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'''BUFFALO''', city and county-seat of
Erie co., N. Y., second city in population
and importance in New York. It is built
at the E. end of Lake Erie, at the head
of the Niagara river, 20 miles above the
Falls. It is the W. terminus of the Erie
canal, and has a navigable water front
of 8 miles, with numerous piers,
breakwaters, basins and canals, giving it one
of the finest harbors on the lakes and
making it a great commercial center. The
city is connected by several steamship
lines with the chief lake ports, and by
ferries with Victoria and Fort Erie, on
the Canadian side. The International
Bridge, costing $1,500,000 and
completed in 1873, connects Buffalo with
these towns. Area, 42 square miles;
pop. (1890) 255,664; (1900) 352,387;
(1910) 423,715; <ins>(</ins>1920) 506,775.
''Topography''.—Buffalo is situated on
an elevated plain, 50 feet above the lake
and 600 feet above sea-level. From this
plain the ground slopes gradually to the
lake. It is bordered on three sides by
water, the Niagara river, Lake Erie, and
Buffalo river. Buffalo river is navigable
for 2 miles, and two canals pass between
the river and the lake. The city is noted
for its wide and beautiful streets, and
the abundance of shrubbery and trees
decorating them. The principal streets
are Main, Niagara, Delaware, Broadway,
and Linwood and Elmwood
avenues, 120 feet wide, and all over 5 miles
in length.
''Municipal Improvements''.—The city
owns an extensive waterworks system,
costing $9,000,000. The water is
distributed through 600 miles of mains.
The sewerage system has about 525
miles of pipe, and the sewage is carried
off, by means of a tunnel, into the
Niagara river. The city is lighted by
gas and electricity. Much natural gas,
piped from Pennsylvania and Canada, is
used for heating and manufacturing
purposes. There are more than 225
miles of street railways and a steam
belt-line connects with the suburbs.
''Public Parks''.—Buffalo has an
extensive park system. There are several
attractive parks and squares in the business
portions of the city, among them
Lafayette, Niagara, and Franklin.
Lafayette square contains the Soldiers' and
Sailors' Monument, erected at a cost of
$50,000, and the Buffalo Library. A
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portion of the Niagara river front rises
in an abrupt bluff and is known as The
Front. It affords a grand view in all
directions and is the site of Fort Porter,
where several companies of United
States troops are stationed. The
Parade Ground is one of the principal
parks and contains 50 acres of land.
''Notable Buildings''.—The principal
public buildings are the Federal Building,
containing the Postoffice and Custom
House, a large building of
freestone; the State Arsenal; the Board of
Trade Building; the Old and New
Armories; Grosvenor Library; Normal
School; two public high schools; Erie
County and Buffalo Savings Banks; the
Erie County Penitentiary; and the City
and County Hall. The latter is of
granite with a tower 245 feet high, situated
in Franklin street, completed in
1880 at a cost of about $1,400,000.
Besides these, there is the Buffalo Library,
in Lafayette Square, containing a
circulating library of 77,000 volumes, and,
in the same building, are the Buffalo
Historical Society, the Buffalo Fine Arts
Society and School of Arts, and the
Society of National Sciences. The State
Insane Asylum has a plot of 203 acres
and adjoins the Buffalo Park. Other
notable structures are the numerous
grain elevators. Buffalo is one of the
greatest grain shipping cities of the
United States and contains some of the
largest grain elevators in the world.
The first elevator in the world was built
at Buffalo in 1843.
''Commerce''.—Buffalo has had an
astonishing industrial growth. Its location
at the eastern terminus of
transportation on the Great Lakes has made
it an important station on the highway
connecting the growing West with the
eastern seaboard. It is one of the
world's greatest ports, and despite the
fact that navigation on the Great Lakes
is limited to about eight months of the
year, the city stands eighth in tonnage
among the ports of the world. Clearances
are issued to 10,000 vessels
annually. The grain receipts in 1919 totaled
93,627,867 bushels. Receipts of coal over
water routes were 69,805, tons; copper,
52,501 tons; pig iron, 2,650 tons;
merchandise, 113,937 tons; stone flux, 960,337
tons; iron ore, 4,837,981 tons;
lumber, 16,374,708 feet. In addition to the
foregoing, there is the tremendous
tonnage of the railroads, operating twelve
months in the year instead of eight, but
for which only fragmentary statistics
are available, it being impossible to
obtain from the railroads the record which
would make such a computation possible.
Additional great quantities of grain are
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received by rail, together with an enor-
mous coal tonnage and miscellaneous
freight amounting to millions of tons.
