Archive - WNY Heritage

Mister Buffalo River— The Environmental Advocacy of Stan Spisiak

We examine the environmental efforts of this unassuming Buffalo jeweler to reclaim the waterfront of the city he loved.

Buffalo and Western New York are known for wintry weather and the recent lake effect event the area witnessed in November was only the latest addition to the region’s snowy heritage.

Conflagration in the Cobblestone District: The Birge Factory Fire of 1880

When a fire erupted in the M.H. Birge & Sons Wallpaper Company factory in December 1880, the workers – many of whom were children – had little time to escape. John H. Grandits looks at the Birge fire as an example of the dangers of child labor.

Pictorial

Niagara Starch Works Explosion - July 1898

Buffalo Express photo of the damage from the July 14, 1898 explosion.

Pictorial

South Buffalo Flood - 1900

Images from Seneca Street & Bailey Avenue in 1900.

Lackawanna Steel and the Battleship Maine

Filled with rage, Americans vowed to never forget the USS Maine, which exploded near Cuba in 1898. Now we remember the key role a local steel company played in raising the wreckage and honoring her crewmembers.

Pictorial

Winter of 1944-45

The months of December 1944 and January 1945 saw an epic amount of snowfall in a succession of snowstorms.

Last Look: The Wollenberg Elevator

The Wollenberg Elevator, which was destroyed by arson in 2006, was the last of the wooden grain elevators in Buffalo.

Western New York Heritage

The Archive