South Buffalo is a neighborhood that makes up the southern third of the City of Buffalo, New York. Traditionally known for its large Irish-American community, this community also has a strong presence of various other nationalities. The once-heavily industrialized district was home to many steel mills, automotive parts manufacturers, petroleum refineries, foundries, and machine shops. However, due to increasing deindustrialization and rising unemployment, the area has experienced growing problems with poverty and population decline.
South Buffalo, as officially designated by the Buffalo City Council, is bordered by the town of West Seneca on the east, the City of Lackawanna on the south, Lake Erie on its western edge, and the Buffalo River on its northern border. New York State Route 16 (Seneca Street), Abbott Road, and South Park Avenue are the major streets serving South Buffalo.
Neighborhoods and schools
South Buffalo has various educational institutions, including public elementary and high schools, elementary charter schools, and Catholic elementary and high schools. Trocaire College is located on Abbott Road and has another campus on Seneca Street in South Buffalo.
Recently,[when?] the South Buffalo Catholic Schools have consolidated to form one school, called South Buffalo Catholic School located on Abbott Road. The school struggled financially because of the high cost associated with operating private education, and the 2008-2009 school year closed with a $340,000 operating deficit; as a result, two of its campuses in South Buffalo closed.[citation needed]
Public Schools in South Buffalo include Hillary Park Academy, Southside Elementary, Lorraine Academy, and many charter schools. South Park High School is the neighborhood's only public secondary school. The two remaining Catholic high schools in South Buffalo are Bishop Timon - St. Jude High School for boys and Mount Mercy Academy for girls.
The South Buffalo area is also served by two libraries. The Dudley Branch of the Erie County Library System is located at 2010 South Park Avenue. The Cazenovia Library functions as an independent library and community resource center and is located at 155 Cazenovia Street.
Youth ice hockey is hugely supported in South Buffalo. The Cazenovia Chiefs hockey program provides recreation for hundreds of children in the neighborhood. This program has produced such hockey talent as Patrick Kane. The neighborhood plays host to the Goin' South Irish Feis every year, an event that is extremely popular. It features food, fireworks, and live music, including Crikwater and Jackdaw, and a number of local Celtic bands. Because South Buffalo also has a number of Italian Americans, it hosts an Italian Festival each summer. Another popular event which takes place is the annual Seneca Street Car Show, which draws many people into South Buffalo.
Several traditional Irish Dance Academies operate in the neighborhood of South Buffalo, such as Rince Na Tiarna, and Clann Na Cara.
In addition to the Irish ethnic population, there are also communities of English, Italian, German, Polish, and Puerto Rican elements in the population of South Buffalo. Each summer, the Italian community of South Buffalo hosts its annual Italian festival.
The area is served by newspapers, publications and websites including The South Buffalo News put out by the Front Page Group, The Greater South Buffalo Chamber of Commerce newsletter, and the South Buffalo & Southtowns Online news website.
Some South Buffalonians who are involved in politics favor the Democratic Party, but many lean more socially (and sometimes fiscally) conservative than the party as a whole, typical of most working-classRoman Catholic communities. Former Assemblyman Mark J. F. Schroeder, for instance, was the only Democrat in the Assembly to not support longtime speaker Sheldon Silver, a stance initially mirrored by Kearns. One of South Buffalo's most famous politicians, James D. Griffin, served as mayor of Buffalo for 16 years and was noted for both his fiscal and social conservatism, to the point where the Republican and Conservative parties frequently cross-endorsed him. Current Democratic mayor Christopher Scanlon, a South Buffalo native, is also notably conservative. Carl Paladino, a former school board member and gubernatorial candidate, was a registered Democrat from 1974 to 2005, but he changed his registration to Republican and ran on that party's line in the 2010 New York gubernatorial election.
Geography
Within South Buffalo are two parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.[2] These parks, Cazenovia and South Park, were connected by wide elm-lined streets. McKinley Parkway and Red Jacket Parkway are two of the remaining parkways that created a greenway throughout the city in the early 1900s.
