South Park Conservatory

South Park Conservatory, AKA Buffalo and Erie Co. Botanical Gardens

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens came into being at the pinnacle of the city's glory, the start of the 1900's. No crown of success was more becoming to a great city than the Victorian Era greenhouse. Built in 1900  with the brilliant collaboration of Olmsted (the park), Lord and Burnham (the glass structure), and John F. Crowell (botanist). Olmsted had designed Cazanovia and South Park for the South Buffalo area, and planned, what was originally known as the South Park Conservatory, to house varieties of tropical plants as contrast to the outdoor plant design of the park. Plant explorer, Crowell, was set to the task of gathering the specimens. The greenhouse, designed by Lord and Burnham, was distinctly Victorian and reminiscent of the great botanical gardens of England. South Park, to this day, is one of only a few examples of this style in North America, and at the time of its creation, was the toast of the Pan American Exposition of 1901. So spectacular was its design, that it drew visitors from the North Buffalo location of the World's Fair out to the southern edges of the city. The impressive nature of the Botanical Gardens spread beyond the Exposition with a popularity that would continue for many years after.

http://www.buffalogardens.com/

McKinley Monument

McKinley Monument, Niagara Square

The Egyptian revival obelisk stands 96' high at the center of Niagara Square. The marble monument, flanked by sculptures of four sleeping lions, was dedicated on September 6th 1907. President William McKinley was shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on that date six years previous. The sculpture stands as a tribute to the man and the lasting reverence the city and the nation had for the 25th President of the United States.

Electric Tower

Electric Tower

The Electric Tower, at Genesee and Washington Streets, was built in 1912. The building design was inspired by the Electric Tower featured at the Pan American Exposition of 1901. Its octagonal shape, along with the white terracotta facade captures natural light, as well as night time illumination, living up to its name and making it one of the most spectacular looking buildings in Buffalo.

The Buffalo Historical Society

The Buffalo Historical Society

The incredible depth of history in Buffalo, New York is really astounding when you visit the history museum and look at old photographs of the city, such as the ones seen at  https://www.facebook.com/damien.failla  on his newly renamed site now called Buffalore. 115 years ago this week, as we posted yesterday, the Pan Am Exposition was in full swing, despite President McKinley's state after the assasination attempt. The Historical Society building which still stands, was one of the actual facades, not the plaster ones that were destroyed after the Expo to make way for affordable housing. Not only can we see artifacts from the Expo if you wander through during the last Food Truck Rodeo, you get to walk where others did 115 years ago, during probably the most important time in Buffalo's history, except for right now. 

https://www.facebook.com/damien.failla

President William McKinley, Shot on this Day

Memorial plaque on the site where McKinley was shot 

President McKinley was shot in Buffalo in this day in 1901, 115 years ago.  Through a series of missteps in his care, the popular president succumbed to  infection from his wounds . Attending the Pan-American Exposition, the president, who had been stalked by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, was approached and assassinated. The location of the attack was the Exposition's Temple of Music, now marked by a simple stone in the middle Fordham Street. This former Pan-Am location is lined with lovely bungalow -style homes dating back to the neighborhood's development in the years after the fair.