WELCOME TO FORGOTTEN BUFFALO

An Urban Explorer's Guide to the Buffalo-Niagara Region: Unique Landmarks, Historic Gin Mills, Old World Neighborhoods, History and More!

Welcome

Experience the Tour

Departure Board

Arrival Board

Tour Polish Buffalo

Buffalo Ethnic Tours

Tour German Buffalo

Tour Italian Buffalo

Tour Irish Buffalo

Last Fine Time Tour

Buffalo Brewery Tour

Classic Taverns-Awards

Classic Taverns-Buffalo

Dill's Tavern

Top Hill Grill

Talty's

Daren's Tavern

Scharf's Schiller Park

Pristach's

G&T Inn

Gene McCarthy's

Ulrich's Tavern

Artys Grill

Dick's Eastside Inn

East End Tavern

Sportsman Tavern

The Malamute

Taverns of Polonia 1910

Dalys

Eddie Brady's Bar

Ten-O-Won Grill

Classic Taverns-Travels

The Concertina Bar

Mels Bar

Club 505

Steve's Lounge

Classic Taverns-Last Call

Felong's Tavern

Billy O's Golden Swan

Big Joe Dudzick's Tavern

The Broadway Grill

Bramer's Grill

Concord Restaurant

Messner's Aero Bar

Ray Flynn's

Kutas Warsaw Inn

McBride's Pub

Strusienski's Restaurant

Private & Ethnic Clubs

Adam Mickiewicz Library

American Serbian Club

Corpus Christi AC

Croatian "Cro" Club

Dnipro Ukrainian Center

Dom Polski - N Tonawanda

Eldredge Bicycle Club

Polish Cadets

St. Stan's Athletic Club

Third Warders Club

Ukrainian-American Center

FBTV Video

Historic Polonia District

Central Terminal

Polish Home Museum Project

Broadway Market

St. Stanislaus Church

Corpus Christi Church

St. Adalbert's Basilica

Superman Corner

Polonia Views

Eckhardt Department Store

Polish Union of America

PPS Broadway Mkt Report

Polskie Kolo Spiewackie

Lucki Urban

Buffalo's Polonia History

A Polka Moment In Time

Vintage Polka Posters

Pulaski Parade 1962

Pulaski Parade 2006

Pulaski Parade 2008

Broadway Fillmore

Polonia Stories

1910 Maps of Polonia Buffalo

Buffalo Polonia - 1910

Preserve a Polish Home

Kaminski Meats

Polonia Scrapbook

Polonia On Parade

1965 Polka Convention

Polish Paintings

Power To Polonia

Beer Murals Nielsen

Forgotten Bflo Features

Kids & Wigilia Traditions

The Simon Pure Brewery

Lost Bflo Train Stations

New York Central at War

Pennsylvania RR at War

Talkin' Proud!

Buffalo Union Station

Bayliss-Oshei Residence

Niagara Falls Steak Sub

Buffalo Heights

The Statler Hilton

Metro Rail 1973

Bflo Before & After

Retro Chip Collection

Melody Fair - N Tonawanda

Buffalo Courier Express

History in Your Pocket

Corner Store Experience

The Fair

Most Endangered Sites

Re-Light the Rand

Pierogi @ St. Nick's

Whammy Weenie

Skateland - East Ferry

Jimmy Griffin 1929-2008

Jack Kemp 1936-2009

Sattler Theater

Masonic Lodge #846

Broadway Grill Reunion

Vintage Xmas Cards

Bocce Club- Clinton St.

Smiling Ted's

Buffalo Snow

Edsbyn, Sweden

Buffalo Drive-In

Buffalo 1969

Ray Bennett Lumber Co.

