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(Top) 1 Prior to 18th century 2 18th century 3 19th century 3.1 1800s-1860s 3.2 1870s-1890s 4 20th century 5 21st century 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External links

Timeline of Buffalo, New York

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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.

Prior to 18th century[edit]

1620 - Erie Nation occupies area
1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation
1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon.^[1]
1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.^[1]

18th century[edit]

1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region.^[1]
1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed

19th century[edit]

The 1805 plan for the village of Buffalo

1800s-1860s[edit]

1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott. ^[2]
1810 - Population: 1,508.
1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication.^[3]
1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812.^[2]^[4]
1816 - Village incorporatedinNiagara County.^[5]
1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief.^[6]^[1]
1820 - Population: 2,095.^[2]
1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County.^[5]
1825 - Erie Canal opens.^[7]
1830 - Population: 8,668.^[8]^[2]
1832
- City of Buffalo incorporated.^[5]
- Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor.^[1]
1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established.^[2]
1834 - Cholera.^[1]
1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs.
1836
- Young Men's Association active.^[9]^[10]
- Buffalo Library (social library) organized.^[11]
1840 - Population: 18,213.^[8]^[2]
1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator.^[1]
1844 - A seicheonLake Erie sends a 22-foot (6.7 m) surge of water onshore, killing 78 people.^[12]
1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established.
1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established.^[13]
1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate.^[6]^[1]
1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established.^[1]
1850 - Population: 42,261.^[8]^[2]
1851
- St. Paul's Cathedral built.^[2]
- Buffalo Seminary founded.^[1]
1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens.^[14]
1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation.^[4]
1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo.^[6]
1856
- Chippewa Market opens.^[15]
- Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business.^[16]
1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened.
1860 - Population: 81,129.^[8]^[2]
1861
- Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded.^[17]
- St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded.^[1]
1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed.^[17]
1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated.
1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music^[14]

1870s-1890s[edit]

1870
- Richardson Olmsted Complex built.
- Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded.^[1]
- Population: 117,714.^[8]^[2]
1871 - Buffalo Normal School founded, became "State Normal and Training School"
1873
- Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr established.
- International Railway Bridge to Canada opens.^[5]
- Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication.^[3]
1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven."^[2]
1875
- County and City Hall constructed.^[2]
- Population: 134,238.^[2]
1876
- Delaware Park–Front Park System developed.^[2]
- Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built.
1880 - Population: 155,134.^[8]
1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business.^[18]
1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor.^[4]
1886
- Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating.^[4]^[7]
- University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established.^[1]
1887 - University at Buffalo Law School established.^[1]
1890 - Population: 255,664.^[8]
1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established.^[1]
1893
- Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation.^[19]
- Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president.^[4]
1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded.
1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed.^[1]
1899 - Labor strike of grain workers.^[20]
1900
- Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins.^[18]
- Population: 352,387.^[8]

20th century[edit]

Downtown Buffalo in 1945

1901
- May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park.^[6]
- September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president.^[21]^[1]
- September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president.
- September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held.^[6]
1902 - YMCA Central Building built.^[22]
1905 - Albright Art Gallery (ofmodern art) opens.^[18]
1908
- D'Youville College founded.^[22]
- Hotel Statler in business (first in chain).^[18]
1910 - Population: 423,715.^[8]
1914 - Art Theater in business.^[23]
1917 - December 9: Snowstorm.^[24]
1919
- The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal.^[22]
- Rivoli Theatre in business.^[23]
1920
- University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription.^[22]
- Population: 506,775.^[8]^[22]
1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business.^[23]
1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting.^[25]
1923 - On February 24, Phi Omega chapter of the National Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered at University of New York at Buffalo as first African American Greek-Lettered Fraternity established in western New York.
1924
- DuPont cellophane manufactory begins operating.^[18]^[19]
- WEBR radio begins broadcasting.^[25]
1926
- Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982).^[3]
- Buffalo Niagara International Airport, then known as "Buffalo Municipal Airport", opens in nearby Cheektowaga
- Shea's Performing Arts Center opens.
1927 - Peace Bridge to Canada opens.^[6]
1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public.
1932 - Buffalo City Hall built.^[5]
1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business.^[18]
1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened
1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.^[26]
1950 - Population: 580,132.^[8]
1953 - New zoning laws include parking minimums, these new zoning laws are a factor in the decline of Buffalo over the following decades.
1954 - WGR-TV (television) begins broadcasting.^[26]
1960 - Buffalo Bills Football Inaugural Season. Team is second professional team with the name and the third professional football franchise in the city.
1966
- January: Blizzard.^[24]
- Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established.^[17]
1967 - Race riot occurs in East Buffalo as part of Long, hot summer of 1967
1970
- Buffalo Sabres Hockey Inaugural Season
- Buffalo Braves Basketball Inaugural Season. Team plays 8 seasons in Buffalo before relocating to San Diego and later Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Clippers
1971
- February 22: Blizzard.^[24]
- Erie Community College Buffalo campus established.^[5]
1977 - January: Blizzard of '77.^[4]
1979
- Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established.^[17]
- Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations
1984 -
- Buffalo Metro Rail begins service
- Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill
1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium
1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo.^[17]
1990 - Population: 328,123.^[8]
1996
- KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
- City website online (approximate date).^[27]^[28]

21st century[edit]

Buffalo's skyline from the air in 2018

2000 - Population: 292,648
2001
- Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established
- December: Snowstorm.^[5]
2005
- Byron Brown becomes mayor.
- Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district.^[29]
2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid"^[24]
2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work.^[30]
2010 - Population: 261,310.^[31]
2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm.^[24]
2017
- Minimum parking requirements were eliminated citywide in order to revitalize the city after decades of decline.
- Tesla, Inc. opens Giga New York solar panel factory on old Republic Steel site
2020
- Population: 278,349, Buffalo finally gains population again after 70 years.^[32]
- Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests
2022
- May 14: The deadliest shooting in the city's 221-year history occurs. 13 people are shot, and 10 of them die.^[33]
- December 23 - 27: A snowstorm kills 41 people, becoming the deadliest snowstorm in the city's history.
2023
- Mayor Byron Brown begins his 5th term, becoming the longest-serving mayor of Buffalo.
- A magnitude 3.8 earthquake affects the Buffalo area in February.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Britannica 1910.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Britannica 1878.

