My name is Angela Keppel. There’s a street called Keppel Street off of Seneca Street. This blog started as a search to find out more about the street with my name on it. It turned into this crazy adventure that is Discovering Buffalo…One Street at a Time. And more than ten years later, I still don’t have an answer about Keppel Street, but I have so much more.
As an urban planner, I’m interested in discovering how cities grow and develop over time. I take pride in knowing a lot about Buffalo’s heritage and history. I think it’s important to know where we came from in order to know where we’re going collectively as a city. And a huge part of our history is written in our street names. I decided to challenge myself to learn more about the streets. Since 2011, I have shared stories of long forgotten people and things that shaped the Queen City during the last two hundred years. In each post, I share another story about one of the streets and the meaning behind its name. You can subscribe on the home page so that posts will be emailed to you.
Learn about all the streets I’ve written about by checking out the Street Index.
One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is hearing stories from residents who have so many stories to share with me. Feel free to share any stories you have, or request for me to research a particular street you’re interested in! I try to honor requests when I can, but a lot of it depends on my research schedule and the information available to me. I can assure you that if you request a street, I add it to my queue of streets so that when research is available I can dig into a post. I don’t always have time to respond to every email, comment or message I get, but I appreciate them all!
I also am available for lectures and presentations to groups. I have presented through the Erie County University Express program, at Forest Lawn Cemetery, and to various community groups throughout Western New York. I can present on street names, Buffalo history, architecture and urban design, or other topics as requested. Here are a few of the presentations I have given in the past:
- Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time, Part 1
- Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time, Part 2
- Discovering Buffalo< One Street at a Time, Part 3
- Buffalo Architecture and Development
- Which Side of the Skyway Do You Stand On?
- Buffalo’s Women’s Union
- Urbanism and the Rebirth of Buffalo
I can also customize a presentation for your group. Contact me at buffalostreets@gmail.com for bookings.
Any questions? Leave a comment below:
Discovering Buffalo, One Street at a Time 
I would like to hear about Maurice Street .
Do you have any info on the children of Hiram Pratt the Mayor-
I do not have any information on the children of Hiram Pratt. I have written a post on the Pratt family, which you can read here: https://buffalostreets.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/the-pratt-family-and-all-they-got-was-a-street-named-after-them/
You might want to check out Mike Rizzo’s book Through the Mayor’s Eyes, he writes about the Mayors of Buffalo and may have more information.
[…] into the Buffalo Orphan Asylum. Young Oscar was eventually adopted by a distinguished family from Buffalo. Some claim it was this President who helped that process along. The child’s name was changed to […]
Love this
Has anyone ever heard of a place called “Abbott hall”? Not the one on the college campus, but some likely small meeting place that existed in 1908. My organization had its first meeting there in 1908. I cant find any mention of it in the old directories of the era.
Thanks