from Buffalo, A Talk of the Town – welcome new readers!! Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on patreon. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/

Sources:

“Sidway Street Honors Memory of Pioneer in Shipping, Realty” Courier June 18, 1939, p16.
“Fifty Years Ago.” Buffalo Times. April 21, 1929, p16.
“One Hundred Years Ago.” Buffalo Times. July 16, 1922, p32.
“Death of Mrs. Parnell Sidway.” Buffalo Weekly Courier. April 30, 1879, p7.
Cook, Anna Hoxie. “When Buffalo Was Young – Sidway Mansion on Hudson Street a Show Place.” Buffalo News. March 2, 1936, p13.
“Relic of Long Ago: Manager Shea’s New Theatre Will Take Place of the Old Sidway Residence.” Buffalo Commercial. February 9, 1895, p10.
“Bernard Duffy Buys Home on Linwood Avenue: JB Healy Buys Last of the Old Sidway Homestead Property on Plymouth Avenue.” Buffalo News. June 1, 1907, p22.
“Shea’s Proposed Music Hall.” Buffalo Courier. March 10, 1895, p11.
“Mr. Shea’s Theater: That Magnificent Variety House Will Not Be Built on Washington Street.” Buffalo Commercial. May 14, 1895, p11.
“Shea’s New Theatre.” Buffalo Commercial. February 23, 1895, p11.
Turner, Fred. “The Old Sidway Block: A Volume of Buffalo History.” Buffalo News. October 31, 1959, p15.
Zubler, Bud. “Council Tries to Dicker-Court Costs Added to Bill”. Buffalo News. April 2, 1969, p33
Smith, H. Katherine. “Men Of Vision Built the Sidway Block.” Buffalo Courier Express. November 20, 1955, p96.
Taussig, Ellen. “Protection of Its Property is a Sidway Family Tradition.” BuffalO News. December 30, 1967, p2.
“Root Neal Leaving Main Street Where Its Been 52 Years.” Buffalo News. February 6, 1960, p16.

Posted in First Ward | 4 Comments »

Bristol Street – Hide Your Silver in a Well during the Burning of Buffalo, Get a Street Named After You

October 9, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Bristol Street shown in red on the map. Note the railroad tracks cutting the street into two parts.

Bristol Street is a street in the Emslie neighborhood on the East Side of Buffalo. The street has two parts, each two blocks long – the first runs from Clare Street to Smith Street. The road has a dead end where the street is bisected by railroad tracks and then continues from Lord Street to Emslie Street. Prior to the removal of at-grade railroad crossings the road did cross the railroad tracks, those were removed by 1916. The street historically was supposed to have continued past Jefferson Street to Spring Street, but only the block between Jefferson and Spring was constructed. That block of Bristol Street existed until urban renewal removed it in the 1950s.

1899 Sanborn Map key map showing the additional block of Bristol Street between Spring and Jefferson. Bristol Street showing in red

Mr. and Mrs. Bristol in 1873. Source: Buffalo Courier

The street is named for one of the earliest residents of Buffalo, Daniel Bristol. Daniel Bristol was born in Milford, Connecticut in 1782. Daniel Bristol married Mary Lockwood Reynolds in October 1810. Mary went by Polly and was from Philadelphia. The Bristols came to Buffalo in 1811. Daniel was one of the earliest master builders in Buffalo and erected many of Buffalo’s first structures. When the Village was burned during the War of 1812, they fled with their neighbors. Mrs. Bristol gathered their treasured belongings and placed them in a large iron kettle and suspended it in their well. After the war, they came back to help rebuild Buffalo. When they returned, they fished the iron kettle and her silver out of the well.

Mr. and Mrs. Bristol and their home

In 1816, Mr. Bristol built a home for his family on the southeast corner of Delaware Avenue and Mohawk Street. Daniel and Polly had six children – Cyrenius, William, Peter, Eliza, Erasmus, and Catherine. The Bristol family property originally extended on Delaware Avenue to Niagara Square and included most of the entire block. They had a large garden east of his house on Mohawk Street, which led to a stable. Over the years, portions of the property were sold off and other houses were built on the block, including the house that was purchased by Millard Fillmore in 1858. The Bristol family house stood until 1923 when it was demolished to build the Statler Hotel.

On March 17, 1817, the Village of Buffalo established their first volunteer fire company. Daniel Bristol was one of its members. These men used old-time fire buckets and had no engine, they were what is referred to as a bucket brigade. In 1824, the first engine company was organized, which became known as Cataract Engine No 1. In 1831, Pioneer Hook & Ladder No 1 was organized on South Division Street, east of Washington Street with Daniel Bristol as a charter member of the company. The Buffalo Fire Department Engine 1/Ladder 2 is still located on this site.

Daniel, Polly and Peter Bristol Grave, Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Polly and Daniel lived to be among the oldest citizens of Buffalo. They were a part of the “Old Settler’s Festival”, which brought together the older citizens of Buffalo to reminisce. The Old Settler’s Festival was held at St. James Hall in 1866. In 1866, there were just 16 residents of Buffalo remaining who had lived here before the Burning of Buffalo on December 30, 1813. In addition to Dan and Polly Bristol, the others were George Coit, James Sloan, Commodore Stephen Champlin, Moses Baker, Mrs. R.B. Heacock, Lucius Storrs and his wife, Mrs. Kibbe (Mrs. Grosvenor), Mrs. Alvin Dodge, Mrs. Ebenezer Walden, Lester Brace and wife, and Mrs. William Hodge.

Daniel Bristol died on June 30, 1867 at the age of 85. Polly died on February 28, 1879 at 92 years old. They were buried in the North Street Cemetery. His remains, along with those of Polly Bristol and their son Peter, were moved to Forest Lawn in October 1894. Peter had died in 1838 at just 23 years old. These three Bristols are buried with one stone.

Ad for Bristol’s Sarsaparilla after they moved to NYC. C.C. Bristol’s image is in the center. Source: https://www.bottlepickers.com/bottle_articles156.htm

Daniel’s son Cyrenius Chapin Bristol, known as C.C. Bristol was born on July 8, 1811. Some sources claim that he was the first male child born in Buffalo, but that claim is debatable. At age 15, he went to New York City to learn the drug business. He returned to Buffalo five years later to work as a chemist and druggist, with an apothecary near the corner of Washington And Swan Streets (now the location of the Ellicott Square Building). He was considered one of the most well-known Buffalonians in his time. He invented Bristol’s Extract of Sarsaparilla. Bristol’s Sarsaparilla was considered to be the “first great American tonic” and was sold across the country and in Mexico for many years. These almanacs were considered to be “as familiar to 19th century homes as the Bible”. In 1855 when the formula, the formula for Bristol’s Sarsaparilla was acquired by the Comstock Company of New York. The Comstock Company remained in business until 1959.

C.C. Bristol medicine bottle. Note the periods at the top of the C’s and the backwards S. Source: Buffalo News, August 1982.

In 1838, C.C. Bristol published “Bristol’s Gazette and Herald of Health”, a monthly that was discontinued in 1842. In 1844, C.C. Bristol published the first patent medicine almanac called “Bristol’s Free Almanac”. C.C. Bristol was said to have made “barrels of money” from the drug business and in 1855 when he sold his formula, he invested his money into The Buffalo Daily Evening Republic one of Buffalo’s early newspapers. He published the paper for five years. In 1861, the Republic was absorbed by the Buffalo Courier.

C.C. Bristol married Martha Hayden Wells of Canandaigua, NY in 1835. He was the only one of his siblings to marry. C.C. Bristol and Martha had 9 children. Mary died in February 1866. C.C. Bristol moved to New Jersey after Mary’s death but returned to his hometown to end his days in Buffalo. He died ten weeks later, in December 1884, at the home of his brother Erasmus at 175 Fargo Avenue. Mary and C.C. were originally buried in the North Street Cemetery, but their remains were moved to Lakeside Cemetery in Hamburg in 1901.

Sketch of the Bristol Home. Source: Buffalo News, March 1957.

There’s another well-known Bristol namesake in Buffalo – the Bristol Home. The Bristol name comes from a separate family – I was not able to discover a link between the two families, however, they both were long standing families in the New England area so if you go back far enough, they may intersect. Since we’re discussing Bristol today, I figured noone would mind if I included the history of the Bristol Home, since it was a longstanding institution in the City of Buffalo for more than 150 years!

Edward Bristol was born in Buffalo in 1825. He worked as a merchant. Edward was a businessman, who owned a furniture store; however, he had a deep interest in religious activities. He was a charter member of Lafayette Presbyterian Church and the first superintendent of its Sunday School. He helped conduct religious services at the Erie County Penitentiary. While he was there, he saw that there were many women at the penitentiary that had nowhere to go. In 1872, he ended up giving up his business and devoting his life to religious work. In 1877, he was ordained as a minister and became pastor of Calvary Presbyterian in Rochester. He lived the rest of his life in the Rochester area.

