Allentown Development
Buffalo, NY
By David Markiewicz
Editing by Chuck LaChiusa
The Holland Land Company's land survey
by Joseph Ellicott in 1801 is the beginning of the
Erie County land records. The land that
directly surrounds Allen Street today is marked as being Farm Lot
Number 51 in the 11th Township and the 8th Range in the survey.
Joshua Gilbert was the first person to purchase the lot from the Holland
Land Company.
Samuel Bell was the second person to own the lot, and Richard
and Lewis Allen were the third party, The Allens were the last to
own the farm lot as a whole.
When the Allens sold, they sold the lot in five sections to the
first developers who then divided the land into smaller lots and
roadways which was step one toward the development of
the area. They then sold their lots to different individuals who again divided
the land by width and lengths and roadways and built on
their lots.
The area we call Allentown today bordered the original Buffalo City
line on the north side in 1832 when the Village of Buffalo was chartered as the city of Buffalo .
The northern border was placed at
the old Guide Board and in the same year had its name changed to
North Street. This was the northern boundary of Buffalo before the
expansion of Buffalo which included adding lands from the 1842 Buffalo
Creek Reservation treaty and the 1854 annexing of Black Rock into
Buffalo which expanded the city to 95% of its present size.
Before any of the development in this area took place in the 1850s, there
were many apple trees.
Today, this is a historical preservation district.
Page by Chuck LaChiusa in 2014
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