Buffalo is the second largest city in the state of New York and a center of transportation and industry. Among the cities of New York, only New York City has more people.
Buffalo lies at the head of the Niagara River, at the eastern end of Lake Erie. The Canadian town of Fort Erie, Ontario, lies across the Niagara River from Buffalo. Niagara Falls, the most famous waterfall in North America, is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Buffalo.
In 1803, the Holland Land Company established a settlement at the site of what is now Buffalo. The firm, formed by a group of Dutch businessmen, chose the site because it lay at the western end of an important Native American trail. This trail ran from western New York to the upper Great Lakes and Canada. The community was first named New Amsterdam. But the settlers insisted on calling it Buffalo, which became the official name in 1816. The settlers may have taken the name from Buffalo Creek, a nearby stream.
Two United States presidents—Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland—were citizens of Buffalo. Fillmore lived in the city as a young man. He returned to Buffalo after his presidency and died there in 1874. Cleveland served as mayor of Buffalo in 1881.
The city
is the seat of Erie County. The Buffalo-Cheektowaga metropolitan area consists of Erie and Niagara counties.
The 40-story Seneca One Tower is the tallest building in Buffalo. It rises above the downtown area near the lakefront. City Hall and several other public buildings stand on or near Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo. The square also includes a stone obelisk dedicated to President William McKinley, who was assassinated in the city in 1901.
The Guaranty Building (also known as the Prudential Building), near Niagara Square, is one of the most famous buildings designed by the noted American architect Louis Sullivan. The Buffalo area features a number of other examples of significant architecture, including several residences designed by the well-known American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In addition, American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the city’s park system. 
The town of Amherst is Buffalo’s largest suburb. Amherst has a population of about 130,000. Other large suburbs of Buffalo include Cheektowaga, Lackawanna, Lancaster, North Tonawanda, Tonawanda, and West Seneca.
People.
African Americans make up the largest ethnic group in the city. They form about one third of Buffalo’s population. Other large groups in the city include those of English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, or Russian descent.
Economy.
Buffalo’s location contributes much to the economic importance of the city. For example, Niagara Falls, which provides a large supply of low-cost hydroelectric power, has attracted many industries to Buffalo. Lake Erie has helped the city become an important inland seaport. Hundreds of Canadian companies have established U.S. bases in Buffalo since the two countries enacted a free trade agreement in 1989.
Buffalo began to shift from dependence on heavy industry, such as machinery production and steelmaking, to a more balanced economy in the 1980’s. Light industry—including food processing and the manufacture of computers, electronics, and other high-technology products—grew in importance. Service industries, which provide services instead of manufactured goods, also increased.
Leading industries in the area produce chemicals, fabricated metal products, food and food products, machinery, paper and paper products, printed materials, and transportation equipment. Electronics and computer-related industries have expanded rapidly in the Buffalo area. Buffalo is an important producer of flour, and its grain elevators make the city a major grain-handling facility.
The Port of Buffalo is the first major U.S. port reached by ships traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to Great Lakes ports. Buffalo lies at the western end of the New York State Canal System and is the largest inland port in New York. Buffalo once served as one of the world’s largest inland ports. But fewer ships needed to pass through the city after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959. The decline of Buffalo industries in the 1970’s also added to the port’s decreased activity.
Buffalo ranks as one of the nation’s largest railroad centers. Major U.S. railroads provide freight service to the city, and passenger trains link it to other U.S. cities. A Canadian railroad also serves Buffalo. Airlines use Buffalo Niagara International Airport. A significant percentage of U.S.-Canadian trade passes through Buffalo.
Major highways that serve Buffalo include the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, one of the longest toll superhighways in the United States. The Peace Bridge, which is 5,800 feet (1,770 meters) long, spans the Niagara River and links Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario. Buffalo has one daily newspaper, The Buffalo News.
Education.
An elected Board of Education supervises Buffalo’s public school system. Through a system of magnet schools, Buffalo offers special educational programs that attract students from throughout the city.
The University at Buffalo (UB) is the largest university in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. UB has campuses at the northern edge of the city, in neighboring Amherst, and in the downtown area. Buffalo is also home to Buffalo State College, which is also part of the SUNY system. In addition, several private colleges, including Canisius, Daemen, D’Youville, Hilbert, and Medaille, are in the Buffalo area.
The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library operates a main library in downtown Buffalo. It also operates branches throughout the city and suburbs.
Cultural life and recreation.
The Buffalo History Museum features a reproduction of a Buffalo street of 1870. The museum building served as the New York State Building at the Pan American Exposition of 1901. The Buffalo Museum of Science, established in 1861, has many exhibits on the geology and plant life of western New York. The Buffalo AKG Art Museum features an outstanding collection of modern art, including sculptures and French paintings.
Kleinhans Music Hall is the home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The hall also presents music recitals. It has two auditoriums, one seating more than 2,400 people and the other about 700. Shea’s Performing Arts Center, which seats 3,000, presents plays and musical performances by touring groups.
Buffalo’s park system includes dozens of parks and playgrounds. It is possible to drive almost completely around the city through parks and parkways. Delaware Park, which covers 350 acres (142 hectares), is the largest park in Buffalo. It includes the Buffalo Zoo and a 46-acre (19-hectare) lake. Boaters also enjoy the city’s lakefront. Many of the hills near Buffalo attract skiers. Rotary Rink offers ice skating in downtown Buffalo.
The city is the home of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. The Buffalo Bills of the National Football League play their home games at a stadium in nearby Orchard Park.