In May 1867, while still in Buffalo, Mr. Edward Bristol called together a band of women to the home of Mrs. F. H. Root. The women met to discuss the need for relief and care for women in Buffalo who were alone and in distress, telling the women of the conditions he saw at the penitentiary. They came up with the idea to start a Home for the Friendless. The organization consisted of a 41-person Board of Managers. They were all women, and mainly members of Protestant Churches, as the Roman Catholic church had their own institutions. Temple Beth Zion was also involved, making the facility not just Christian, but also including Jewish women. The home was non-sectarian, but many of the churches would host Sunday services in the home on a rotating basis. Some of the churches involved included: First Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, North Presbyterian, Lafayette Presbyterian, Westminster Presbyterian, Calvary Presbyterian, St Paul’s, Trinity Church, Church of the Ascension, Grave Episcopal, Church of the Good Shepherd, All Saint’s Church, Delaware Avenue Methodist, Linwood Ave Methodist, Asbury Methodist, Prospect Ave Baptist, First Unitarian Society, First Congregational, Disciples Church of Christ and Temple Beth Zion. The first president of the Board of Managers was Mrs. Noah Gardner. Mrs. Gardner died a year later, and Mrs. O. G. Steele became President, a role she held until 1875. Many of the daughters and granddaughters of the first Board members served as Board members as well, making the Home feel like a true family affair. Residents of the Home were referred to as inmates by many, but the Home referred to the residents as “The Family”. This was a home for women, run by women.

The Board of Managers organized and started a quiet campaign amongst their friends to bring about an institution to meet their needs. It took about six months for them to raise enough money. They purchased a house at 334 Seventh Street, at the corner of Maryland Streets. The house was a large, rather plain, old-fashioned house in an unfashionable but respectable part of town. It was a two and a half story brick house on a lot with 116 feet on both Maryland and Seventh Streets. The house was often referred to as “the Home on Maryland Street”. The house was paid for in cash and furnished by donations with items from the houses of the members of the Board. The Home for the Friendless opened on February 4th, 1868, with space for 12 to 24 women at a time. Their first residents were four elderly women. The first year there were 26 residents, and 438 days of board had been provided at the home. The second year, there were 132 residents who stayed at the home.

The Home was open to all who needed friends – some were impoverished, some bereaved, some sorrowful, some idle, some sinful. They took in the unfortunates, poor, beaten and abused, women with fatherless babies, respectable girls from the country seeking work and decent women in awkward positions due to home, finance, or travel issues. Some stayed for two weeks, some for two months – for as long as they needed, but the home was mainly transient in nature. Children were allowed to stay at the Home as well. Most of the women were under the age of 21 years. When they’d leave, some would find respectable homes in Buffalo, some would find jobs, some would return to their friends or family, or some would go on to another city. The Board of Managers would work with the women to help them find better situations if they could – finding homes or domestic jobs, etc. Many of the original residents were Civil War widows who were struggling to obtain their husbands pensions.

Each member of the house paid at least $5 to stay there (about $103 in 2023 dollars) as long as they needed up to a year. Some residents paid more; they paid as they were able. The policy was not to turn anyone away. Several of the churches contributed to the Home. The Board of Managers would act as an employment agency, helping people find cooks, nursing aides, laundresses, and seamstresses from among the residents at the house. They would charge a fee of 50 cents(about $10 in 2023 dollars) to prospective employers. The institution also raised money each year by hosting a Donation Day. They would open the doors to the public to come visit the institution and have supper with the residents in exchange for donations of money, clothing, provisions, etc. Donation Day was the only time of year they would ask the public for money. They also published a monthly newsletter called “Our Record” which was very successful, both in getting the word out about the Home for the Friendless to the community at large, but also in providing a source of income for the home. Residents would also sell their needlework, sewing and other crafts to help fund the home. In the 1980s, the organization boasted that they had never taken on any debt for their entire existence, and they had never had any government funding.

Ingleside Home on Harvard Place, March 1903. Source: Buffalo Times.

In 1869, they realized that the home was serving two distinct needs – first was for women who were looking for refuge until they could obtain a suitable place and secondly women who were in a more unfortunate situation and may need some help to get on “a better course” for their life. They referred to these women as those who had been “tempted and fallen”. The Ingleside Home for Reclaiming the Erring was opened in 1869 at the corner of 13th and Vermont Streets. They had several locations before settling at 70 Harvard Place near Main Street. The building pictured here burned down and was replaced with the still extant building in 1929. The Ingleside name comes from the Scottish word for “a home fireside.” Ingleside was mainly a home for unwed mothers. The Ingleside Home operated until 1977. The home has been renovated into apartments.

Also in 1869, because they couldn’t care for the very sick, the Board of Managers of the Home for the Friendless worked to make arrangements with Buffalo General Hospital, which got its start in 1858. The part of the hospital devoted to women had become dilapidated and was vacant for some time. At the time, the Hospital was not doing well financially and had begun to lack the confidence of the community. The Board of Managers worked to place the female ward of the Hospital under the management of the Home for the Friendless. The Home for the Friendless raised money and worked to construct partitions, closest and lockers, they kalsomined the walls (a type of white wash), provided beds, bedding, furniture and clothing for the sick. They quickly determined that running the Home for the Friendless, the Ingleside Home AND the Hospital was too much for the one organization, so a separate organization was spun off of the Home for the Friendless, the Ladies Hospital Association. The new wards opened on November 1, 1870. By 1872, the Ladies Hospital Association had successfully managed to get three of their members seats on the Executive Committee of the Board of Buffalo General Hospital. The Ladies Hospital Association continued to be an important force for the Hospital, raising most of the funds for the Hospital’s maintenance, expansion and growth, and improvement of equipment.

By the late 1870s, older women began looking at the Home for the Friendless as an option when they didn’t want to stay with families, or they didn’t have families. They had some money, but not enough to live on. The Home developed a policy that for $250 (about $7,000 in 2023 dollars), women over 60 could stay for life. This amount gave them a room, food, clothing, medical attention, nursing, and a decent funeral and a grave. These residents were referred to as “permanent members” of the Home. Many of the older women who came to the Home were women who had worked for members of the Board of Managers as maids, cooks, laundresses, seamstresses, secretaries and governesses. Once they were done with their working career, there were few places for them to go, other than the poorhouse. In 1871, there were 12 permanent residents. The Home for the Friendless started to become more of a home for older women. The transient women started going to the Ingleside Home, the Prison Gate Mission and the Young Women’s Christian Association.

home for the friendless marker forest lawn

Home for the Friendless Marker in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

In 1872, the Home for the Friendless purchased a large plot in Forest Lawn Cemetery with a marker placed in 1879. Many of the women from the home are buried in the Home’s plot. In 1873, the house was enlarged to add additional space for the permanent residents of the Home, as well as the transients who still passed through. The family continued to grow, and they began to look for additional space.

The group set their sights on the former estate of Mrs. Sally Van Deventer, whose mansion had sat on Main Street in Cold Spring. (Note from Angela: This is another case where the site is often referred to as “Mr. Van Deventer’s property”, but indeed Mr. Van Deventer was dead when Sally Van Deventer purchased the property.)

Peter Van Deventer and his wife Mary came to Erie County in 1803 from New Jersey, settling in the Newstead area. The first Town Meeting west of the Genesee River was held at Peter Van Deventer’s house in 1804. He was chosen as first Supervisor of the Town of Willink. At the time, the Town of Willink consisted of all of Erie and Niagara Counties.

Peter’s son, Christopher Van Deventer, was born on July 30, 1788. Christopher attended Williams College and graduated from the U.S Military Academy at West Point in 1809. He was promoted to Major and served with distinction in the War of 1812 until he was captured at the Battle of Stony Creek. He was held hostage in Quebec. Christopher later served as Chief Clerk in the War Department. This position was second to the Secretary of War and Major Van Deventer served as Acting Secretary whenever Secretary Calhoun was absent. Major Van Deventer held this position for 11 years.

Major Van Deventer was married three times. First to Marcia Kellogg, with whom he had one daughter, Marcia Van Deventer. His second wife was Eliza Cooper, who had a son Eugene Winfield Scott Van Deventer. Christopher married his third wife in Sally Birckhead of Baltimore, Maryland in 1823 and they moved to Buffalo that year. Sally and Christopher had six children, all born in Western New York – Soloman, Jane, Hugh, James Thayer, Lenox and Susan. Christopher Van Deventer died in April 1838.

