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Classic Taverns-Buffalo

Dill's Tavern

Top Hill Grill

Talty's

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Scharf's Schiller Park

Pristach's

G&T Inn

Gene McCarthy's

Ulrich's Tavern

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East End Tavern

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The Malamute

Taverns of Polonia 1910

Dalys

Eddie Brady's Bar

Ten-O-Won Grill

Classic Taverns-Travels

The Concertina Bar

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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

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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

UNION STOCK YARDS BANK BUILDING
949 Broadway @ Fillmore, Historic Polonia District

Built in 1909-1910, this building at Broadway & Fillmore Avenue was the second home of the Union Stock Yard Bank. Click image to learn more about the Buffalo Stock Yards.
Built in 1909-1910, this building at Broadway & Fillmore Avenue was the second home of the Union Stock Yard Bank. Click image to learn more about the Buffalo Stock Yards.

It seemed like Buffalo had it all at the turn of the century. Unlimited hydro electric power from Niagara, a location at the hub of an extensive, modern rail transportation network, cheap and abundant supply of European immigrant workers and hundreds of industrialists who had millions to invest in the future. By 1901 The Union Stock Yards, located along William Street and the tracks of the New York Central Railroad, was the second largest live stock processing site in the United States; third in the world. In 1904 it was estimated that over one hundred million dollars in business was being transacted at the site annually.

Amidst an environment of explosive industrial growth and personal profit, The Union Stock Yards Bank of Buffalo was organized.

“Buffalo is the only leading live stock markets in the country which has not a bank conveniently located at or within reasonable distance of its stock yards, and this in spite of the fact that Buffalo is the third largest live stock market in the world,” reported the Buffalo Times newspaper on March 20, 1904.

As a convenience for the business men of East Buffalo, a group of prominent bankers and stock men formed the Union Stock Yards Bank of Buffalo in 1904. Hiram Waltz, a partner in the live stock trading firm of Swope, Hughes, Waltz & Benstead, was named President. Board members included Alonzo C. Mathers, owner of the Mather Stock Car Company, Charles Dold, George Laub, and Eastside businessmen Stanislaus Lipowicz, John A. Eckhardt and John G. Stattler.    

On November 10, 1904, with capital in excess of $150,000.00 the Bank opened with offices inside the Live Stock Exchange Building at the corner of William and Deport streets. The venture was an immediate success as “the location of this bank has proved of very valuable service to the large live-stock, manufacturing and whole and retail-houses in their immediate vicinity.” (Buffalo Express, September 9, 1905.) By 1906, the little bank on William Street was processing over $36,000,000.00 in transactions, which at the time was about 10% of the entire clearings of the city of Buffalo (Buffalo Express, July 22, 1906). By 1909, the bank was considered one of the fastest growing financial institutions in Buffalo and was quickly out growing its location across from the Stock Yards.

Looking for a high-profiled location to build its new headquarters, the Union Stock Yards Bank settled upon a site 31 feet by 90 feet at the principal crossroads of the Eastside’s commercial district at Broadway & Fillmore Avenue. This location was a short streetcar ride from the primary financial district Downtown to the West and the lucrative Stock Yard District to the South. The land at the corner was owned by Joseph & David H. Coplon, who owned a wallpaper and paint store on Broadway. It would be the Coplons who would build the new building for the Union Stock Yards Bank.

In later years, it was said that the change of location of the Union Stock Yards Bank from William to Broadway and Fillmore Avenue was instrumental in bring about the remarkable growth and development of the City’s second largest business district.

The Bank’s Board of Directors and the Coplons choose architect Robert North (1883-1968), one of Western New York’s most prolific designers of ecclesiastic architecture, to build their “cathedral of commerce.”  In 1910, North would also by commissioned by the Coplons to build an adjacent retail and office building to complete the development of their corner of Broadway. 

North set out to design a two story, Neo-Classical inspired commercial block that featured a steel frame and brick masonry walls with a white terra cotta veneer. The building would have a rectangular plan with a single entrance bay fronting Broadway.  The north façade featured a classical door entry, with entablature and pediment, two full-height engaged columns and two pilasters with Ionic capitals. The east elevation would be punctuated by eight, full-height pilasters with the same capital details as the façade. Other details included a wide frieze with rosettes, a dentil course and an articulated parapet that echoed the verticality of the pilasters and columns. The interior featured a mix of steel, bronze and marble. At the time of its completion, the building became the largest and most elaborate bank structure on the Eastside.