Other interesting places to visit
in Buffalo include:
Allentown,
an area of restored early American houses in downtown Buffalo. It is the site of an annual outdoor art festival.
Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens,
in South Buffalo, a large display of exotic plants housed in greenhouses.
Darwin D. Martin House,
on Jewett Parkway, an example of the “prairie architecture” of the well-known American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed the nearby Barton House in the same style.
Red Jacket Monument,
which honors Chief Red Jacket, a famous Seneca leader who lived in the Buffalo area. The monument marks Red Jacket’s grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Site of McKinley assassination,
in Fordham Drive near Lincoln Parkway. A bronze tablet set in a rock marks the spot where, in 1901, President William McKinley was shot while holding a public reception in the Temple of Music at the Pan American Exposition.
Wilcox Mansion,
in Allentown, a house in which Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as president in 1901. The ceremony followed the assassination of President McKinley at the Pan American Exposition. The house is now a national historic site.
Government.
Buffalo has a mayor-council form of government. Voters elect the mayor and the nine members of the Common Council to four-year terms.
The mayor administers the city government and appoints the heads of various city departments. These appointments are subject to the approval of the Common Council. The council also passes the city’s laws and adopts the city budget. Property and sales taxes provide much of Buffalo’s revenue.
Like most other large cities, Buffalo has a difficult time paying the soaring costs of city government. The city has lost much tax revenue because many people and industries have moved from Buffalo to its suburbs. The state government shares its tax revenue with Buffalo to help the city meet its expenses.
History.
Iroquois people lived near the site of what is now Buffalo before Europeans arrived. The first white settler in the area was the French trader Daniel de Joncaire, Sieur de Chabert et Clausonne, who came in the 1750’s. The settlement that became Buffalo was established in 1803. By 1810, about 1,500 people lived there.
The town became the headquarters for U.S. military operations during the War of 1812 (1812-1815). An invading force of British and Native Americans burned the town in 1813, but the town was quickly rebuilt. Buffalo was incorporated as a village in 1816 and became the county seat of Erie County in 1821.
Buffalo grew rapidly after the Erie Canal opened in 1825. The canal provided an important link in an all-water route between New York City and Buffalo and lowered the cost of transporting goods. Buffalo became a major transfer point for people moving from the East to the West. By 1832, when Buffalo was incorporated as a city, it had a population of about 10,000.
In 1840, the world’s first grain elevator was built in Buffalo. In 1843, the city became the site of the world’s first steam-operated grain elevator. This elevator helped make Buffalo the leading grain-handling port of the United States.
During the mid-1800’s, thousands of European immigrants settled in the city. By 1860, Buffalo had a population of 81,129. Rapid industrial growth occurred in the city after 1896, when large-scale production of electric power began at Niagara Falls. This power supply helped Buffalo attract chemical companies, steel plants, and many other industries that used large amounts of electric power. The population of Buffalo soared to 352,387 by 1900.
Buffalo became a center of world interest in 1901, when the Pan American Exposition was held there. This huge fair promoted unity and understanding among the nations of North and South America. On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot as he held a public reception in the exposition’s Temple of Music. He died in Buffalo eight days later, and there Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as president.
Buffalo’s industries provided great amounts of weapons, supplies, and food to the Allies during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). By 1950, the city’s population reached a record high of 580,132. After 1950, the city’s population declined. By 1980, it had fallen to 357,870. Several factors contributed to this decline. Many people moved from the city to live in the suburbs. The completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 reduced the city’s importance as a rail and canal link to the Great Lakes. Through the late 1900’s, a number of factories in Buffalo closed, and many people left the city to look for jobs elsewhere.
Since the late 1960’s, city leaders have promoted redevelopment programs in efforts to boost the city’s economy and reverse the population decline. Buffalo officials developed large urban renewal programs and encouraged businesses to modernize the downtown business district. The Waterfront Redevelopment project, featuring the Marine Midland Center (now One Seneca Tower), began in the 1970’s. Waterfront Village, developed in the late 1900’s, features a marina, a restaurant, office buildings, and town houses. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, other redevelopment efforts in Buffalo included the construction of several hotels, office buildings, and shopping areas. In 1986, a light rail rapid transit system began operations.
Through the 1990’s and the first decade of the 2000’s, the city’s population continued to decline. By 2010, it had fallen to 261,310.
At the beginning of the 2000’s, the city and its surrounding area looked to tourism to improve the economy. To draw visitors, the city focused on promoting its architectural and cultural heritage in combination with nearby Niagara Falls. The restored Erie Canal Harbor opened for visitors in 2008. The harbor served as the western end of the Erie Canal, the first important national waterway built in the United States.
In the 2010’s, state financial incentives and renewable energy projects helped spur economic development in a number of Buffalo neighborhoods. The city’s population increased, reaching about 278,000 at the time of the 2020 census. An inflow of immigrant families accounted for much of the growth.
In May 2022, a white gunman was accused of shooting 13 people, killing 10 of them, at a supermarket in a majority Black neighborhood on Buffalo’s East Side. Officials called the shooting an act of domestic terrorism and said the shooter had been motivated by white supremacist ideology. White supremacists believe that white people are superior to people of all other races. The accused gunman was indicted (formally accused) on multiple criminal counts, including murder and federal hate crime charges. The shooter pleaded guilty to the charges in November. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2023.
See also Buffalo Bills; Cleveland, Grover (Political career); Erie Canal; New York State Canal System; Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.