Van Deventer Children’s grave. Forest Lawn.

In 1841, Sally Van Deventer build a 2-and-a-half-story Italianate home at 1500 Main Street. The property was two acres, thickly studded with shade trees and laid out with walks and gardens. Sally exhibited items from her gardens in the first several fairs of the Buffalo Horticultural Society, starting in 1845. The group eventually became the Erie County Horticultural Society, they are the group that still puts on the Erie County Fair today. Sally lived at the home with her three children – Hugh, who became a doctor, John Thayer, who became a lawyer, and Susan, who married lawyer Myron Tyrill. Unfortunately, the other children did not live to adulthood. The Van Deventer family also had a staff of three – in 1850, the staff included James Noles, a 25-year-old Irish man, Kate Noles, a 15- year old Irish woman; and Jemima Coleman, a 50-year-old-Black woman.

Sally Van Deventer Grave. Forest Lawn Cemetery

The Van Deventer property was listed for sale in 1856. The family dispersed. Dr. Hugh Van Deventer moved to the New York City Area with his family. Myron and Susan and her mom Sally moved to Clinton Iowa. James Thayer Van Deventer and his family also moved to Clinton, Iowa and then moved on to Knoxville, Tennessee. Susan died in September 1873 of complications from childbirth. Mother Sally died a few months later in February 1874. Both Susan and Sally are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo with the other Van Deventer children. Their servant, Jemima Coleman, is also buried in Mrs. Van Deventer’s family plot.

The Van Deventer property on Main Street became Spring Abbey, a picnic grove. Spring Abbey opened for the season in June 1867 by proprietor Adam Clark who renovated the buildings on the property and built a large ballroom for the use of private parties and excursions. The grounds were open to the public for free. Spring Abbey also had a beer garden, dance hall, bar and restaurant. The buildings burnt down in December 1867. George Weber rebuilt the grounds and constructed the existing building and reopened Spring Abbey in May 1868. The original building also served as a hotel. The property continued to be run as a picnic grounds until 1877 when the preparty becomes vacant.

Home for the Friendless as it appeared in 1888. Source: Buffalo Express.

The Home for the Friendless formed a real estate committee consisting of Mr. Pascal P. Pratt, Mr. E. L. Hedstrom, Mr. George Gorham and Mrs. Maria M Welch. In 1884, the property at 1500 Main Street was purchased by the Home for the Friendless for $25,000 (about $783,000 in 2023 dollars). The building was altered and remodeled for the purposes of the home. A three-story building was added to the back of the existing mansion. The renovations cost $15,287(about $433,000 in 2023 dollars). The former bar room was turned into the library and chapel used for Sunday services. The site was dedicated on June 13, 1885.

On March 17, 1886, the family of 34 women moved into their new home on Main Street. The Home on Seventh Street closed and was sold, having served 2,478 residents during its 20 years of existence. The building on Seventh Street was used as Buffalo Maternity Hospital for several years before a new Maternity Hospital was built at the corner of Georgia and Seventh Streets.

dining room at home for the friendless courier express

Dining Room at Home for the Friendless. Buffalo Courier.

chapel and library home for the friendless

Chapel and Library at Home for the Friendless. Buffalo Courier.

bedroom at home for the friendelss courier express

Bedroom at Home for the Friendless. Buffalo Courier.

In 1893, at the World’s Fair in Chicago, the Home for the Friendless received the Gold Medal for the best managed and most successful charity. The Home was noted for “its long and extensive career of usefulness and remarkable financial ability shown in the management of its affairs.”

In 1907, William Mills donated money to build the Mills Annex, which added 18 more rooms, which allowed the home to be able to house 50 to 60 permanent residents, staff and transients. This addition also provided a new kitchen, a veranda, and a sun parlor. The new wing was built on the rear of the original home. Until the1920s, the house continued to serve transients, but after that, the house became mostly a house for the aged. Many of the women who had used the shelter in their youth returned to spend their retirement there.

Bristol Home, 1500 Main Street.

In 1956, the house at 1500 Main Street got a major renovation and remodeling. Additional staircases were added, allowing the wrought-iron fire escapes to be removed from the property. The front porch was removed, and a large solarium was added to the front of the house. Tearing down an old barn allowed for a new driveway, a delivery ramp for the kitchen and increased parking spaces to be built. After the remodel, the Board and residents finally decided to adopt a new name. For many years, they had not wanted to change the name of the Home. Some people felt that Home for the Friendless had a negative connotation, but many of the Board members and residents felt it had a long history. There were also Homes for the Friendless in other cities and the sense of connection to the history meant the name stuck for a long time. One of the proposed new names was Springhaven, giving a nod to their location in Cold Spring and their existence as a haven for women. The name selected was Bristol Home, in honor of Edward Bristol, who had helped to bring the women together to found the Home in 1867. And so, the Home for the Friendless name faded into history and Bristol Home was born.

bristol home 3 In the late 1970s and 80s while Main Street was under construction for the building of the NFTA Metro Rail, there was some talk of Bristol Home moving out to the suburbs. Bristol Home stood strong, preferring their location in the City which allowed residents to be more centrally located and able to take advantage of all the amenities that living in an urban area provides.

In 2003, Bristol Villages in Clarence opened, with a facility offering assistive living and memory care. Things change over time and in February 2021, Bristol Home on Main Street closed. They found alternate living arrangements for their 40 remaining residents and the 45 employees at the Home. The decision was related to financing. The costs to run a facility to serve a poor community proved to be too great. Bristol Villages still operates as the only freestanding nonprofit assisted living facility in Western New York.

In May 2022, the 1500 Main Street property was purchased by Jericho Road Community Health Center, with plans to move its Vive Shelter program for asylum seekers into the space. This keeps the house at work in providing a safe place for people, a chance to find a new beginning, a similar mission to why the Home for the Friendless was originally founded. The Main Street property allows Vive to provide a better, safer and more comfortable atmosphere for residents. Since the original Vive structure on Wyoming Street was originally built as a school, it had dorm style rooms, separating by gender. Since the Home on Main Street has residential rooms, families will be able to stay together. You can help them meet their goal by donating at their website here: https://vive.jrchc.org/

So the next time you drive past Bristol Street, think of Daniel and C.C., and maybe drink some sarsaparilla! And then next time you drive past the former Bristol Home on Main Street, give a wave and think about the Van Deventers and all the woman who have lived on the property over the last 200 years! Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please be sure to share it with your friends. Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on patreon. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/

PS. From Angela – thank you for understanding when I had to cancel two of my walking tours last month. I had COVID and felt really bad about having to cancel. I am feeling better now and planning some new tours for next summer!

Sources:

White, Truman C. Our County and It’s People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York. Boston History Company, 1898.
Endres, Matt. History of the Volunteer Fire Department of Buffalo. W. Graser, Printer, 1906.
Sheldon, Grace Carew. “Seeing Buffalo of the Olden Time: The Bristol: Sizer Homestead”. Buffalo Evening Times. May 11, 1909, p4.
“Founders of Our Holiday Festivities”. Buffalo Courier. January 24, 1904, p4.
“The Statler Stand: Most Historic Associations of Buffalo on Site”. Buffalo Times. March 25, 1923, p40.
Burr, Kate. “Ingersoll-Bristol Joinder of Old Families”. Buffalo Times. November 28, 1926, p14
“$6,000 Addition”. Buffalo Express. April 9, 1907.
Roberts, Katherine. “Sentimentalist and Insurgents will Seek New Name for institution known as the Home of the Friendless”. Buffalo Times. August 18, 1935.
“Group Strives to Alter Name of Institution”. Buffalo Courier. October 10, 1936.
History and By-Laws of the Home for the Friendless in the City of Buffalo. The Courier Company, Printers. Buffalo, 1888.
Knight, Willard M. Manual, Catalogue and History of the Lafayette Street Presbyterian Church. Courier Company, Buffalo NY: 1876.
“Spring Abbey Season, 1867”. Buffalo Courier. June 4, 1867, p8.
“New Home of the Friendless”. Buffalo Commercial. June 15, 1885, p3.
“All Buffalo to have Share in Befriending Family of 69”. Buffalo News. September 30, 1937.
Burr, Kate. “If All God’s Chillun (sic) Had a Home”. Buffalo Times. October 1, 1930.
Death of C.C. Bristol. https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2023/76/250848919_268ec091-58ae-4604-a924-8ada8f798eda.png
White, David. “A Historical Recap of Medicine Bottles.” Buffalo News. August 28, 1982, p148.
“Memory Trip Shows City First with Many Things.” Buffalo News. November 7, 1935, p14.
“48th Annual Donation Day”. Buffalo Commercial. September 25, 1922, p5.
“Free Picnic – Spring Abbey”. Buffalo Evening Post. June 1, 1866, p2.
Harris, John. “Jericho Road completes $2M purchase for new home of Vive”. Buffalo News. May 5, 2022, p17.
“Origin of Many Street Names”. Buffalo Times. January 16, 1927, p67.
“Bristol, Cyrenius C) Papers”. University of Rochester. https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/files/finding-aids/pdf/AB86.pdf
“The Home for the Friendless”. Buffalo Commercial. October 9, 1875, p3.
“Buffalo Changes”. Buffalo Express. February 3, 1895.
“Home for the Friendless”. Buffalo Express. August 11, 1904.
Swift, Pat. “Women Helping Women Made Bristol Home’s Unique Heritage.” Buffalo news. March 2, 1986.
“Home for the Friendless Gets Another Name – Bristol”. Buffalo News. January 16, 1957, p48.