 


Robert North's 1909 plan for the Union Stock Yards Bank.
37 year old John Kloepfer became President of the Union Stock Yard Bank at the time of the new building's construction

Although not part of the original design, a large bronze clock was attached to the northeast corner of the building in the early 1920s and became a Broadway Fillmore neighborhood landmark. It remains a notable fixture of the Historic Polonia District.

By 1917, the Union Stock Yards Bank had over five million dollars in deposits and was becoming a prime candidate for a merger. In 1919, The Union Stock Yards Bank combined with the Liberty Bank with the Broadway Fillmore building becoming the first branch of the corporation.

Liberty Bank was originally founded as the German-American Bank of Buffalo in 1882. The name was changed in 1918 amid public opposition to anything 'German' during World War I. In fact, the bank was a wholly American-owned institution and had nothing to do with Germany or the war. Liberty Bank would become Liberty National Bank in 1982 and change names to Norstar in 1985 and the Fleet Bank in 1992. Bank of America would be the last tenant of the building until it closed banking operations at the site in 2010.

During an intensive inventory of structures prepared by architect Clinton Brown, he notes that the Union Stock Yards Bank building is significant as an excellent example of a neo-classical designed bank building. The building is currently eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.




Click image to learn more about the Buffalo Stock Yards


2010
Fillmore Avenue looking north towards Broadway intersection. Liberty Bank on left.
2010
2010
2010
The historic clock was fixed in 2007. Sometime between 2007 and 2010 the clock was damage and will require restoration. Image from BroadwayFillmoreAlive.org. Click image to visit site.
Postcard view of the Broadway Fillmore intersection
Close up of Union Stock Yards Bank in vintage postcard
The east elevation is punctuated by eight, full-height pilasters with the same capital details as the façade. Other details include a wide frieze with rosettes, a dentil course and an articulated parapet that echoed the verticality of the pilasters and columns.
By 1917, the Union Stock Yards Bank had over five million dollars in deposits and was becoming a prime candidate for a merger. In 1919, The Union Stock Yards Bank combined with the Liberty Bank with the Broadway Fillmore building becoming the first branch of the corporation.
The building has a rectangular plan with a single entrance bay fronting Broadway. The north façade featured a classical door entry, with entablature and pediment, two full-height engaged columns and two pilasters with Ionic capitals
North facade


Stanislaus Lipowicz – Director of Union Stock Yards Bank


Stanislaus Lipowicz – Director of Union Stock Yards Bank

Lipowicz came to Buffalo with his parents in 1885. Five years after his arrival, having meanwhile worked at various employments, he opened a small grocery at the corner of Peckham and Townsend streets with a capital of about $100. By 1910, he owned a large store and major grocery distributorship on Broadway, with a special railroad track running up in the rear that kept crews busy delivering goods 24 hours a day.  Mr. Lipowicz was a director of the Union Stockyards Bank and was also a large stockholder in many Polish companies.


Lipowicz Wholesale Grocery - est. 1895
Lipowicz Wholesale Grocery - est. 1895


THE BUILDING's FUTURE? Stay tuned....
A bank building of similar scale in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Eddy Dobosiewicz, president of Despensata Corp
Eddy Dobosiewicz, president of Despensata Corp

Banking on a historic revival: Nonprofit group buys a former bank on East Side, plans new 'Polonia District'

December 20, 2010; By Deidre Williams, Buffalo News

Less than two miles from downtown Buffalo are the elements of what could be a really vibrant community. Bounded by Broadway, Fillmore Avenue and Memorial Drive, the 121-year-old Broadway Market is there. So are HSBC and M&T Bank branches, and a post office.

The long-standing Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center on Broadway serves some of the poorest neighborhoods on the East Side, and the Central Terminal is among Buffalo's most architecturally significant structures. Now a local group intends to tie them all together to reinvent that section of the city with the recent purchase of the former Bank of America branch at 949 Broadway.

