Timeline of Buffalo, New York

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.

Prior to 18th century

• 1620 - Erie Nation occupies area
• 1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation
• 1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon.
• 1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.

18th century

• 1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region.
• 1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed

19th century

1800s-1860s

• 1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott.
• 1810 - Population: 1,508.
• 1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812.
• 1816 - Village incorporated in Niagara County.
• 1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief.
• 1820 - Population: 2,095.
• 1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County.
• 1825 - Erie Canal opens.
• 1830 - Population: 8,668.
• 1832
• City of Buffalo incorporated.
• Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor.
• 1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established.
• 1834 - Cholera.
• 1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs.
• 1836
• Young Men's Association active.
• Buffalo Library (social library) organized.
• 1840 - Population: 18,213.
• 1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator.
• 1844 - A seiche on Lake Erie sends a surge of water onshore, killing 78 people.
• 1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established.
• 1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established.
• 1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate.
• 1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established.
• 1850 - Population: 42,261.
• 1851
• St. Paul's Cathedral built.
• Buffalo Seminary founded.
• 1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens.
• 1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation.
• 1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo.
• 1856
• Chippewa Market opens.
• Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business.
• 1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened.
• 1860 - Population: 81,129.
• 1861
• Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded.
• St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded.
• 1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed.
• 1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated.
• 1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music

1870s-1890s

• 1870
• Richardson Olmsted Complex built.
• Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded.
• Population: 117,714.
• 1871 - Buffalo Normal School founded, became "State Normal and Training School"
• 1873
• Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr established.
• International Railway Bridge to Canada opens.
• Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication.
• 1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven."
• 1875
• County and City Hall constructed.
• Population: 134,238.
• 1876
• Delaware Park–Front Park System developed.
• Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built.
• 1880 - Population: 155,134.
• 1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business.
• 1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor.
• 1886
• Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating.
• University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established.
• 1887
• University at Buffalo Law School established.
• The Buffalo Orchestral Association, Buffalo's first professional orchestra, was founded with John Lund as its conductor.
• 1890 - Population: 255,664.
• 1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established.
• 1893
• Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation.
• Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president.
• 1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded.
• 1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed.
• 1899 - Labor strike of grain workers.
• 1900
• Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins.
• Population: 352,387.

20th century

• 1901
• May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park.
• September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president.
• September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president.
• September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held.
• 1902 - YMCA Central Building built.
• 1905 - Albright Art Gallery (of modern art) opens.
• 1908
• D'Youville College founded.
• Hotel Statler in business (first in chain).
• 1910 - Population: 423,715.
• 1914 - Art Theater in business.
• 1917 - December 9: Snowstorm.
• 1919
• The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal.
• Rivoli Theatre in business.
• 1920
• University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription.
• Population: 506,775.
• 1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business.
• 1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting.
• 1922 - McVan's nightclub, a popular music venue in the city, opens. Over the years it hosted some of the biggest names in music including Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Tatum and Jimi Hendrix.
• 1923 - On February 24, Phi Omega chapter of the National Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered at University of New York at Buffalo as first African American Greek-Lettered Fraternity established in western New York.
• 1924
• DuPont cellophane manufactory begins operating.
• WEBR radio begins broadcasting.
• 1926
• Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982).
• Buffalo Niagara International Airport, then known as "Buffalo Municipal Airport", opens in nearby Cheektowaga
• Shea's Performing Arts Center opens.
• 1927 - Peace Bridge to Canada opens.
• 1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public.
• 1932 - Buffalo City Hall built.
• 1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business.
• 1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened
• 1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
• 1950 - Population: 580,132.
• 1953 - New zoning laws include parking minimums, these new zoning laws are a factor in the decline of Buffalo over the following decades.
• 1954 - WGR-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
• 1960 - Buffalo Bills Football Inaugural Season. Team is second professional team with the name and the third professional football franchise in the city.
• 1966
• January: Blizzard.
• Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established.
• 1967 - Race riot occurs in East Buffalo as part of Long, hot summer of 1967
• 1970
• Buffalo Sabres Hockey Inaugural Season
• Buffalo Braves Basketball Inaugural Season. Team plays 8 seasons in Buffalo before relocating to San Diego and later Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Clippers
• 1971
• February 22: Blizzard.
• Erie Community College Buffalo campus established.
• 1977 - January: Blizzard of '77.
• 1979
• Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established.
• Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations
• 1983 -
• a propane explosion, resulting in 6 fatalities and widespread destruction, including leveling most of the local city block.
• 1984 -
• Buffalo Metro Rail begins service
• Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill
• McVan's nightclub closes
• 1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium
• 1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo.
• 1990 - Population: 328,123.
• 1996
• KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
• City website online (approximate date).

21st century

• 2000 - Population: 292,648
• 2001
• Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established
• December: Snowstorm.
• 2005
• Byron Brown becomes mayor.
• Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district.
• 2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid"
• 2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work.
• 2010 - Population: 261,310.
• 2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm.
• 2017
• Minimum parking requirements were eliminated citywide in order to revitalize the city after decades of decline.
• Tesla, Inc. opens Giga New York solar panel factory on old Republic Steel site
• 2020
• Population: 278,349, Buffalo finally gains population again after 70 years.
• Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests
• 2022
• May 14: 2022 Buffalo shooting: 10 are killed and 3 injured in a racially motivated attack at a Tops Friendy Supermarkets store. It is the deadliest shooting in the city's history.
• December 23–27: A snowstorm kills 41 people, becoming the deadliest snowstorm in the city's history.
• 2023
• Mayor Byron Brown begins his 5th term, becoming the longest-serving mayor of Buffalo.
• A magnitude 3.8 earthquake affects the Buffalo area in February.
• 2025
• Sean Ryan is elected mayor of Buffalo

See also

• History of Buffalo, New York
• On This Day Calendar by The Buffalo History Museum
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Buffalo, New York
• Timelines of other cities in New York state: New York City (also Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens); Saratoga Springs

References

Bibliography

External links

• (Includes atlases, city directories, etc.)
• Items related to Buffalo, New York, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)