Posted in East Side, Emslie | 10 Comments »

Fuhrmann Blvd – Settle a 50 year Old Lawsuit, Get a Street Named After You

September 4, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Fuhrmann Boulevard shown in red on map

Fuhrmann Boulevard is a street (the main street) on the Outer Harbor of Buffalo. As we wrap up summer on Labor Day Weekend, perhaps you spent some time on Fuhrmann Blvd as you enjoyed the waterfront this summer. The street has had several configurations over time and exists today as the road that runs to the south of the elevate portion of Route 5 on the Outer Harbor. The road was first built in 1935 and is named after Mayor Fuhrmann, who was instrumental in getting it built by securing the land on the Outer Harbor.

Louis Fuhrmann Mayoral Portrait

Louis P. Fuhrmann was born on the East Side on November 7, 1868 to Philip and Elisabeth Fuhrmann, who had emigrated from Bavaria. The family lived on Clinton Street in the South Ellicott neighborhood of the near East Side, near Bennett Park. Louis’ father owned and operated a barber shop on Genesee Street near Ellicott Street. Louis was educated in Buffalo Public Schools – PS 32 on Cedar Street and Central High School. While he was in school, he worked on weekends in the meat business as a butcher boy for Christian Klinck in the Elk Street Market. After high school graduation, he was given a full time job and remained in the meat business his whole life. Since he had so much experience, he was quickly hired to work in the wholesale beef business in the Jacob Dold Packing Company. He was placed in charge of the Jacob Dold Packing Company’s Kansas City plant at the age of 18 years old. After six years in Kansas City, he was homesick for his hometown. He returned to Buffalo in 1892 to open his own business, the Louis P Fuhrmann Packing House, located at 1010 Clinton Street.

Louis Fuhrmann had a reluctant entry into politics. His first bid for public office was in 1905, when he was convinced to run for Alderman in the old Sixth Ward. He was elected and re-elected two years later. He quickly grew to be a leader in government. He was such a popular Alderman that when Mayor J.N. Adam went out of town for month-long trips home to Scotland, he left Mr. Fuhrmann in charge as Acting Mayor for several years in a row. He was well known around town and well respected for his business savvy and government experience. He was referred to as “Louis Fuhrmann, the Progressive.”

In 1909, he ran as the Democratic candidate for Mayor. The election was hotly contested, with Louis Fuhrmann up against a strong Republican candidate Jacob Siegrist. At first, The Buffalo News published an Extra Edition at 6pm to announce that Siegrist was the next mayor.

Buffalo Evening News. 6pm Extra Edition. November 2, 1909. Headline declaring Siegrist the Next Mayor.

In an episode similar to that famous “Dewey Beats Truman” headlines…. ballots continued to be counted and the Buffalo News had to issue a Second Extra Edition when it became clear that Fuhrmann won! It was reported, “when Louis Fuhrmann was elected the Mayor of Buffalo no one received a greater shock than he did.” Republicans had swept all the rest of the seats across the City and County, other than Fuhrmann, a Democrat. Mayor Fuhrmann was the first Mayor born and raised in Buffalo. His mayoral office was also the first to be lit by electricity rather than gas.

Buffalo Evening News. Second Extra Edition, November 2, 1909. Headline declaring Fuhrmann is the winner.

While Mayor Fuhrmann was in office, a major issue in Buffalo was the “Sea Wall Strip”. This is land along the lakeshore, which today we call “The Outer Harbor”. The questions surrounding the Strip included who owned the land and what was happening with the Hamburg Turnpike (now Route 5). For more than 50 years, there had been more questions regarding the Strip than answers. Shortly after election, Mayor Fuhrmann began working on the issue. The feeling at the time was that Buffalo needed bigger facilities in order to grow, including harbor improvements – new docks, new slips and a new highway that was planned to connect Buffalo with Cleveland via the Hamburg Turnpike.

View of the Seawall Strip from 1889. You can see how narrow some portions of the Outer Harbor was before much of the fill was added to expand the land. Source: Buffalo Library via New York Heritage

Map showing slips and adjuncts of the Erie Canal at Buffalo. Source: History of the Canal System of New York State.

The City of Buffalo’s waterfront has been modified a great deal since the Buffalo was founded. Building the harbor break walls, the Erie Canal and other canal slips and many other modifications over time would probably make today’s waterfront unrecognizable to those early settlers who first arrived here. Much of the Outer Harbor land has been created over time by landfill. The “Outer Harbor” essentially was created when the Blackwell Canal was constructed in 1850. It was built by E.R. Blackwell, who ran out of money to complete it, and so it was renamed the City Ship Canal in 1853. The City Ship Canal allowed ships to have additional areas to dock and opened up more land for waterfront access. Additional canal slips connected the Buffalo River and the City Ship Canal, further increasing waterfront access. This also created what is known as Kelly Island, which is technically a peninsula. The Island is the land where General Mills and Riverworks is now; Ganson Street runs through the middle of Kelly’s Island. In 1883, the City Ship Canal was extended to allow the Buffalo Creek Railway Company to create a series of canal slips at what we now call Tifft Farms (Lake Kirsty is remnants of those canal slips). The City Ship Canal was partially filled in during the 1950s when Ohio Street was changed and Fuhrmann Blvd was elevated (more on that later).

The Sea Wall Strip was the land on the Outer Harbor from where Ohio Street meets the Outer Harbor north. The Sea Wall Strip was permitted by Congress in 1837 and construction began in 1841. In 1859, the City was authorized to construct a breakwater, but was not given the power to take land. In 1864, the City was empowered to use condemnation proceedings to take the strip of land known as the Sea Wall Strip. The Hamburg Turnpike ran along the Outer Harbor from Ohio Street to the City Line. In 1874, the City acquires the Hamburg Turnpike from the Hamburg Turnpike Company. By the 1870s, railroads crisscrossed around the waterfront. In 1899, the Mayor created a harbor commission to investigate the disputed rights and title of who owned the Sea-Wall Strip and the Hamburg Turnpike. In 1900, the Commission declared that the City owned the Hamburg Turnpike with a width of six rods (99 feet). The Railroads claimed that they only owned four rods (66 feet).

1894 shoreline and canals shown overlaid in blue over modern aerial photograph. Map by Author.

Calls for beautifying the Turnpike and Seawall Strip came as early as 1902. Planning began to build design an elevated highway that was similar to a road along the Potomac River and Anacostia Creek in Washington, DC. The elevated route in Buffalo was to include a railing along the roadway, with trolley tracks running alongside the road and sidewalks for pedestrians. Below the roadway would be arches where railroads could cross under the road to access the industrial plants, elevators, etc., along the road. The road was to be the main connection between the City of Buffalo core and the Stony Point Industries being planned for opening that year. Stony Point Industries was an early name for the steel plant and affiliated businesses that became Lackawanna Steel and later Bethlehem Steel. The roadway project never happened because of the ownership issue.

There was a lot of back and forth judgements in court until in April 1911, the railroad agrees to drop the appeals and exchange the rights and the disputed titles, so the City of Buffalo finally owned the Sea-Wall Strip and the Hamburg Turnpike. This would allow the ability to build a new bridge at Ohio Street for better clearance for vessels. This also allowed them to relocate Tifft Street and Ganson Street to improve harbor facilities. They also received 500 feet at the foot of South Michigan Street.

Associated Buffalo Artists, “Louis P. Fuhrmann: Mayor of Buffalo,” from 1913. Source: Digital Collections – University at Buffalo Libraries, accessed February 13, 2023, https://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/index.php/items/show/78476.

