Buffalo 2024 Part 1 (thru August)

[Kilgore Trout]

This makes me want to visit Buffalo.

[benp]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Thanks. I always like seeing the houses along the river on Grand Island. I'm surprised that there's so few historic houses along the river in Grand Island; most are very average houses, and it blows my mind that a regular middle-class person could have a waterfront house in a significant metro area.

The Tonawandas are a nice place for the river. My mom's cousin has a waterfront restaurant on Tonawanda Island.

There were no bridges to Grand Island until 1935, so before then the island was mainly farms with some summer resort areas accessible by ferry. The few large estates on the island were summer homes of the very wealthy. By WW1, as automobiles allowed easier travel on the US side and Canadian mainland, recreational use on Grand Island fell out of favor. The large estates also eventually gave way to become Beaver Island State Park after the Depression, and none of the original large homes remain.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by benp

Yes, a small F1 hit Fort Erie and then came across the river to Buffalo, took off roofs on a couple of buildings, flipped over a car or two, and damaged a lot of trees on the West Side. Here is the National Weather Service report.

Thanks for the compliment. Buffalo is one of my favorite subjects, and after many decades I am still discovering new places.

BTW, when I lived in Houston I also had quite a collection of Houston images I took over the years, but I only posted one set to SSP back in 2018, in case you are interested, though many of the photos have been lost over time.

Buffalo is criminally underrated and has tons of character. It's been a minute since I've been there but def. need to check it out one day when I'm back up in the Utica area. Enjoyed your Houston thread too.

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

This makes me want to visit Buffalo.

I miss your photo threads.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by benp

There were no bridges to Grand Island until 1935, so before then the island was mainly farms with some summer resort areas accessible by ferry. The few large estates on the island were summer homes of the very wealthy. By WW1, as automobiles allowed easier travel on the US side and Canadian mainland, recreational use on Grand Island fell out of favor. The large estates also eventually gave way to become Beaver Island State Park after the Depression, and none of the original large homes remain.

Grand Island was much more rural than people really know. I once came across a little booklet on Grand Island from the 1970s or 1980s at my uncle's house, and I don't know what came of it. In the booklet, it said that the last timberwolf on the island was killed some time in the 1950s. It's hard to believe that wolves existed that close to Buffalo just 75 years ago!

There is a boathouse on the west side of the island that is a remnant of a somewhat richer past.

President Grover Cleveland's uncle had a house near where Beaver Island is today, and Cleveland spent time there during summers. That might be the last mansion on the island.

[edale]

Buffalo looks really gorgeous. I'd like to visit one day, maybe as part of a combined trip to Toronto. Thanks for sharing your photos!