Ray H. Bennett Home

Ultra Cool: 70s Buffalo

Buffalo Bowling Shirts

Great Northern Elevator

Pullman / Wagner Complex

Pierogi Capital of US

North Park Theater

Zywiec Brewery

Buffalo Beer Trays

1964 Campaign For Pres

Heritage Discover Ctr

Tale of Two Roundhouses

Brand Names Catalog

Trolley Lobby BCT

Mentholatum, Hyde, Smythe

Chez Ami 311 Delaware Ave

Schreiber Brewery

Forgotten Buffalo Sounds

Sounds of Buffalo Beer

Sounds of Buffalo

Sounds of the Hound

Utica Club Beer Song

Forgotten Buffalo-Lost

Gramza's Cigar Store

Burczynski Bakery

St. Gerard's Parish

The Polish Village

Rudas Record Store

Tondrowski's Shoe Store

The DL&W Terminal

Buffalo Gas Works

S.S. Aquarama/Marine Star

Aquarama - Final Chapter

Sattlers 998

Rivoli Theater - Broadway

H-O Elevator

Riverside Men's Shop

Mastman's Kosher Deli

Crystal Beach

Department Stores

CLASSIC PHOTOS

Bevador/Beerador Coolers

Parkside Candies

Buffalo's Last Roundhouse

Wildroot Factory

Buffalo Stockyards

Chicago Iron Works

Spolka Clothing

Forgotten Ontario

Tim Hortons #1

TH&B Train Station

Ivor Wynne Stadium

Canadian National Station

Minojijikum Island 1076

Forgotten Rochester

Retro Wegmans

Polonia Rochester

Spittoon Water Troughs

Forgotten Buffalo & Genny

Genesee Brewery Tour

Forgotten Bflo Roadtrips

Perreca's Bakery

F.X. Matts - Utica Club

Forgotten Buffalo-Media

Ch. 2: WGR & WGRZ-TV

Rocketship7

Commander Tom Show

Dialing for Dollars

Ed Tucholka

Polonia Media

Greg Chwojdak, WXRL

Tour of Bflo Broadcasting

WKBW Radio

WKBW Top 40 Celebration

KB Goes Kaboom! WKBW

1430 Main St - WKBW RADIO

A Thing of the Past 2006

WKBW's Tommy Shannon

George Hound Dog Lorenz

1420 Main St - WKBW TV

Forgotten Bflo Orchestra

R & L Lounge, 23 Mills St

Union Stock Yards Bank

The Think Bank

The Natural Tour

Preservation Corridors

Broadway

Fillmore Avenue

Lombard Gibson Mktplace

Project Paderewski

Forgotten Buffalo News

Despensata Corporation

Marketplace Kitchen

Buffalo Broadcasting

FORGOTTEN BUFFALO's MOST ENDANGERED

Everyday, important landmarks that add to Buffalo's uniqueness among American cities are at risk of being lost forever. From mom-and-pop taverns to storied waterfront grain elevators, some of Buffalo's most irreplaceable sites are threatened. For many sites, only a limited time might remain for you to  experience and visit before vanishing by neglect, mismanagement, lack of funds or ill proposed development. Some sites are loved, others despised. One thing for certain...they are part of what makes Buffalo unique.

Do you have a favorite Buffalo-Niagara site or way of life that is "endangered?" E-mail ForgottenBuffalo.com for list consideration. ForgottenBuffalo@aol.com.

Presenting Forgotten Buffalo's "inaugural" Most Endangered (listed in no particular order):

      • Immigrant Cottages
      • Neighborhood Taverns
      • Arcade & Attica Steam Locomotives
      • Catholic Churches
      • Great Northern Grain Elevator
      • Bethlehem Steel North Office
      • New York Central Railroad (West Shore RR) Roundhouse
      • Parkside Candy Shoppe
      • The Skyway
      • Fire Boat Cotter
      • Wildroot HQ and Factory
      • White Bros. Livery
      • Polish Union of America Building
      • E & B Holems Complex


 




POLISH UNION OF AMERICA BUILDING - FILLMORE AVE.
Large holes in the roof are exposing the second and third floors to the elements. Let this NOT be another White Bros.
Oh no... not another White Bros! The terra cotta roof was damaged in a fire...now the elements are effecting the structural integrity of this Polonia landmark. Built in 1914, the Polish Union of America Building at 761-765 Fillmore Avenue housed professional and business offices, the inter-war Polish Consulate, WHLD Polonia Varieties Radio studios, a library, a restaurant, the first headquarters of the Adam Plewacki American Legion Post, a printing company, a typesetting graphic art establishment, a large balconied auditorium, and the Polish Union of America general offices. As a keystone in Western New York's Polonia, the Polish Union of America building hosted presidents, top government officials of America and Poland, and many distinguished personalities in various fields. The PUA left for West Seneca in the 1990s, leaving the building to various landlords. The current church who owns the building is in no position to restore and preserve this important element of the historic Polonia District.