It was reported that Mayor Fuhrmann was successful in winning the Sea Will Strip for the City, because “he is a big man mentally, as well as physically. He has no petty notions to obscure his vision. He has imagination and he is fearless and free.” He was able to settle what had been “juggled, misappropriated, pawned, fought over, blanketed, buried and resurrected for a half century.”

Mayor Fuhrmann ran again for mayor in 1913. The Democratic Party felt he was too independent and endorsed Edward J Meyer instead. Meyer’s name may be familiar to you as the name of Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) was Edward J Meyer Memorial Hospital until 1978. Mayor Fuhrmann won the primary contest overwhelmingly and went on to also beat both Thomas Stoddart from the Citizen’s Party and John Lord O’Brian from the Republican Party in the General Election. During his second mayoral term, WWI broke out. Mayor Fuhrmann was active in shaping the city’s contributions in men, money and munitions to the war effort.

Elk Street decorated for St. Patrick’s Day 1915. Source: Buffalo News.

In 1915, Mayor Fuhrmann helped bring a St. Patrick’s Day parade back to Buffalo after 27 years! Some sources hint that Mayor Fuhrmann was trying to distance himself from the rising anti-German sentiment that was rising in Buffalo as WWI was happening in Europe by supporting the Irish groups efforts for the parade. The parade in the 1880s would march up Main Street from the Liberty Pole at the Terrace to Cold Spring (around Main and Ferry) and was led by the Hibernians and the Knights of Columbkill. The 1915 parade started from Chicago and Fulton Streets at 2:30pm on Wednesday March 17th. The movement for the a parade began with the Gaelic-American Association of the First Ward, an organization that had 600 members that were all born in Ireland. The Elk Street Businessmen’s Association took charge of the idea and the result became one of the largest St. Patrick Day celebrations Buffalo had ever seen. The idea had only come about a month before St. Patrick’s Day, and more than 1500 Irish-Americans were involved in the planning of the parade, meeting at St. Bridget’s, at the corner of Fulton and Louisiana Streets, near where the parade started. More than 30 churches were represented during the planning for the parade, many different organizations and 11 churches marched in the parade – St. Brigid’s, St Stephen’s, Perpetual Help, St. Teresa’s, St. Monica’s, St Patrick’s at Limestone Hill, Nativity, Precious Blood, Holy Family, Our Lady of Lourdes. More than 3,000 people marched in the parade that year. March 17th was on a Wednesday that year, so Alderman Sullivan declared the day a half holiday in the First Ward!

Photos from 1915 St Patrick’s Day Parade. Source: Buffalo Times

The parade was filmed as “The Great St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Buffalo” and was shown by Michael Shea at the Shea’s Hippodrome Theatre (located on Main Street Downtown where Fountain Plaza is today) beginning on March 22nd.

The 1916 and 1917 parade had a different route, mostly on Main Street downtown. In 1918, it was announced in January that there would be no St. Patrick’s Day parade that year. The Gaelic Association came together and held a parade, bringing it once again back to the South Side of the city, starting at Elk and Hayward Streets. The 1918 parade was held on Saturday March 16th , since March 17th was a Sunday, to allow for festivities not to be marred by church obligations. The Gaelic Association made arrangements for the Marine Band to lead the parade, and American Flags were more prominent than in previous years, due to WWI. The Association honored its members who had been called to the draft and held a reception to honor them before they left the following Monday.

In 1919, there was no parade. The leaders of the Irish organizations met to abandon the parade to concentrate on a united effort for a big demonstration to take place after Easter. I’m not sure if that happened. The parade eventually faded away before being revived in 1939 as the St Patrick’s Day Parade along Delaware Avenue. The 1939 parade went from Niagara Square up Delaware to Tupper, to Main to the Terrace. The “Old Neighborhood” St Patrick’s Day parade was revived in 1994 to bring back the spirit of the Old First Ward.

Mayor Fuhrmann. Source: Buffalo and Its German Community.

In 1917, Mayor Fuhrmann was defeated in the mayoral race by George Buck. It was also a strong year for Republicans across local elections, only one Democrat was elected that day, Councilman John Malone. Mayor Fuhrmann’s defeat was mainly attributed to the fact that Mayor Fuhrmann opposed the change in governmental structure to a commission form of government. The proposal eliminated the Common Council, replacing it with a commission with five members, including the Mayor, Public Safety (fire, police and health), Finance and Accounts (comptroller, treasurer, auditor and assessors), Public Affairs (education and poor departments) Public Works (bureau of water, streets, building and engineering), and Parks and Public Buildings. Mayor Fuhrmann vetoed the proposal, which was overturned by the legislature and the Commission form of Government was created. The new charter went into effect in January 1916. It was in effect until 1926 when the Kenefick Commission created a new charter for the City, which separated legislative and executive powers of the municipal government. The City’s new charter went into effect in January 1928, vesting the Common Council with legislative powers and the Mayor in charge of executive and administrative functions.

Some sources also reported that Louis Fuhrmann’s loss was partly due to the anti-German sentiment in Buffalo during WWI. Many parks, hospitals, streets and banks lost their German names. German newspapers folded. Churches and business which spoke German began speaking English in the name of patriotism. And the scrappy son of German immigrants Louis Fuhrmann lost to the Yale Law educated Anglo-American George Buck.

After Mayor Fuhrmann left office, he continued to be active in Democratic politics. He was appointed by Frank Schwab to the School Board in 1922, where he served for five years. While he was Mayor and while on the School Board, he fought for more high schools and helped to see the schools he fought for constructed. In 1927, Fuhrmann became Chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee.

Louis Fuhrmann Gravestone, Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Louis Fuhrmann married Alice Meahl in 1900. They had four children: Frederick, Dorothea, Philip and Mary Alice. The family lived at 438 North Oak Street for many years. They later moved to Jewett Parkway. Sadly, Mary Alice died from heart problems at just one year old, while Louis was Mayor. Mayor Fuhrmann was a member of Concordia Lodge, F & A. M, the Buffalo Consistory, the Eagles, the Elks, the Oriels and other social lodges. Louis Fuhrmann retired from Fuhrmann Packing House in 1927, with son Frederick taking over.

Louis P. Fuhrmann died in 1931 after two years of illness. Mr. Fuhrmann was so prominent in the local Democratic party that it was published in the paper that all local Democratic leaders from across the county attended his funeral, along with other prominent people from Buffalo’s political, social and civic life. His funeral was conducted by Reverend John D. Sayles, who had served as Mr. Fuhrmann’s secretary during the 8 years of his mayoral terms. Rev. Sayles eulogized Mayor Fuhrmann by saying:

“Louis Fuhrmann was unique in his human qualities. Everybody who knew him loved him because he himself was lovable. Nobody ever appealed to him for help in vain. The sick, the poor, the unlucky, the friendless, were blessed by his benefactions. In early life he leaned that the coin of this realm cannot be legal tender in any other. He made a fortune during his lifetime and without publicity gave more than half of it away. Some may say that a man who does that is a fool. If that be so, he was one of God’s fools and did not die – such fools never die unloved, unwept and unremembered.”

Mayor Fuhrmann is buried in Forest Lawn.

Opening of the Fuhrmann Blvd in 1935. From left: Edward C. Dethloff, Democratic Candidate for Council; Councilman George K Hambleton, sponsor of the boulevard and high-level bridge; Councilman Charles J. Hereth; Francis J. Downing, former ERB Executive Director and WPA Administrator; Martin P. Flemming, secretary to Mayor Zimmerman; and Democratic County Chair Frank J. Carr. Source: Buffalo Times.

Fuhrmann Boulevard opened from South Michigan Avenue to Ohio Street in August 1935. It was built as an Emergency Relief Bureau project at a cost of $300,000 ($6.7 Million in today’s dollars). Construction of the boulevard provided work for 1200 men for a year. Opening this road was important for traffic along the lakeshore, as creation of the road helped traffic to avoid 2 lift bridges and 8 active at-grade railroad crossings. During summer months at that time, traffic averaged about 20,000 cars a day. The new Fuhrmann Drive was designed to connect to the proposed high-level bridge which was supposed to be built later that year (spoiler alert: they had a ribbon cutting and drove the first pilings for the bridge in 1935, but the Skyway wasn’t finished until 1955).