Despensata Corp. -- a nonprofit group named for a Felician nun who ran charitable organizations in the neighborhood -- plans to reopen the building at the corner of Broadway and Fillmore Avenue and use it as an anchor to revitalize the community. "We're calling it the Historic Polonia District," said Eddy Dobosiewicz, president of Despensata Corp.

The first step in the community renewal process was to save the building. The group's next goal is to get it designated a historic landmark and the neighborhood deemed an historic district, Dobosiewicz said. "That area is historically significant in so many ways," he said. "We have lost a lot of structures due to demolition. It's really sad because some of these structures are about 100 years old. To lose them is such a tragedy."

The bank branch closed in August 2009, although the ATM inside continued operating until a couple of months ago. Since the 2009 closing, bank officials had been working with Common Council President David A. Franczyk to find a suitable group to sell it to that would find some creative, productive use for the building instead of tearing it down or letting it fall into disrepair.

After negotiations fell through with another organization, the bank agreed to sell the 100-year-old building. The $100cq purchase price, combined with closing costs and lawyers' fees, brought the price tag to about $4,000, Dobosiewicz said.

Some of the funds came from the Dyngus Day Parade committee. Franczyk also provided $35,000 in seed money to stabilize the structure and to help Despensata get organized. The money also offsets security and maintenance costs, Dobosiewicz said.

"I think it's great what's happening," Franczyk said. "I support what [Despensata is] doing. The building is too important just to let it go."

While "it took some time" for bank officials to decide who would get the building, it was worth the time and effort, a spokesman said, because Despensata will be good stewards.

"Ultimately, the building stays as is from an architectural perspective and in the hands of someone to preserve the building and to use it as a model to revitalize the neighborhood," said Kevin Murphy, Buffalo market president for Bank of America.

Plans call for using the main area of the building for fundraising and exhibit space. Eventually, the idea is to provide office and studio space for architectural students at the University at Buffalo.

Jordan Geiger, an assistant professor in UB's School of Architecture and Planning, said the collaboration may start with a public forum that includes people in the field of architecture and planning, community members and City Hall officials. The event may take place in late spring 2011, Geiger said.

Dobosiewicz said as soon as activities start happening at the building, the focus will turn to reinventing the neighborhood. And the way to do it is by capitalizing on its historical legacy, something other developers of East Side communities have been ignoring for the past 15 to 20 years in their revitalization efforts, Dobosiewicz said.

"They're all trying to build Lancaster or Depew. That thing on Sycamore [and Jefferson Avenue] doesn't even blend with existing architecture. It's glaringly different and screams suburbia. If I want to live in the suburbs, I'll move to Orchard Park," he said. "I want to feel like I'm living in the city."

The historical heritage strategy is similar to the approach taken in Cleveland's Tremont District, Dobosiewicz said. There, it took neighbors about 12 years to transform a drug- and crime-ridden community into a great place to live. Dobosiewicz visited and talked with Tremont residents, who shared horror stories and success stories of what the neighborhood was like and what it has become. He said one man purchased a house there about 15 years ago and for the first year, he had to sit on his front porch at night to ward off crime and drug activity. One thing that made the difference in Tremont was attracting artists, artisans and young people to invest in and move into the area. It helped transform the community from a rundown ghetto to a bustling area with restaurants, art galleries and great places to shop, Dobosiewicz said.

"It was really tough, but it's kind of the same thing that's going on here," Dobosiewicz said. "[Tremont is] a cool, funky urban environment that parallels this [community] in so many ways -- beautiful old churches, beautiful architecture, what was once a vibrant business district. It's almost a mirror image of what going on in the Polonia district."

Dobosiewicz acknowledged Despensata members will have to raise money through a combination of grants, foundations, donations and government funds to implement many of the ideas, but the hope is the Historic Polonia District will have similar success. The belief is that it will start by reviving an old bank building at Broadway and Fillmore Avenue. "I didn't want to see it become a [corner store] or turned into a check-cashing operation, something that screams poverty and blight," Dobosiewicz said. "It was important visually and psychologically to preserve that building."




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