Cazenovia Park is the larger of the two parks. It contains two baseball and two softball diamonds. The baseball diamonds and one softball diamond reside in an area aptly referred to as the "Bowl". The second softball diamond is situated a little further away and called the "Hidden Diamond". The park also contains a nine-hole golf course, a wading pool, playground, basketball and tennis courts, three soccer fields, as well as a casino, typical of the era when the park was designed. The road running through the park was named after South Park High School Alumni Warren Spahn in 2004.
South Park is located along the border of Lackawanna. It also contains a nine-hole golf course, as well as two softball diamonds. The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is also in the park. It is a favorite summer time habitat for Canada geese.
Hillery Playground, located in the Seneca Street neighborhood, is a main recreational area for the residents of the Seneca Street area of South Buffalo.
In addition, there are numerous fishing spots on the waterfront such as the Small Boat Harbor, Gallagher Beach, and Union Ship Canal on the Lackawanna border.
The South Buffalo area is serviced by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority buses on Seneca St. (No. 15), Abbott Rd. (No. 14), and South Park Ave. (No. 16).
Past and present
During the 1940s and 1950s swimming was a favorite summer pastime at the two outdoor swimming pools in Cazenovia Park. The two pools have since been removed, and replaced with one indoor pool, used year-round. Fishing in Cazenovia Creek was an alternative summertime activity. In the winter, a lagoon off of the creek provided ice skating, but this has also been removed.
A game called chestnuts[3] was a popular activity during this time period in South Buffalo. Horse chestnuts would be suspended from a string, usually a shoelace, run through a hole drilled in the center. Participants would take turns holding their suspended chestnut, while their opponent would snap their chestnut against it. When either chestnut cracked the surviving chestnut would be crowned a kinger. Kingships would accumulate from game to game. Any accumulated kingships of a defeated chestnut would be transferred to the victor.
Baseball was and still remains another dominant sport in the area. In the past there wasn’t an established little league, except for the P.A.L (i.e Police Athletic League), but games would be played spontaneously almost anywhere, including playground ball fields, vacant lots and even the street. Teams would be formed by alternate selection until everyone present was chosen by one team or the other. The team captain to make the first choice was determined by tossing a bat with the handle up to one captain, who would grab it in one hand. Each captain would alternately place a hand on the top of the others hand until there was no more room on the bat. The last hand determined the first choice.
The area is represented by the South Buffalo Celtics in amateur American football. The Celtics won the 2011 Mid Continental Football League championship in October 2011.
Two neighborhood movie houses, the Capitol and Shea's Seneca shows, provided entertainment at very reasonable prices. Saturday matinees were 14¢ for the Capitol and 20¢ for the Seneca. The Strand also provided motion picture entertainment.
Spoonley The Trainman[4] on Choate was a major attraction in South Buffalo. This toy train shop, owned and operated by Chester Spoonley, drew people from all over western New York to experience the fascinating layouts featuring Lionel and American Flyer trains and accessories.
Although the two steel companies, Bethlehem[5] and Republic, provided employment for a majority of South Buffalo residents during this time, they were also a major source of air pollution. The blast furnaces and open hearth furnaces generated huge quantities of airborne particulates that coated every surface inside and outside of homes and buildings. This fact was not fully appreciated by the residents until the steel mills shut down and suddenly surfaces remained relatively clean.
The South Buffalo area suffered in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to the closing of the majority of steel mills, machine shops, automobile factories, oil refineries and flour milling plants which were either within or bordering the community. In search of jobs many of the residents were forced to leave Western New York and seek employment out of state. The numerous independent small shops which once lined Seneca Street and South Park Avenue suffered most from the economic downturn caused by the many plant closures. What was once the South Buffalo neighborhood's main retail area became a collection of boarded-up store fronts hard pressed for cash flow. Suffering less were the more middle-class neighborhoods of South Buffalo which border McKinley Parkway, Abbott Road and Potter Road.