Chicago Iron Works/E.B. Holmes Warehouse
59 Chicago
Located in the Historic First Ward, the Chicago Iron Works is one of the last canal era factory complexes in Buffalo. At one time, the factory made machinery that manufactured barrels. Although the facade looks in decent shape, the rear of the building has completely collapsed. This building reminds me of the industral structures found in Toronto's Distillery District that have now been turned into condos, shops and a brewery. Click picture to the right for more images. Unfortunately, this building is so far gone, that its future will be the wrecking ball.   


WHITE BROS. LIVERY STABLE
A historic West Side building that once served as a boarding stable for the horse-drawn carriages of prominent Buffalo families appears fated to face a wrecking ball after a portion of its brick wall collapsed during June 2008. The three-story brick structure at 428 Jersey St., known as the White Bros. Livery & Boarding Stable, dates to the 1800s. Richard Waite, the building’s architect, is also know for designing the Parliament Buildings in Toronto, Ontario. The building served as boarding stable for horses that pulled the carriages of some of the city’s elite families.


NEIGHBORHOOD TAVERNS
Our Grill, Amherst Street, Buffalo
An important part of the urban landscape. Often located at the end of the block, neighborhood taverns were important social hubs for friends & family. Many of these establishments, operated for generation by single families, features elaborately crafted bar and back bars. Shifts in social drinking and the ban on indoor smoking has caused many of these historical time capsules to close in recent years. Forget Applebees! Don't miss the opporunity to visit a neighborhood gin mill before its "last call" for them all. 




IMMIGRANT COTTAGES
Wilson Street, Buffalo
Built in the 1880s, hundreds of wooden framed dwellings were erected to house one of the largest Polish settlements in America. Over the last 10 years, hundreds of these unique homes have been torn down only to leave vast blocks of open fields. Crime, poverty, post-war flight and the high costs associated with maintaining wood framed structures in Western New York's climate are all contributing factors to the area's demise. No plan is in place to preserve this unique form of urban architecture.


ARCADE & ATTICA STEAM LOCOMOTIVES
The sounds and smell of steam no more on the ol' A&A

For decades, the only place in New York State to experience a REAL steam locomotive was the ol’ A&A. Since the first excursion season in 1962 until the end of the 2001, Arcade & Attica steam locomotive 2-8-0 No18 served frontline duty on passenger excursions entertaining thousands of children. With the passing of strict Federal Railroad Administration regulations dealing with steam locomotive certification, inspection and operation, No18 has remanded out of service due to costly maintenance and upgrades. NOTE - Steam was to return to the A&A during the summer of 2008.




FIREBOAT E.M. COTTER
A long range fiscal plan needs to be establish to keep the Cotter running well into its next century.
As the world's oldest working fireboat, The Edward M. Cotter has borne three names, survived a devastating explosion and, as she proudly begins her second century of service, stands ready to protect vessels and the Buffalo shoreline. As a public relations and marketing tool, the Cotter has been Buffalo’s goodwill ambassador to city’s throughout the Great Lakes in the US and Canada Yet, in a City as financially strapped as Buffalo, The Cotter is a true luxury with no long-term funding plan in place.  


CATHOLIC CHURCHES
St. Adalbert's, Stanislaus Street, Buffalo
Another reminder of a shrinking city. Built by trained craftsmen, emulating historic, old world designs, Catholic Churches in the city give the Buffalo skyline a unique European look. Past consolidation and closure of parishes has not been good to these architectural treasures. With the current round of closures being announced, churches such as St. Ann?s on Broadway, St. Adalbert?s on Stanislaus Street, St. Gerard?s on Bailey and many others will soon be on the auction block. What will happen to these structures? What will happen to the paintings, stained glass and other artistic wonders inside? What will happen to the communities that surround these complexes? 


BUFFALO SKYWAY
Love it or hate it...the Skyway...Uniquly Buffalo
The Buffalo Skyway opened in 1955 and was hailed as one part of a grand plan for the "rapid transit of automobiles" around the city of Buffalo. The other jewels in the city's transportation necklace, the Kensington Expressway and the Scajaquada Expressway, were under construction, funded primarily by New York State. These would be joined to the New York State Thruway. What urban planners did not take into account was how the span would cut off the downtown business district from the waterfront. For decades, as Buffalo looks to the waterfront as an economic draw, discussion continue about the future viability of this elevated highway, given its limited use in winter due to frequent weather closures, its high rate of accidents, and the continuing cost of maintenance. One thing for certain, the view of Lake Erie is spectacular from the Skyway…especially as a dark band of lake effect snow clouds loom in the distance over the southtowns.