^ ^a ^b ^c "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Laurence Urdang, ed. (1996). Timetables of American History. Touchstone. ISBN 978-0-7432-0261-9.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Hellmann 2006.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Ernie Gross (1990). This Day in American History. Neal-Schuman. ISBN 978-1-55570-046-1.

^ ^a ^b Quentin R. Skrabec, Jr. (2012). 100 Most Significant Events in American Business: an Encyclopedia. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-39862-9.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998

^ Young Men's Association of the City of Buffalo (1837), Annual Report 1837-

^ "Archival and Manuscript Collections". University at Buffalo Libraries. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ Davies Project. "American Libraries before 1876". Princeton University. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ Meehan, Sara (October 18, 2014). "Oct. 18, 1844: 'Great flood of 1844' devastates Buffalo". The Buffalo News. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

^ "Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: USA". Norway: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ ^a ^b Mingus, Nancy Blumenstalk (2003). Buffalo: Good Neighbors, Great Architecture. Arcadia Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 9780738524498.

^ Federal Writers' Project 1940.

^ Evening News 1908.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e American Association for State and Local History (2002). "New York". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0759100020.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Patrick Robertson (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-60819-738-5.

^ ^a ^b Peter Eisenstadt, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0808-0.

^ Aaron Brenner; Benjamin Day; Immanuel Ness, eds. (2015) [2009]. "Timeline". Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-45707-7.

^ "On This Day". New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Britannica 1922.

^ ^a ^b ^c "Movie Theaters in Buffalo, NY". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "This Day in Weather History". Aberdeen, South Dakota: National Weather Service. Retrieved May 1, 2017.

^ ^a ^b Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: New York", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636

^ ^a ^b Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: New York", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC 10512206

^ "Welcome to City of Buffalo". Archived from the original on February 24, 1996 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.

^ Kevin Hyde; Tamie Hyde (eds.). "United States of America: New York". Official City Sites. Utah. OCLC 40169021. Archived from the original on September 25, 2000.

^ "New York". Official Congressional Directory. 1991/1992- : S. Pub. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2005. hdl:2027/mdp.49015002997139.

^ "ERIE CANAL HARBOR OFFICIALLY OPENS TO PUBLIC" (PDF). Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2020-06-28.

^ "Buffalo city, New York". QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved May 4, 2017.

^ "What census numbers could mean for WNY". WKBW. 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2021-08-13.

^ "10 people killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, police say. The 18-year-old suspect is in custody". CNN. 2022-05-14. Retrieved 2022-05-15.

Bibliography[edit]

Directory for the City of Buffalo, L.P. Crary, 1832

"Buffalo City". Gazetteer of the State of New York. J. Disturnell. 1842. pp. 91–93.

Buffalo City Directory, E.A. Thomas, 1862

"Buffalo", Appletons' Handbook of American Travel: Northern and Eastern Tour, New York: D. Appleton, 1870

Joseph Sabin, ed. (1870). "Buffalo". Bibliotheca Americana. Vol. 3. New York. hdl:2027/nyp.33433082126743. OCLC 13972268.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Franklin B. Hough (1872), "Erie County: Buffalo City", Gazetteer of the State of New York, Albany, N.Y: Andrew Boyd, OCLC 18450990

"Buffalo (2.)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (9th ed.). 1878. p. 443.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Knights of Pythias Directory and Buffalo Street Directory and Guide, Albert J. Kuebler and Fred Kraebel, 1894

History of the City of Buffalo. Buffalo Evening News. 1908.

"Buffalo", United States (4th ed.), Leipzig: K. Baedeker, 1909, OCLC 02338437

"Buffalo (city)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 754–756.

Wilner, Merton Merriman (1922). "Buffalo" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.).

Federal Writers' Project (1940), "Buffalo", New York: a Guide to the Empire State, American Guide Series, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 206–228, hdl:2027/uc1.b3627138 – via HathiTrust{{citation}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Buffalo, NY", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E. P. Dutton, OL 4120668M

George Thomas Kurian (1994), "Buffalo", World Encyclopedia of Cities, vol. 1: North America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, OL 1431653M

Paul T. Hellmann (2006). "New York: Buffalo". Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-135-94859-3.

"175 Years: Celebrating the Incorporation of the City of Buffalo, 1832-2007". Buffalo History Museum. 2007.

"Buffalo, NY". U.S. City Open Data Census. Sunlight Foundation and Open Knowledge International. 2018. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Buffalo, New York.

"Online Collections". Buffalo History Museum. (Includes atlases, city directories, etc.)
"Directories: Buffalo". New York Heritage – via Empire State Library Network.
Items related to Buffalo, New York, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
"Buffalo, New York in Maps, Charts, and Images". Research Guides. University at Buffalo Libraries.

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