71 Amherst Street
Buffalo, New York
Black Rock Neighborhood

COMPANION PAGE: Interior Photos

TEXT Beneath Illustrations

History:

Built c. 1830 by Augustus Porter (brother of Peter Porter) on a 3/4 acre lot for the purpose of entertaining potential land buyers in a tavern. What appears to be an additional 1 1/2-story rear wing is actually the original structure. This may have been used as living quarters while the larger wing was added on Amherst Street to be a tavern. The front of the original building was sawed off and the larger front section built on. About 1840 the building was remodeled and became a 1-family home for the Jacob Schmidt family (wife Catherine). In 1880, the house was remodeled as a 2-apartment duplex. The original tavern door on the right front became the door to the right-hand apartment. Next to no "modernization," inside or out, took place after 1840. Over the years, pieces of the lot were sold. Houses built on the parcels include 81 Amherst, 109 East, and 107 East. Catherine Schmidt's sister donated a parcel for St. John's Lutheran Church. In 1989 the house was boarded up and scheduled for demolition. Neighbors had complained about the raucous parties that motorcycle gangs had held there. The present owner convinced the city to sell the property to him and he has painstakingly restored much of the house with scrupulous historical accuracy.

Architectural Style:

Greek Revival with Federal entrance. Greek Revival features: frame dwelling low-pitched gable roof - end toward street cornice over front door basic rectangular house plan set short side to the street rectangular side lights and oblong transom frame door -- both of which are missing six-over-six lights in windows