Preservation Ready Survey - Table of Contents

Excerpts

Preservation Ready Survey of Buildings Downtown, Northland, and Fougeron/Urban Survey Areas
Buffalo, NY

NOTE: FOOTNOTES NOT INCLUDED IN THIS REPRINT. BOLD LETTERING ADDED FOR EASE OF READING.
To see the complete survey, see Official City of Buffalo Digitized Complete Preservation Ready Survey

Excerpts
4.2 HISTORIC DISTRICTS IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT


Joseph Ellicott Historic District

The Certified Local Joseph Ellicott Historic District presently contains 51 parcels with 43 contributing buildings, one contributing object/landscape (McKinley MonumentNiagara Square), and seven non-contributing buildings. It is presently the largest historic district in the CBD. Joseph Ellicott Historic District embraces Buffalo’s municipal center sited on, and south of, Niagara Square. The district represents "... the nucleus of Ellicott's 1804 street plan for the village of Buffalo, originally named New Amsterdam. Influenced by L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C., Ellicott designed eight streets radiating at equal angles from Niagara Square the designated hub of the city."

Incorporated in 1832, the Niagara Square area became the chief residential area of the city. Downtown Buffalo developed along the radiating streets first as a village and then as the central business district of the much larger city. The area within the historic district did not evolve into a central business area until the post-Civil War era. The district contains architectural examples of four phases of Buffalo's history from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. As the core of the city, Joseph Ellicott Historic District retains a significant number of high-style civic, religious and commercial structures, many of which were designed by local and/or nationally prominent architects.Although the area has constantly changed and developed, it retains a sense of cohesiveness through the overall quality and integrity of its architecture and the maintenance of its historic street pattern."

Joseph Ellicott Historic District developed in four distinct periods: 1) 1815-1837; 2) 1843-1900; 3) 1900-1940; and 4) 1920-1948. The first phase entailed a rebuilding of the village after it was burned by the British during the War of 1812. The oldest building in downtown Buffalo constructed by Benjamin Rathburn is the Greek Revival building (1833) at 110 Franklin Street.

Examples form the second period include Richard Upjohn’s English Gothic Revival style St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral (1849) at 12 Church Street, and the Gothic Style St. Joseph’s Cathedral (ca. 1851) by Patrick C. Keeley at 60 Franklin Street.

Post-Civil war construction is represented by the High Victorian Gothic style Old County Hall (1871, Andrew J. Warner, architect), Main Post Office and Federal Office Building (1894) at 70 Swan Street, D.H. Dunham Root’s Ellicott Square Building (1895), and Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building (1896).

The fourth period of building history is associated with the city’s building boom in the 1920s, which transformed the CBD in terms of scale, function and image.

New construction in the 1920s and 1930s resulted in large prominent civic buildings executed in the characteristic styles of the early twentieth century. Green and Sons Architects designed the Neo-classical-inspired New York State Office Building (1928) at 65 Court Street. The following year the Art-Deco-style Buffalo City Hallparking garage at 93 Pearl Street (built 1925) and the ca. 1920 Monroe Abstract & Title building at 132 Pearl Street.

Of note in the Joseph Ellicott Historic District are those buildings which were originally determined non-contributing resources due to not being of sufficient age (i.e. not greater than 50 years old). The statement of significance for the Joseph Ellicott Historic District Historic District should be updated and expanded to embrace a fifth period of development for mid-20th century buildings constructed after 1948. This period includes the Mid-Century Modern style Merchants Mutual Building (1963) at 246 Main Street and Buffalo Fire Station No. 1 at 37 South Division (1951) . A later example of Modernist styles period includes Brutalist-inspired Buffalo City Court Building (1974) that anchors the southwest corner of Niagara Square.

Physical changes to Joseph Ellicott Historic District include new construction such as the ten- story Robert H. Jackson United States Courthouse (2007-2011), which occupies the northwest corner of Niagara Square. Two contributing buildings to the historic district were demolished in 2007 for the new courthouse: the ca. 1852 Barker/ Chandler House at 89 Niagara Street and the Renaissance Revival style Erlanger Theater Delaware Avenue (built 1927; Whitney Warren & Charles Wetmore, architects, New York City). One non-contributing building, Bernstone’s Cigar Store building on the southeast corner of Main and Swan streets, was demolished in 2012.

was completed on the west side of Niagara Square. Designed by the firm of Dietel and Wade, the 29-story building is one of the most outstanding examples of an Art Deco public building in the nation. The construction of City Hall also represented the first major alteration to Ellicott's 1804 plan since it blocked Court Street on the west side of the square. Two non-contributing buildings that should be re-evaluated fall into the fourth period of development: Esenwein & Johnson’s Neoclassical style
Theater Historic District

The Certified Local Theater Historic District presently contains 37 parcels with 27 contributing buildings and eight non-contributing buildings. Note, the total number of buildings does not account for all individual buildings as there are multiple buildings on a few parcels in the historic district that share the same parcel address. Centered on the 600 and 700 blocks of Main Street between West Chippewa and Goodell streets, contributing in the Theater Historic District range in date from ca. 1880 to ca. 1940. The northern portion of the historic district extends north beyond Goodell Street, outside of the boundaries CBD study area limits. The historic district comprises commercial and mixed-use buildings. The two-block long Theater Historic District stands out for its uniformity of scale, architectural styles, and materials. Buildings range in height from two to four stories. Most of the buildings were designed in the Neoclassical Revival style and feature distinctive terracotta facades. Theater Historic District includes works by noted local architects such as E.B. GreenEsenwein and Johnson, and Edward A. Kent. Opened in 1926, the National Register Listed Shea’s Theater is the only historic theater still in operation in the historic district and the CBD. Other significant buildings in the historic district include the Market ArcadeAnsonia, and the Buffalo Courier Express Building (outside of CBD). Theater Historic District is significant for its association with commercial, automotive, pharmaceutical, and theatrical history of Buffalo.

