Archive - WNY Heritage

The Famous Central Wharf of the Buffalo Waterfront: Part I

Situated between New York and the western states, Buffalo was an important transportation center in the days of the Erie Canal. Learn about the habits, sights and sounds of the Central Wharf – and about it's sudden destruction.

Soldier, Sailor, Artist - Franklinville's Norman Maffei

From the small town of Franklinville to around the world and back, Norman Maffei found inspiration in everything he experienced. His passion for marine art made him famous beyond Western New York.

Accept Everything America Can Produce: Glenn Curtiss Comes to Buffalo

The onset of the First World War brought Glenn Curtiss’ quest to send an aircraft across the Atlantic to a temporary halt. But it also brought incredible changes to his small-town aeroplane and motor business.

Another Look: Timeless Teaching Tug

The 113-year-old vessel worked the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes for nearly a century. Today, it operates as a teaching tug, but the years of wear and tear require extensive repairs.

Old Photo Album: The Black Rock Lock

This year marks the centennial of this important engineering project and aid to navigation. Our photo essay chronicles its construction in the early 20^th century.

Pictorial

Boating on the Lake

Boating in Delaware Park then and now.

Buffalo Steam Yachts and the Gilded Age

Steam yachts provided Buffalo’s wealthy with a fashionable means of racing, cruising—or even commuting to work! Here we take a look at a number of these luxury craft and the men who owned them.

Pictorial

Lake Ice and Lake Commerce

Industry in the Buffalo region operated according to the cycle of the seasons from the beginning of commercial traffic on the Great Lakes in the early 1800's.

Western New York Heritage

The Archive