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Buffalo flourished with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected the community to the Hudson River and New York City. The canal also made Buffalo a major distribution point between the eastern United States and the western frontier. Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832. In 1843 the world’s first steam-powered grain elevator was built in the city, and by 1850 it had become the country’s foremost flour-milling center. During the American Civil War (1861-1865) the city was an important railroad center on the northern supply route of the Union armies. Buffalo began to develop as an industrial city after a hydroelectric power plant was completed at Niagara Falls in the 1890s.

Grover Cleveland served as mayor of Buffalo from 1881 to 1883, instituting numerous reforms in the city’s administrative system. In 1883 he became governor of New York, and in the following year he was elected president of the United States. The Pan-American Exposition was held in Buffalo in 1901, intending to highlight unity and commerce among the peoples of North and South America. The exposition brought international recognition of Buffalo’s commercial and industrial importance, although it was marred by the assassination of President McKinley at a public reception during the event.

While the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 enhanced Buffalo’s position as a major port, traffic on the shipping route reduced the city’s importance as a rail center. Handicapped by aging industrial facilities, Buffalo’s economy stagnated during the 1970s and early 1980s. Its population dropped to little more than one-half of its peak of 580,000 in 1950. But in the 1990s the city’s economy stabilized. International trade and high-technology manufacturing emerged as viable replacements for former heavy industries.

Buffalo benefits from an abundance of hydroelectric power generated around nearby Niagara Falls. Transportation and power have helped make it a leading flour-milling city of the United States. Other leading employers are firms engaged in making chemicals, automobile and aircraft parts, processed foods, electronics, paints, and pharmaceuticals. Buffalo also is growing as a center for medical research, and tourism long has been important to the regional economy.

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Official Website for the City of Buffalo, New York
City Hall
Buffalo, NY 14202

The Buffalo News