The 1983 Preservation District Application Form identified 54 buildings (40 contributing buildings and 14 non-contributing buildings) in the Theater District t (BL&PB 1983). Physical changes to the Theater Historic District include demolition of two detached row buildings on the west side of Main Street south of Goodell Street, Vernor Building (752-756 Main St [2004 demo.]) and E. B. Green’s Schmidt Building (734-750 Main St.[2006 demo.]). The Teck Theater building formerly located on the adjacent lot north of the Vernor Building was demolished in the early 1980s.

New construction in the Theater Historic District has occurred in the 600 block with a new Buffalo Police B District Station at 695 Main Street (former sites of contributing Kuhner Building at 693 Main St and Wilson Building (built c. 1905; Wm. L. Fuchs, architect) at 695-711 Main St) and an office building at 665 Main Street (completed 2002) on the site of a non-contributing building (McDonald’s). At the southern end of the 600 block, two new buildings were constructed, a three story office building at 598 Main St, City Centre Condominiums at 600 Main St, and a hotel was constructed at 601 Main Street and a multi-story. I

n 1984, the former Cinema theatre (645 Main St.; opened in 1946) was destroyed by fire. The Market Arcade Film & Arts Center opened in 1987. In 1996, the former Paramount Theater/Nemmer Building was completely renovated and converted from a nine story furniture store and warehouse building into a fourteen story mixed- use City Centre building. The Paramount Theater opened May 30,1927 as the Fox Great Lakes theater on the parcel currently identified as 598 Main St (alternate address: 600 Main St). It was designed by architect was Leon H. Lempert,J r with interior designer Gustave Brandt. Presently, the 600 block of Main Street is the first block of the above ground section of Buffalo Metro Rail under construction to return vehicular traffic to Main Street.


500 Block Main Street Historic District

The 500 Block Main Street Historic District contains 20 buildings (16 contributing buildings and four non-contributing buildings.The period of significance for the 500 Block Main Street Historic District is from ca. 1845 to c. 1955. Also known as the Main-Genesee Historic District, it is historically and architecturally significant as a concentration of historic buildings that chronicle the development of downtown growth from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid- twentieth century. The 500 Block Main Street Historic District contains buildings that reflect a number of period architectural styles, notably mid-nineteenth century vernacular, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. Buildings in the district are commercial or mixed use. The low-rise scale of the building and mixed use functions reflect the small-scale urban character of the CBD prior to the rise of more grand commercial buildings along the Main Street corridor.

The historic district is centered on the crossing of Main and Genesee streets, at an intersection historically known as Genesee Square. This intersection associated with the earliest commercial buildings in the city which were built prior to 1830, though none of the early nineteenth buildings are extant. The ca. 1845 Genesee Block at 5-9 Genesee Street is one of the oldest buildings in the CBD. This three-story brick building was originally constructed with commercial space beneath upper floor residential quarters, a common building practice in the early-to-mid nineteenth century. After the Civil War, Main Street became the primary commercial street in the city. The 500 Block Main Street Historic District reflects the city’s late nineteenth century through early twentieth century prosperity with its collection of architect-designed commercial buildings.


Cobblestone Historic District

The Certified Local Cobblestone Historic District is located in the southern edge of the Central Business District along the Buffalo River. The historic district contains eleven buildings (10 contributing buildings and one non-contributing building) concentrated on the block bound by Perry, Illinois and Mississippi streets and South Park Avenue. Within this block is a collection of the last surviving waterfront industrial and commercial district with buildings illustrating construction techniques and architectural styles from the mid-nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. The buildings in the district are historically associated with Buffalo’s commercial and industrial heritage. Other similar industrial buildings from this period in the vicinity, in an area that was historically the city’s oldest commercial and industrial center, have been demolished.

Two of the most significant buildings in the Cobblestone Historic District are located at 110 and 118 South Park Avenue; both were previously determined eligible for listing in the NRHP. The George Mugridge & Son Steam Bakery/Phoenix Die Casting building at 110 South Park Avenue is a rare example of an extant pre-Civil War era commercial building adapted for manufacturing during the early twentieth century. The adjacent A. H. Brown’s brass foundry at 118-120 South Park Avenue is significant for its association with Brown who was important in antebellum Great Lakes commerce.

The name of the historic district stems from the sandstone pavers or “cobblestone” lining the district’s north-south streets that were re-laid prior to the establishment of the historic district. The boundaries of the Cobblestone Historic District extend to the southeast to include Fire Station Changes to the historic district include reinvestment and development of buildings in the Buffalo Fire Department Engine No. 20 at 13 Buffalo River. Constructed in 1955, the fireboat house was designed by local architectural firm Duane Lyman & Associates.

Changes to the Cobblestone Historic District include renovation of 95 Perry Street and 26 Mississippi Street. In 2006, a new commercial building was constructed at Mississippi Street. The district has recently become a destinat
ion for entertainment and restaurants. No development has occurred on the other two blocks to the east, which are used as parking lots. 

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