In 1958, Governor Harriman announced an at-grade separation project to create what they referred to as the “Fuhrmann El”. By creating this limited access highway route, they felt it would “open up the lake shore area to practically unlimited development”. The elevated highway was considered to be an important piece of the chain of expressways from Niagara Falls to the South and West. The elevated highway would connect the new Skyway (opened 1955) to the new Father Baker Bridge (over Union Ship Canal, built 1961), and the work that was being completed at the time in Athol Springs (the traffic circle by the Ford Plant). The road was designed to help workers getting to their jobs at the industrial plants and to enhance the available industrial land along the route. The road was designed by Elmer G. H. Youngmann, who was the District Engineer for NYSDOT and designed most of WNY Highways. The Fuhrmann El route was 1.2 miles running from the Buffalo Skyway to just north of the Tifft Street interchange, which was where the approaches for the Father Baker Bridge were located. The route was designed to be 4 lanes -two northbound, two southbound – and included a complete system of service roads for entrance and exit into the present or planned future plants along the right-of-way. The original Fuhrmann Boulevard was reduced to just those service roads. The expressway was 18 to 22 feet above the level of the service roads. Because the road was so costly to build, instead of being built on an elevated steel structure, it was built on an earth embankment.

Buffalo News sketch of the proposed Fuhrmann ‘El’ Elevated Highway.

fatherbaker-bukaty-4-sept1989_1200xx2644-1489-74-74

Demolition of Father Baker Bridge in 1989. Source: Buffalo Business First.

In 1989, the Fuhrmann Blvd area began to see another major change as the Father Baker Bridge over Union Ship Canal was demolished. The bridge spanned 100 feet over the canal and helped to make the ride from Downtown Buffalo to Lackawanna feel like a roller coaster with the two high-level bridges. The demolition of the bridge took two years and was the State’s most costly highway project being completed at the time.

Modern View of Fuhrmann Boulevard running between the Outer Harbor and the Elevated Route 5 (on the right of image). Source: Step Out Buffalo

Beginning in the 1990s, there was renewed interest in the waterfront. The Southtowns Connector Feasibility Study was completed in 1991. It was included in the Horizons Waterfront Action Plan, prepared in 1992. The plan would have moved the highway inland to the CSX tracks, opened up more of the Outer Harbor Land for development. In 2001, the project was refocused based on comments received from agencies and the public. The concern was that moving the highway would have unacceptable impacts on neighborhoods and the environment, as well as being too costly to be able to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. So, the decision was made that the elevated Route 5 would remain. The new plan became focused on changes to the existing road system rather than fully relocating the highway. This helped to create a project that was actually able to be completed. Fuhrmann Boulevard was improved and became more of an actual road once again, rather than just an intermittent service road which provided access to properties. Multi-use trails were placed along the road, with signage celebrating the industrial heritage of the Outer Harbor.

If you’re wondering what happened to Fuhrmann’s Meatpacking business? Son Frederick Fuhrmann took it over when Louis retired and it was ran by the Fuhrmann family until 1945 when it was purchased by Mr. Teplesky of Tog Packing. They operated until 1980, when the business was sold to P Brennan Meat Wholesalers. In 1999, an action was held to sell the equipment. A building was still standing on the site until 2007, but it has since been demolished. It is now a vacant lot.

Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please be sure to share it with your friends. Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on patreon. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/

Hope to see some of you on my upcoming tours this month! For more info on tours, click here.

Sources:

“Louis P. Fuhrmann”. Buffalo Courier-Express. Feb 24, 1931, p5.
“Ex-Mayor Fuhrmann Dead” Buffalo Courier-Express. Feb 24, 1931,p1.
Mueller, Jacob. Buffalo and Its German Community. German-American Historical and Biographical Society. 1911-12.
“Mayor Fuhrmann Was Efficient Executive”. Buffalo Times. July 13, 1924. P45.
“Winning the Sea Wall Strip for Buffalo”. Buffalo Sunday News. August 27, 1911, p 13.
“Parade Details are Settled for St. Patrick’s Day”. Buffalo Courier. March 14, 1915, p 74.
“Four Thousand in St. Patrick’s Day Parade Wednesday”. Buffalo Times. March 14, 1914, p43.
Gaelic Association to Parade on St. Pat’s Day”. Feb 24, 1918, p45.
“20,000 Marches Enroll for parade St Patrick’s Day”. Buffalo Times. February 25, 1917, p17.
“St. Patrick’s Day Parade to Outshine All Affairs of its Kind In History”. Buffalo Courier. February 22, 1915, p6.
“In the Good Old Days: St. Patrick’s Day in Years Long Past”. Catholic Union and Times. January 14, 1915, p5.
Burr, Kate. “Old St. Patrick’s Day Parades. Buffalo Times. March 17, 1932.
“Great Legal Contest to Determine Ownership of Hamburg Turnpike”. Buffalo Times. October 12, 1902
“Beautify the Turnpike” Buffalo Express. June 8, 1902.
“Boulevard Change Ready for Opening”. Buffalo Times. August 22, 1935.
“Start of Work on Furhmann El Due in Early 59”. Buffalo News. August 6, 1958 p 29.
McCarthy, Robert. “Closing Brings Bridge to Dead End Father Baker Span Was Monument to Industrial Might”. Buffalo News. August 22, 1989.
Whitford, Noble E. “Slips and Other Adjuncts of the Erie Canal at Buffalo”. History of the Canal System of New York State. Brandow Printing Company. 1906.
Adam, Thomas. German and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History. ABC-CLIO. 2005.
“Sons of Old Erin Honor St. Patrick in Street Pageant”. Buffalo Times. March 17, 1917, p1.
“No Parade By Irish on South Side Today”. Buffalo Times. March 17, 1919, p7.
“Baby Daughter of Mayor Dead” Buffalo Enquirer. January 7, 1915, p6.
“Hundreds Pay Final Tribute to Fuhrmann” Buffalo News. February 27, 1931, p1.
Roseberry, Jack. “Fair-ly Long Custom of Camp Aid Ends with His Retirement”. Buffalo News. August 13, 1980, p10.

Posted in Downtown/Harbor | Tagged Fuhrmann Boulevard, Kelly Island, Mayor, Meatpacking, Outer Harbor | 5 Comments »

Free Downtown History Walking Tours!

August 26, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Update: Unfortunately, the tours on Saturday September 16th and Monday September 25th have been cancelled. I apologize for any inconvenience. I have COVID.

At long last, I have scheduled some dates for walking tours for this season! For those who have reached out asking about this years tours, thank you for your patience – this summer has been kind of crazy!

Once again, I’m giving two distinct tours – Discover Downtown – Then and Now and Discover Lower Main Street. These tours will be free, as I want to ensure they are accessible to all, but donations will be graciously accepted. All money received will go directly into continuing to build up Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time.

Discover Downtown – Then and Now – we will look at the area around Lafayette and Niagara Squares and the core of Downtown Buffalo. We’ll talk about the history of the central part of Downtown as the city grew and the buildings in the area. You’ll also get an up close look at the progress of the Main Street Multi Modal Access and Revitalization Project (Cars Sharing Main Street) which is currently working on replacing the 35 year old metro rail track bed.

This tour meets outside of Public Espresso in the Hotel Lafayette, 391 Washington Street, at the corner of Washington Street and Clinton Street. The tour will be about 1.5 miles and will be a loop that ends near the starting point.

This tour will be offered:

(Canceled) ~~Saturday September 16th at 1pm. More info at link: https://www.facebook.com/events/318564317283457~~

Monday October 2nd at 5:30pm. More info at link: https://www.facebook.com/events/859451828498834/

Discover Lower Main Street – this tour looks the area of Lower Main Street, south of Church Street, portions of the former canal district, and the Erie Street corridor. We’ll talk about some of the earliest history of Buffalo, how the area has changed over the last 150 years, and you’ll get an view of the construction happening right now at Heritage Point.

This tour will start at the Tim Hortons in Harbor Center, 1 Scott Street, corner of Main and Scott Streets. The tour will be about 1.5 miles and will be a loop that ends near the start. This tour does include going down one staircase, and walking up 2 other staircases, each about 15 steps.

This tour will be offered:

Sunday September 10th at 11am. More info at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1347975509263485

Canceled ~~Monday September 25th at 5:30 pm. More info at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/256819873947207~~

To RSVP for any of the tools, you can email buffalostreets@gmail.com or feel free to just show up! Tours will be rain or shine. Looking forward to seeing some of you on tours! I always enjoy getting to talk history with people in person.

I will be on the schedule for University Express again this fall, talking more streets! The sessions begin in October and schedules for that will come out soon, so keep your eyes out for more info about that as well. I’ll be at a few locations that are new to me, so I’m looking forward to hopefully meeting some new people!

Hope you’re all enjoying these last few weeks of summer. You might find me at a couple more Bisons games, trying to soak up the waning days of baseball season! Go Herd!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Roesch – Start a Family Tree of Butchers, Get a Street Named After You

July 29, 2023 by Angela Keppel

Roesch Ave in Riverside shown with red line on map

Roesch Avenue runs between Tonawanda Street and Kenmore Avenue in the Riverside Neighborhood, near the northwestern edge of the City of Buffalo. The street is named for Louis Roesch. The Roesch (pronounced like fresh) family is a family of butchers still known in Buffalo today!