The annual Valley St. Patrick's Day Parade was revived some 20 years ago and serves as a more traditional celebration over the City of Buffalo's main St. Patrick's Day Parade held usually the following day in Buffalo's city center on Delaware Avenue. The Grand Marshals of this less formal event have represented a gamut from some of South Buffalo's best known Irish-American families.
Each year, starting in 2004, the Moe Talty-Franz walk for breast cancer awareness and fund raising[6] is conducted in Cazenovia Park. Hundreds of people come together to support this worthy event.
The South Buffalo Italian Festival is held each summer and attract hundreds of people who come to honor the Italian-American contributions to South Buffalo.
Another new festival tradition is the South Buffalo Business Expo and Irish Feish, usually held the first weekend of September in Cazenovia Park. A day long event featuring local businesses, services, food, dance and music draws residents from all over.
Another favorite is the Labor Day parade, where union members from all over Western New York proudly march from the Irish Center to the Casino in Cazenovia Park. A Mass of thanksgiving is celebrated at the shrine of St. Joseph the Worker on the grounds of St. Thomas Aquinas Church. The shrine was erected by Msgr. John P. Boland, known as the "Labor Priest." Msgr. Boland was noted for his contributions to the New York State Little Wagner Act. The parade and Mass are followed by a picnic in Caz Park.
Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border. With a population of 278,349 according to the 2020 census, Buffalo is the second-most populous city in New York state after New York City, and the 81st-most populous city in the U.S. Buffalo and the city of Niagara Falls together make up the two-county Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1.2 million in 2020, making it the 49th-largest metro area in the U.S.
Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie were named for the regional Iroquoian language-speaking Erie tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out by the more powerful Iroquoian nations tribes. The county is part of the Western New York region of the state.
Lackawanna is a city in Erie County, New York, United States, just south of the city of Buffalo in western New York State. The population was 19,949 at the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in New York, growing in population by 10% from 2010 to 2020. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The city of Lackawanna is in the western part of Erie County.
Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers.
Cheektowaga is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the second-largest suburb of Buffalo, after the Town of Amherst.
Orchard Park is an incorporated town in Erie County, New York, United States. It is an outer ring suburb southeast of Buffalo. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,054, representing an increase of 5.13% from the 2000 census figure. The town contains a village also named Orchard Park. Orchard Park is one of the Southtowns of Erie County and is best known as the site of Highmark Stadium, home of the National Football League's Buffalo Bills.
West Seneca is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 45,500 at the 2020 census. West Seneca is a centrally located interior town of the county, and a suburb of Buffalo. West Seneca, Orchard Park and Hamburg form the inner "Southtowns", a cluster of middle-class suburban towns.
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY includes the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Jamestown, and the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of Niagara Frontier, and Chautauqua-Alleghany. Many would also place Rochester and the Genesee Valley in the region, although those legally belong in the Finger Lakes Region and are separate from Western New York Region.
The Buffalo River drains a 447-square-mile (1,160 km2) watershed in Western New York state, emptying into the eastern end of Lake Erie at the City of Buffalo. The river has three tributaries: Cayuga Creek, Buffalo Creek, and Cazenovia Creek.
Seneca is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located in the 200 block of Main Street between Seneca and Swan Streets in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between Canalside and Fountain Plaza station. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to provide proof-of-payment. On June 27, 2019, The Buffalo News announced that Merchants Insurance, which has been located at 260 Main Street since the 1960s, bought the naming rights for $161,000 for initially five years, with the option to renew for another five years.
Church station is a Buffalo Metro Rail station located in the 300 block of Main Street in the Free Fare Zone, which allows passengers free travel between Canalside and Fountain Plaza. Passengers continuing northbound past Fountain Plaza are required to have proof-of-payment. Church is the closest to the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center, located two blocks east at Ellicott and North Division Streets.
