Some Awesome Buffalo Trivia

I mentioned a while back that I had applied for the Buffalo Tours docent training. Well, classes started in January, and I am on my way to becoming a tour guide! The classes are 3 hours long, every Saturday morning and take place somewhere new every week. I've gotten a chance to see some awesome places and learn things about this city that I would have never known otherwise. Here are a few of my favorite tidbits of Buffalo trivia:

When the old Buffalo Post Office (now the ECC City Campus - a magnificent building) opened in March of 1901, the first letter sent from the office was done so as part of an opening ceremony. It was a letter to President McKinley, inviting him to attend the Pan-American Exposition that was being held in Buffalo that year. He did attend the Pan-Am. The rest, as you probably know, is history.

Entrance to the old Buffalo Post Office / ECC City Campus

Buffalonians spend more per-capita on Halloween costumes, decorations, etc than any other city IN THE WORLD! My source for this stat is a fellow docent-in-training by the name of Donnie. She is a self confessed Halloween junkie so I definitely believe her, even though I can't find anything online to validate her statement. We really do know how to take advantage of autumn around here.

My last, and favorite bit of Buffalo trivia is a little story I've been sharing with everyone who will listen. It's a gem. In 1901, while Buffalo was preparing for the Pan-Am expo, the "working girls" of New York City decided that they would shuffle on up to Buffalo to try to earn a few extra bucks. The "Buffalo Gals" of Canal Street - Buffalo's red light district back in the day - were not thrilled by the idea of anyone else stepping in on their business. They decided to throw a little welcome party for the ladies from the Big Apple, greeting them with knives, clubs, and chains. What followed was an EIGHT HOUR BATTLE ROYALE between the ladies. Needless to say, the Buffalo Gals came out on top. (My source for this tale is an awesome book called Nickel City Drafts: A Drinking History of Buffalo, NYby Dan Murphy)

As a little side note to that story: In this famous scene from It's A Wonderful Life (probably my favorite movie of all time) you can hear George and Mary singing "Buffalo Gals." What you may not realize is that the song was written about - you guessed it - the ladies of the night of Buffalo's Canal Street!  Yep, it's a song about hookers - written circa 1844.

By mid-April I should graduate from the docent training class and be ready to give my first Buffalo Tour. I'll be giving the Queen City Downtown tour, which is an hour-long walking tour of downtown that highlights some really gorgeous architecture and interesting history. I may continue taking classes for a few extra weeks so that I'll also be able to give the new waterfront tours that will take place near the canal starting this summer. You can check out the Buffalo Tours site for the full schedule, but I'll be sure to post when I'll actually be giving tours. By then I'm sure I'll have some more awesome trivia to share.

New York's First City of Architecture

Here's a groovy little article from Curbed, one of the country's top real estate blogs.

Buffalo's Got Architecture, and Tours too!

One of my favorite things about Buffalo is our architecture. Though I love the beautful old buildings, I don't know all that much about them. I made my first attempt to rectify that last night on the Open-Air Autobus of Buffalo. The bus tours are operated by the Campaign for Great Buffalo and focus on the historic architecture in the area. Among other things, I learned that there were three great American architects: Henry H. Richardson, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright; and that Buffalo is one of only two cities to have buildings designed by all three (the other city being Chicago.)

Our first stop was the Richardson complex on Forest Ave. Almost everyone in Buffalo is familiar with the complex even if they don't know the name of the building or its designer. The main building's towers are recognizable and can be seen from various points all over the city. It was originally designed by Henry H. Richardson to house the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane. Though I recognize it as a beautiful building, I've always imagined it to be haunted by the tormented souls of the insane who lived and died there.

Another beautiful building we visited was the Ellicott Square building downtown.When it opened in 1896, it was the largest office building in the world. I love the ornamental sculpture all over the building's exterior, as well as (though we didn't see this from the bus) the intricate glass and steel ceiling that covers the lobby.

Louis Sullivan was one of the three great American architects, and until last night I didn't know he had existed. He designed the Guaranty Building (now the Prudential building) in 1895 and it was built the following year. When our bus parked directly beside it, I was able to get a close look at the gorgeous and intricate terra cotta blocks that make up the building's exterior.

One of Buffalo's most recognizable buildings, and certainly my favorite, is City Hall. The first style of architecture I was ever familiar with was Art Deco, and that is because I was familiar with Buffalo's City Hall.

This was the "Whirlwind Tour" so we covered a little bit of everything. The group also offers more specialized tours such as the Frank Lloyd Wright tour. There are a few weeks of bus tours left for this season and the schedule is available here.

More Buffalo Tours

Another group that offers architecture tours is Buffalo Tours. I've never been on one of their tours, but telling by their Web site, they offer a variety of specialized tours. After familiarizing myself with their offerings, I certainly plan to attend some of their events. Their site also features a free audio tour. Anyone who wants to check out some interesting sites on their own need only print out the map and call a phone number for the audio tour.

Forgotten Buffalo offers a more quirky selection of tours. Events include historic bar crawls, neighborhood visits, and Irish Buffalo tours. A Polish princess myself, I can't help but be intrigued by the Polonia Pride tour.

Best Buffalo Tours seem to offer mostly mafia-themed tour events, which could certainly be interesting.

The tours and walks guided by Mason Winfield are definitely for thrill seekers! They offer ghost walks in various areas of Buffalo as well as some of the surrounding towns. In a city as old as this one I'm sure there are plenty of great ghost stories to be heard. In the past, they've done a haunted pub crawl through Allentown. I'm hoping to attend that event this Halloween season!