GREAT NORTHERN GRAIN ELEVATOR
What would the Buffalo waterfront be like without the Great Northern?

2006 was a devastating year for Buffalo’s historic grain elevators with the demolition of the H-O Oats & Schafer Brewing Elevators and the fire at the wooden Wollenberg Grain and Seed Elevator on the Eastside. Why are these massive, crumbling relics of our industrial past important? They are what make Buffalo unique. You can’t see a collection of structures like this anywhere else in the world. Take a drive down to the First Ward on a summer morning and marvel at the massive size and simple lines of the buildings. The 1897 Great Northern Elevator at 250 Ganson Street is an outstanding example of an intermediate steel grain elevator. It is the only local example and the sole surviving "brick box" working house elevator in North America. Owners of the Great Northern, ADM, have requested demolition of the structure for years. Until then…this amazing building is experiencing “demolition by neglect.”




BETHLEHEM STEEL NORTH OFFICE, LACKAWANNA
Located on Rt. 5, near the Union Ship Canal. One of the most endangered sites in Buffalo-Niagara
Built in the early part of the 20th century, the North Office of the Bethlehem Steel Company in Lackawanna resided over one of the greatest steel making complexes in the world. In 1977 Bethlehem reduced steel
making capacity at the plant causing employment to drop from almost 20,000 in 1965 to 8,500 in 1977 before further declining to a skeleton crew in 1982. The plant closed in 1983. The office currently site crumbling on the waterfront, a reminder of an era when millions were made by capitalists and workers found good paying jobs to build families. The North Office Building, located on Route 5 at the edge of the plant, is crumbling. Years of neglect and harsh Lake Erie winds have reduced this once proud structure.



PARKSIDE CANDY SHOPPE, MAIN @ W. OAKWOOD PLACE
A 1920s throwback. Parkside Candies on Main Street
The former Parkside Candies Shoppe at 2305 Main Street began operation in the late '20s and until the mid 80s, looked much as it did the day it opened. The business was so well preserved that when filmmakers were scouting location sites for Robert Redford’s “The Natural,” the site was used to recreate a Chicago soda shop. After the restaurant closed in the early 1990s, the historic interior was removed. Over the last 20 years, the building housed offices, a daycare center and now sites unused. The "neon" sign was removed and its location is unknown. In 2007, it was proposed that the City of Buffalo’s film office take over the place to use as offices.


NEW YORK CENTRAL ROUNDHOUSE
For most of the 20th century, Buffalo was second to Chicago in rail traffic. Visit Buffalo’s LAST example of a unique form of industrial architecture.
For most of the 20th century, Buffalo was second to Chicago in rail traffic. Visit Buffalo’s LAST example of a unique form of industrial architecture.
One of the largest railroad centers in the United States, Buffalo was second only to Chicago in rail terms. Buffalo was an industrial behemoth and a major transportation hub with 13 trunk line railways connecting it to every major city in the Northeast.  The New York Central was by far, the biggest railroad in the city with sprawling classification yards, a towering terminal and lines that crossed Buffalo in all directions. The surviving New York Central Roundhouse on Buffalo's Eastside is the city's LAST example of this unique form of industrial architecture. Dating back from the 1880s, the building is located on Broadway near Bailey Avenue behind a supermarket and survives as a storage building for a local contactor.


WILDROOT PLANT & HQ
Art modern styling of the 1937 Wildroot World HQ
Wildroot Hair Tonic was introduced in Buffalo, New York in 1911 with the trademark "Wildroot" registered in 1932. It's commercial jingle was a staple on radio and early television. It was a Buffalo product that kept men looking handsome around the world. The company was locally owned and operated until 1959 when purchased by the Colgate-Palmolive Co. for $10.5 million dollars. The 1937 Wildroot office building and factory still stand at 1740 Bailey Avenue between Broadway and Sycamore Streets. The 100,000 sq. foot structure has been vacant for over 25 years. It's location in a depressed area of the site does not lend itself positively towards future development.  


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