Delaware Park–Front Park System is a historic park system and national historic district in the northern and western sections of Buffalo in Erie County, New York. The park system was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and developed between 1868 and 1876.
Cazenovia Creek is a creek in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of the Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie. Cazenovia Creek and its watershed are entirely within Erie County.
New York State Route 277 (NY 277) is a state highway in New York in the United States. This highway is also called Union Road, along with other names. NY 277 is a major north–south road east of Buffalo, New York, through the middle of Erie County. The section of NY 277 north of Orchard Park used to be New York State Route 18B until the portion of NY 18 south of Niagara Falls was deleted on January 1, 1962.
New York State Route 240 (NY 240) is a 51.64-mile (83.11 km) state highway in western New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 242 in the Ellicottville community of Ashford Junction in northern Cattaraugus County. Its northern terminus is at a junction with NY 324 and Interstate 290 (I-290) in Amherst in northern Erie County. The route passes through the villages of Springville and Orchard Park, where it meets NY 39 and U.S. Route 20A (US 20A), respectively. Much of NY 240 between Concord and Aurora follows the west branch of Cazenovia Creek. The northern part of NY 240 in Erie County, named Harlem Road, is a major north–south route through the suburbs east of the city of Buffalo.
The Lackawanna Steel Company was an American steel manufacturing company that existed as an independent company from 1840 to 1922, and as a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel company from 1922 to 1983. Founded by the Scranton family, it was once the second-largest steel company in the world. Scranton, Pennsylvania, developed around the company's original location. When the company moved to a suburb of Buffalo, New York, in 1902, it stimulated the founding of the city of Lackawanna.
Riverside Park is a historic park located in the Riverside neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. Located in northwest Buffalo, it is an individual park designed by the Olmsted Architectural Firm in 1898 after Frederick Law Olmsted's retirement. It is on a 22-acre (8.9 ha) site on a bluff overlooking the Niagara River. Riverside Park was designed for active recreation and periodic alterations have occurred as the community's recreation needs have changed. Despite the changes, the park retains numerous original design elements and remains as the final element completed as a part of the Olmsted plan for Buffalo's park system.
U.S. Route 62 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from the United States–Mexico border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York. In the U.S. state of New York, US 62 extends 102.77 miles (165.39 km) from the New York–Pennsylvania border south of Jamestown to an intersection with New York State Route 104 in downtown Niagara Falls, bypassing the city of Jamestown and serves the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, along with several villages. It is the only north–south mainline U.S. highway in Western New York. US 62 was extended into New York c. 1932 and originally was concurrent with the state highways that had previously been designated along its routing—namely NY 18, NY 60, NY 83 and NY 241. These concurrencies were eliminated individually during the 1940s and 1960s. The last of the four concurrencies, with NY 18 from Dayton to Niagara Falls, was removed c. 1962. US 62 has one special route, US 62 Business, located in Niagara Falls. US 62 Business is a former routing of US 62 within the city and was once NY 62A.
Cazenovia Park–South Park System is a historic park system located in the South Buffalo neighborhood at Buffalo in Erie County, New York, United States. The interconnected set of parkways and parks was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted as part of his parks plan for the city of Buffalo, as inspired in large part by the parkland, boulevards, and squares of Paris, France.
Transportation in Buffalo, New York is dominated by automobile use, but other modes of transportation exist in the city.
References
↑ Buffalo Memories Gone But Not Forgotten, George Kunz, pub Canisius College Press, 2002, ISBN0-9671480-9-X
↑ The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games, David Heidenstam, Paulin Meier and Jack Wilkinson, pub Paddington Press, dist Grosset & Dunlap, 1979, ISBN0-448-22202-7
↑ The Train Man, John Zach, pub John Zach, 1988, ASIN B00071JOOA
↑ Bethlehem Steel, Andrew Garn and Lance Metz, pub Princeton Architectural Press, Oct 1, 1999, ISBN1-56898-197-X
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