Louis Roesch came from Baden, Germany in 1869 with his brother Jacob. Louis and Jacob worked as butchers, so Buffalo was a logical pace to come, as we were a center of meat processing. They quickly got jobs here in Buffalo and lived frugally to save money to establish their own butcher shops.

Louis established his butcher shop at 1923 Niagara Street in Black Rock, with a barn and slaughterhouse at the corner of Hamilton and Dearborn Streets. Louis was eventually able to take over the North Buffalo Hotel at 1921 Niagara Street (at the corner of Hamilton Street), where he operated a restaurant and continued with his butcher shop. His slaughterhouse was on the grounds, and he kept a few extra cows to supply fresh milk.

Louis and his family were known for their love of dances. They hosted regular dances at the North Buffalo Hotel. They were strict, old-school Germans, so the dances were “decorous and dignified -the sort of dances parents of the neighborhood were pleased to have their sons and daughters attend.”

Louis would return to Germany several times to go back home to visit his family. On one of the visits, he convinced his brother George Frederich (Fred) to join them in Buffalo.

Louis Roesch was a lifelong Democrat and friend of Grover Cleveland. He was elected Alderman of the old 12th ward in the 1885 and served two terms. In an article describing the candidates running for Alderman, the Buffalo Express described him as “grey, sparsely built, and is passionately fond of red neckties.”

While Alderman, Louis Roesch had the first asphalt pavement laid in Black Rock, up Niagara Street. At the time, some of the streets had been paved with cobblestones, but the majority of Black Rock’s streets were dirt roads at the time. Residents in the area had to have their coal delivered during the summer. The roads would be muddy in the fall and too snowy/icy in the winter, so the coal trucks were unable to deliver since the roads were impassible. He was also instrumental in the construction of the Hertel Avenue sewer while he was Alderman.

In 1888, the land that would become Roesch Avenue was part of the large tract of land that was purchased by Louis Roesch, John Hertel, John Esser and Frank Argus as the Black Rock Land Company, one of the first development companies in Buffalo. Streets were named after each of the men. The land was purchased at the low price of $1/foot.

After buying the land, Mr. Roesch worked in the Real Estate business, while continuing to manage his hotel, butcher shop and slaughterhouse. He was known for helping young men get a start in life and being generous with his time and money.

Mr. Roesch loved horses and was proud of his ability to pick fast horses. Once, at an auction, he picked up what was supposedly a washed up race horse for $10. His neighbor teased him for buying the horse. Mr. Roesch bet the neighbor $100 that his new horse could beat any of his neighbor’s horses in a race from Niagara and Amherst Street to Niagara and Main Street downtown. Mr. Roesch’s horse won!

Louis married Rosina Rupp, who lived in Buffalo but had come from the same village in Germany where Louis had lived as a boy. They had thirteen children. The family lived at 276 Dearborn Street. They were members of St. John’s Evangelical Church, at 85 Amherst Street.

Louis Roesch Grave, Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Louis died June 3, 1904 at age 65 from Bright’s Disease (kidney disease now called nephritis). After his wife Rosina’s death in 1920, the five remaining Roesch children – Louis, Edward, Charles, Caroline and Rosina moved to Seattle, Washington with their families.

So remember how Louis Roesch came to Buffalo with his brother Jacob P. Roesch in 1869? While Louis has the street named after him, Jacob’s side of the family tree is better known in Buffalo these days! Jacob P. Roesch also worked as a butcher here in Buffalo until 1895, when he went into the confectionary business.

Jacob P. Roesch’s son, Jacob M. Roesch entered the meat business at the age of 13 as a clerk in the meat market of Andrew Rupprecht. He spent time time in Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas and Pennsylvania learning the meat business. Jacob M Roesch returned to Buffalo to opened a stall at the Washington Street Market in 1878. He also operated a packing house on Oak Street and a meat market at the corner of Ferry and Niagara Streets. He oversaw a large shipping trade. In 1895, Jacob M. Roesch was appointed Market Clerk of the Washington Street Market by Mayor Jewett. The Market Clerk managed the markets, keeping market records and helping the market run efficiently.

Jacob M. Roesch married Julia Fuelhart in 1880. They had three children – John Jacob, Charles Edward, and Lillian Philipene. Their family lived at 613 North Oak Street.

Charles and John Roesch took over their dad’s market stand at the Washington Street Market. The business was named Jacob M Roesch & Sons in 1911. Their stall was number 2, at the Chippewa end of the Market.

In 1916, Charles and John decided to take separate paths and Charles opened a butcher stall in the Broadway Market as Charles E Roesch & Company. He also opened a wholesale poultry business behind the home at 613 Oak Street.

Mayor Charles Roesch. Source: City of Buffalo Annual Report of the Department of Police, 1932.

Charles E. Roesch was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1929. He became mayor in 1930, at the time of the Great Depression. Thousands were unemployed both in Buffalo and across the country. As a businessman himself, he intended to run City Hall like a business. He did things differently than previous mayors. He chose to drive his own car. He didn’t like attending fancy dinners or giving speeches. He didn’t want to be considered an exhibit, he wanted to get the work done of city governance rather than parade around. He said “there should be more “we” in the city government and less of “I”. I don’t believe any one man is big enough to run a city.”

Mayor Roesch oversaw relief programs for the unemployed. He created a man-a-block system that was later adopted across the country. Under this system, every street in the City was canvassed and those who were fortunate to have jobs would hire unemployed men to do odd jobs for them. This program provided employment for almost 2000 jobless at a minimum of $15 a week. The program soon provided inadequate as the depression worsened, but it continued to keep thousands off the relief rolls long after government work and home relief became available.

As the Great Depression worsened, the Mayors Unemployment Committee was formed. Alfred Schoellkopf served as chairman. The Committee was so successful, Mr. Schoellkopf was selected to head the New York State Temporary Emergency Relief Agency, which adopted the same methods used in Buffalo across the State. At the end of 1931, Buffalo became the first city in the country to embark on a work relief program, with employment given to people coming from the home relief rolls. It wasn’t until two years later that the federal government, through CWA (Civil Works Administration) created a similar program across the Country. In 1932, Mayor Roesch served as President of the New York State Conference of Mayors, where he fought to have the State help reimburse communities for welfare expenditures. Mayor Roesch’s proposal for the State to provide a 40% reimbursement later was included in the Wicks Act, which was realized in 1936.

While Mayor Roesch is best known for being one of Buffalo’s Great Depression Mayors, one of the other major issues during his term was transportation. Mayor Roesch began planning began for the proposed seaway highway and a new bridge to replace the Michigan Street bridge. These projects were delayed by the Depression, but eventually turned into Furhmann Boulevard and the Skyway.

Mayor Roesch in his brand new City Hall Office, December 21, 1931. Source: Buffalo Times.

Mayor Roesch was the first Mayor to serve in the newly built City Hall. When he first became Mayor, his office was in the Liberty Building on the 11th floor while they waited for City Hall to be completed. The former Mayor’s office was located in the building that we now call Old County Hall on Franklin Street. Old County Hall had originally been shared by the City and the County, but it had been turned over to Erie County during the construction of City Hall. In December 1931, the Mayor’s new office on the 2nd floor of City Hall was ready for Mayor Roesch to move in. Mayor Roesch was the final city official to move into City Hall. However, Mayor Roesch was known for seldom being found in his actual office. He could often be found on the 21st floor where Budget Director Albert Preston’s office was located, or on the 11th floor with Charles Feldman, Corporation Counsel. With his philosophy of leadership by teamwork, he was known for meeting with the department heads in their offices, away from the pretentiousness of the Mayor’s office.

Jack Moranz profile on Mayor Roesch. Jack Moranz was an internationally known artist and cartoonist who sketched a number of Buffalonians during the summer of 1930 for special publication buy the Buffalo News. Mayor Roesch was the first sketch published in June 1930. Source: Buffalo News

Mayor Roesch was only mayor for one term, which was how the City Charter was written at the time. Mayor Roesch felt strongly about the single term concept. While he was Mayor, Council wanted to amend the charter to allow him to succeed himself and remain Mayor. Mayor Roesch refused, saying he would veto any legislation that tried to do so. He felt that his election was under the assumption it would be one term and that it would be unfair to the people of Buffalo for the conditions to change while he was serving.

Mayor Charlie the Butcher, December 1931. Source: Buffalo Times.

