Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Building

Location

Elmwood Avenue & Nottingham Terrace, Buffalo, NY 14216, USA

Lat/Long

42.935491, -78.877926

Grant Recipient

City of Buffalo

As early as 1897, the Buffalo Historical Society was offering $75,000 and its collections to the City of Buffalo, to be housed in a new building in Delaware Park (Buffalo Courier Express, February 17, 1897). In that same year, the Pan-American Exposition Company was formed to organize the fair. The Pan-American Exposition was to be held in Buffalo in 1901, but every building they planned was intended to be temporary and torn down afterwards. Using some of the extra funds offered by the museum, the Exposition organizers built the New York State Building out of more durable materials, intending for it to be permanent. The State, City, and Historical Society all contributed funding to the project, and in 1902 after completion of the Exposition, the Society was reimbursed with surplus funds.

In January of 1902 the Buffalo Historical Society moved their collections into the new building, where they still reside today. Following the Pan-American Exposition, every other building was torn down. The majority of the buildings were torn down by wrecking companies between 1902 and 1905, and the materials were re-sold for other building projects (Buffalo Commercial, Oct. 6, 1902; July 31, 1903). The last remaining building burned down in 1912 (Buffalo Courier Express, January 13, 1912). The land was re-developed into a residential area.