Buffalo is also one of the country's mos'
important live-stock markets, receipts
for 1919 including 9,522 cars of cattle,
7,993 of hogs, 3,156 of sheep, 773 of
horses, and 4,535 mixed cars. The im-
portance of the city as a killing and
packing center is seen in the comparison
of the foregoing figures with the ship-
ment from Buffalo for the same period,
which amounted to 5,582 cars of cattle
and 3,223 hogs. The stockyards are the
second largest in the world. It is the
first sheep market in the country and
the second horse market. It is also the
world's largest lumber market.
Manufactures. — As a manufacturing
center, Buffalo ranks ninth among the
cities of the United States. It is known
as the "City of Diverse Industries," pro-
ducing in quantities 58 per cent, of all
the different lines of goods recognized by
the U. S. Census Bureau. It is one of
the most extensive producers of pig iron
in the world, having over 20 large blast
furnaces with a combined annual capac-
ity of between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000
tons. It has the largest dye plant in the
country. It produces one-third of the
nation's linseed oil. There are 2,500
manufacturing plants employing 75,000
men and women. The principal indus-
tries are steel, pig iron, coke, flour, tan-
ning, wall board, linseed oil, dyes, auto-
mobiles, rubber, benzol, cereals, lumber,
copper, brass, leather, soap, and packing
products.
Banking. — There are sixteen banks,
with a combined capital of $18,300,000,
and surplus and profits amounting to
$20,332,427, with total deposits of $245,-
766,717. The savings-banks deposits,
Jan. 1, 1920, were $126,247,413. The
bank clearances for 1919 were $1,655,-
366,659. There are 27 savings and loan
associations.
Education. — There are 66 public
schools, with an enrolment of 65,265
pupils, and 62 parochial schools, with an
average attendance of 30,000. There are
5 high schools, 4 vocational schools, 1
training school, 1 normal school of prac-
tice, and 1 opportunity school. There are
2,700 teachers and employees. In addi-
tion, there are many night and vacation
schools. Higher education is afforded
by the University of Buffalo, Canisius
College, and Holy Angels Academy. The
public library has 400,000 volumes, and
4,500 pamphlets, and over 130,000 indi-
vidual borrowers made use of its circu-
lating department in 1919. The Gros-
venor Library has 136,000 volumes.
Other institutions are the Buffalo His-
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torical Society, the Society of Natural
Sciences, and the Buffalo Fine Arts
Academy. The city has the largest night
schooJ attendance of any city of its size
in the world.
Churches. — There are 260 churches in
Buffalo, many of them with beautiful
structures. Noteworthy edifices are
Trinity (Protestant Episcopal), the
First Presbyterian, and St. Joseph's Ca-
thedral (Roman Catholic), which has
the largest carillon in the United States
and the third largest in the world. Hos-
pitals and charitable institutions are the
Buffalo State Hospital, Children's Hos-
pital, Erie Hospital, General Hos-
pital, Homeopathic Hospital, Lexington
Heights Hospital, Providence Retreat,
Riverside Hospital, and Women's Hos-
pital; the Home for the Friendless, Or-
phan Asylum, St. Vincent's Orphanage
for Girls, Church Home for Aged
Women, St. Mary's Asylum for Widows
and Foundlings, Home for Erring
Women, State Asylum for the Insane,
Fitch Institute, and St. Mary's Institu-
tion for Deaf Mutes.
Finances. — The funded debt of the
city, June 30, 1920, was $45,034,719. The
total assessed realty valuation was
$608,175,115. The ratio of assessed valu-
ation to market value was 100 per cent.
There is an excellent police force num-
bering 800, and a fire department num-
bering 915. The total number of city
employees including laborers was 7,865.
There are more than 600 miles of paved
streets. The mileage of street rail-
ways was 223.40 and the passengers car-
ried annually were 191,200,048. There
are 610 miles of water mains and 568
miles of sewers. The birth rate per
1,000 was 26.70 and the death rate 15.30.
Government. — The city is under the
commission form of government, which
went into operation Jan. 1, 1916. The
commission consists of the mayor and
four councilmen, and in these all exec-
utive, administrative and legislative
power is vested. The term of office of
each member is four years. The govern-
ment of the city is divided into five
major departments, designated as the
Department of Public Safety; Depart-
ment of Finance and Accounts; Depart-
ment of Public Works; Department of
Parks and Public Buildings, and Depart-
ment of Public Affairs. The Mayor in
1920 was George S. Buck.
History. — The site of Buffalo was first
visited by the French, under La Salle, in
1679. In 1687 a settlement was made by
Baron La Honton and Fort Suppose was
erected. It was held by the British as
Fort Erie during 1783-1784, and was in-
corporated as the village of Buffalo and
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soon afterward burned by the British, in
1813. It was rebuilt in 1815; but its
progress was slow until the completion
of the Erie canal in 1825. It became a
city in 1832 and since then it has been
very prosperous. During 1901 the Pan-
American Exposition was held in Buf-
falo. Here on September 6, Pres. Mc-
Kinley was assassinated. The exposition
was a brilliant affair, but not successful
financially.