While serving as Mayor, Mayor Roesch would still help out as a butcher. Shown here in 1931 (just two days after he moved into his new office in City Hall) helping the Buffalo Restaurant Men’s Association prepare 2000 Christmas baskets for Buffalo’s needy families. After his mayoral term, he returned full time to the meat business. He would often report that his favorite food was roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Charles E. Roesch married Mabel C. Klinck. Mabel’s mother was Julia Fuhrmann, sister of former Mayor Louis P. Fuhrmann for whom Furhmann Boulevard gets its name. Charles and Mabel had two sons, William Klinck and Charles Jacob. The family lived in the upper apartment at 633 North Oak Street, at the corner of Carlton Street, just down the street from where Charles had been born. Oak Street was well known in Buffalo as being the home of three Buffalo Mayors, before the neighborhood was lost to urban renewal. When Charles was elected Mayor, Mrs. Roesch reported that she was accosted by realtors looking to help sell them a house that was a “better fit for a Mayor”. They insisted on staying in the neighborhood they loved dearly. They knew their neighbors well and would not move. They also refused to take on a maid as was suggested to them to indicate their status as a “respectable family of means”. Mrs. Roesch took care of the house on her own. She felt that housework was not an irksome task, but a source of fun and pleasure, so she preferred to do the work herself.

Mayor Charles E Roesch grave in Forest Lawn

Charles E Roesch died on January 15, 1936. He is buried in Forest Lawn. The day of his funeral, the current Mayor George Zimmermann declared a full Civic Holiday in Buffalo in honor of the former Mayor. It was believed by many that if Mayor Roesch had not passed away, he would have ran for a second term in 1937 and won. He was often referred to as “Buffalo’s Greatest Mayor”.

Charles_J_Roesch_ Mayor Roesch’s son, Charles J. Roesch was born in January 1916. He graduated from University of Buffalo in 1938 and entered the family meat market business with his brother William. Charles J. Roesch became president of the firm in the mid-1960s. Charles J. Roesch married Doris Yuhl in 1939. They had two children, Charles W and Susan. When Susan was married in November 1963, the wedding was on a Wednesday because that was the day that the Broadway Market was closed so that her dad and uncle could attend the wedding! Charles J Roesch was also an avid bowler, serving as president of the Buffalo Bowling Association as well as of the State Masonic Bowling Association. Charles J. Roesch retired from the meat business in the mid-1980s. He passed away in March 1990.

Charlie the Butcher in front of his shop on Wehrle. Source: http://www.charliethebutcher.com

Charles W. Roesch was born in 1949. He grew up around the meat business but decided to attend the University of Toledo, where he received a chemistry degree. The pull to return to Buffalo and join the family business was strong. Charles W. took over the Charles E. Roesch stand in the Broadway Market after his dad’s retirement in the mid-80s. He realized the butcher model needed to change as supermarkets in the suburbs started to draw traffic away from the butcher shops at markets.

Beef on Weck at a Bison’s Game. Because sometimes you don’t want a hot dog (sorry Sahlen’s) Photo by Author.

Charles W Roesch branded himself as Charlie the Butcher beginning in 1984 at a tradeshow. With his trademark branded apron, button up shirt, tie, and bumphat (the hardhat that butchers wear), he started by selling sausage on a stick for $1 and began cooking meats to sell sandwiches through catering. Eventually they started selling their famous hand-carved roast beef on weck. The sandwich, invented in Buffalo in the 1800s is a quintessential Buffalo food, second only perhaps to the Buffalo wing. A lot of the popularity of the sandwich is in part to Charlie himself! In 1993, Charlie took over a former hot dog stand on Wehrle Drive at the Amherst/Cheektowaga border, becoming Charlie the Butcher’s Kitchen in 1993. They opened a downtown “Charlie the Butcher Express” location in the Ellicott Square building a few years later. Charlie’s reputation and charming personality make him a common presenter on food segments on local news shows like AM Buffalo, helping to market the business. He’s done appearances across Western New York and across the entire country – New York, Toronto, Washington DC, Orlando, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Dallas and San Diego – and even in Europe in Düsseldorf, Germany, and Lyon, France!

Mayor Charles E Roesch’s portrait and his grandson, Charlie the Butcher, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Charles E Roesch Meats in 2014. Source: WGRZ

rop-charlie-the-butcher-charlie-roesch-bonnie-roesch-trd-bbf7786-07xx23

Charlie and Bonnie Roesch. Source: Buffalo Business First

Charlie the Butcher can now be found at locations throughout Western New York and as Charlie on Location, the catering side of the business. You can also get Charlie the Butcher cooked roast beef at Dash’s, Market in the Square, and Tops Markets. The company, led by Charlie and his wife Bonnie, are continuing to grow and evolve. They’re now working to expand their reach outside of the 716 area code by making roast beef and weck seasoning mixes available to ship anywhere. That’s right, all of you Buffalo ex-pats who read my blog – you can order your very own make your own beef on weck kit! Head to charliethebutcher.com to learn more.

So the next time you drive past Roesch Ave, think if Alderman Louis Roesch and thank him for paving Niagara Street or remember his Great-Nephew Mayor Roesch or his Great-Great-Great Nephew Charlie the Butcher. And the next time you stop for a Charlie the Butcher sandwich, think of the generations of butchering that has led us to that delicious Buffalo food.

Want to learn about other streets? Check out the Street Index. Don’t forget to subscribe to the page to be notified when new posts are made. You can do so by entering your email address in the box on the upper right-hand side of the home page. You can also follow the blog on facebook. If you enjoy the blog, please be sure to share it with your friends. Interested in getting even more content from me? You can become a Friend of Buffalo Streets on patreon. You can go to https://www.patreon.com/buffalostreets/

I’ll be hosting a Buffalo History Chit Chat on Monday August 14th at 7pm EST. I’ve been busy this summer and haven’t had a chance to host any tours, but I figured we could get together (virtually) and chit chat about Buffalo history! This will be a chance for me to talk with you about some of the current things I’m researching, share some of my favorite history stories, and to answer some of your burning history questions! For more information and tickets, click this link. I’m particularly excited to be able to connect with some of my readers who no longer live in Buffalo! I hope you’ll join me. If this event is successful, it will hopefully be the first of many of these!

Sources:

Smith, H. Katherine. “Roesch Avenue is Memorial to Area Developer and Alderman”. Buffalo Courier-Express. June 15, 1941, p7-3.
“Louis Roesch Has Passed Away”. Buffalo Courier. June 3, 1904, p7.
“Jacob Roesch Dead”. Buffalo Evening News. February 12, 1903. P5.
White, Truman, editor. Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York, Volume 2. Boston History Company. 1898.
“Our Story”. Charlie the Butcher website: https://www.charliethebutcher.com/index.php/our-story/
“John Roesch So Badly Burned That He May Die”. Buffalo Evening News. September 30, 1902. P 18.
“These Are Our Rulers: Aldermen of the Past, Present and Future”. Buffalo Express.
“Louis Roesch has Passed Away” Buffalo Courier Express. June 3, 1904, p1.
Rizzo, Michael. “Charles E. Roesch”. Through the Mayor’s Eyes. http://www.buffalonian.com/history/industry/mayors/Roesch.htm
Violanti, Anthony. “Days of the East Side Packers”. Buffalo News. May 30, 1990, p17.
“Charles J. Roesch, businessman, national bowling executive dies”. Buffalo News. March 2, 1990, p33.
Bermingham, Don. “Buffalo Emerges From An Era of Disillusionment.” Buffalo News. December 30, 1939, p24.
Wandell, Walt. “Roesch, the Man, as He Reveals Himself on Even of Taking Office.” Buffalo Times. December 29, 1929.
“Kept Promise, Sons’ Respect, Roesch Says”. Geroge Kennedy. Buffalo Tmies August 13, 1933.
Drury, Tracy. “With Beef on Weck as Its Calling Card, Charlie the Butcher Continues to Evolve”. Buffalo Business First. July 7, 1923.
Fiddler-Woite, Julianna and Reverend Jamie Retallack. Lutherans in Western New York. Arcadia Publishing, 2015.
“Roesch Estate to Be Settled”. Buffalo News. July 5, 1938.

Posted in Riverside | 8 Comments »

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Angela Keppel

Angela Keppel is a Buffalo, NY history enthusiast and urban planner. She spent her childhood in the Grosvenor Room at the downtown library and the Buffalo History Museum. "Talking Proud" is her anthem.

For more information and to contact Angela, please see the about me tab at the top of the page.

A complete list of streets which have been written about can also be found at the top of the page under the Street Index tab.

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. Any photographs displayed on the blog are for information purposes only. Attempts have been made to source to original image content wherever possible. If you own a specific image on this site and want it removed, please email me at buffalostreets (at) gmail.com and I will remove it.
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