It Is Our Heritage: Respect It, Care For It, Use It!

Commentary: Why Not Here?  

Quaker Square Inn - Akron Ohio

   Just a few driving hours away from Buffalo in Akron Ohio lies one of the best examples of grain elevator re-use when the option of grain storage is no longer viable. They had one grain elevator in Akron near downtown and after it closed there was a grand transformation to the site. Demolition, a Buffalo tradition? Of course not, they put it to good use and made a first class hotel out of it. Currently, The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron. (click for website)

   I have stayed there three times and slept in a silo! This hotel is very impressive, steeped in tradition of the Quaker Oats Company who had a mill to go along with the elevator. One doesn't come away thinking this an interesting hotel inside a grain elevator, the reaction is more like, "this is a magnificent hotel!" And this is by no means the only example of this type of re-use. Since this was built there have been many similar reconstructions into living space in grain elevator and related mill buildings around this country and around the world.  What does all this have to do with Buffalo? Plenty.
   One doesn't have to go back too far in the local news to find the subject of grain elevators. Defended by preservationists, historians, scholars and ordinary people from Buffalo and around the world, the grain elevators here have taken an uncalled for hit over the last few years while the City threw away grand opportunities for needed redevelopment in the interest of creating another parking lot! I don't see too many tourists flocking to Buffalo to see our historic parking lots! But tens of thousands have flocked to Buffalo to see the grain elevators over the years. The Industrial Heritage Committee, Inc. has been conducting their classic Historic Buffalo River Tours to sell out crowds for 29 seasons, attracting and educating people from all over this country and the world. 

Quaker Square Inn - Akron Ohio

  The Connecting Terminal Elevator across the Buffalo River from downtown and the Saskatchewan Pool Elevator on the outer harbor would be ideal candidates for hotel development with incredible views of the lake and downtown. This is especially true now that Fuhrmann Blvd. has been rebuilt with a whole new infrastructure. Tourists going to Niagara Falls would stay in Buffalo just to say they slept in a silo!  We have had out of town developers who were interested in doing a similar development here as in Akron, but were driven out of town by the politics in WNY.     I'm not saying make every elevator into a hotel, but that is the obvious place to start for certain ones. There are a number of the elevators still in service storing grain including one that has just re-opened recently.

  The GLF/Wheeler/Agway elevator complex on Ganson St. on the other hand, is an ideal location for a working grain elevator museum to commemorate the grain elevator and milling history of Buffalo and the world. Have you ever been in a grain elevator and witnessed the monstrous marine leg descend into the hold of a ship to extract the grain? It is a site to behold that has not been done any where in the world for the public that I know of.  It would have an actual grain ship docked at it's side for unloading. People would experience first hand a better understanding the scale of engineering of these structures and what it took to manage the hundreds of million bushels of grain a year that passed through these incredible buildings. You can't experience that from a book or computer. The Wheeler elevator itself is one of a kind structure, made of concrete but on the unique design of the old wooden elevators. It is definitely worth preserving for there is not another elevator like it. This is Buffalo's history and legacy, what tourists want to know about, they've told us so. 

Saskatchewan Pool Elevator on Outer Harbor 
 Ideally Situated for a Hotel Project

  There are many other ideas and examples which I do not have space to elaborate on now but will publish in booklet sometime this summer to be available on the Historic Buffalo River Tours. Buffalo's History is it's future, it is the easiest and most logical path to take for redevelopment. We have more than enough history to be proud of on our waterfront to share with others.  Remember, many of the beautiful mansions and classic architecture we hold so dear on our Delaware and other Avenues, were built on the backs of the grain elevator and flour milling and other commercial industries on Buffalo's Harbor.
   Buffalo was the birthplace of the grain elevator, the largest grain handling and flour milling port in the world for most of it's history. The greatest grain flow in the world was down the Great Lakes through Buffalo's grain elevators to the east coast for export. Buffalo's elevators have literally fed the world. But we treat them with the adage, "yeah, but what have you done for us lately?" Respect for ones heritage is the first step towards the re-growth of this area. History is Buffalo's future. Properly respected and done with care we can combine history with a living environment that is uniquely Buffalo, and a destination attraction for tourists.  

Jerry M. Malloy

For information on the Historic Buffalo River Tours click on: 

http://www.buffaloindustrialheritage.com/  

Editor:

  The Wheeler Elevator is one of the most significant of Buffalo’s waterfront elevators. Its design is unique among the elevators here in Buffalo. It was an early concrete elevator but took the design characteristics of the old wooden structures from the previous century. There are no conveyor systems on top as in the modern concrete elevators. All the grain coming in from the marine tower was spouted directly into the bins.  The bins themselves are all open on top, something you will never see in a conventional concrete elevator. These features are  exclusive to the Wheeler and an important transition example in the evolution of grain elevator construction from wood to concrete, one which needs to be preserved. 

   Observing the elevator recently, the main problem is the corrugated iron on the marine tower which could either be removed or repaired. As far as the elevator is concerned, an independent engineer should be brought in to ascertain it’s structural integrity, and not be left up to a demolition company, of all things, to make that assessment. Concrete holds up a lot better than most people think over the years.

   The reasons given for demolition is safety with an eye on expansion of the business. That is all well and good and usually a refreshing concept in the Buffalo area, and normally I would applaud their efforts. But prior to purchasing the original parcel of land I feel safe to say that they were well aware of the elevators existence, and future expansion was not suitable or easily done on this parcel. Buffalo abounds with open land suitable for the type business they have. It was not necessary or advisable to purchase the land next to the elevators (or on the water for that matter) then complain about the neighbors and lack of room.

    A better plan for them now, would be to look for a location elsewhere in the city which is suitable for expansion and future needs. Purchasing that original site likens to someone building a house near an airport then complain about the noise to the town and airport owners for the next ten years. It was a poor business decision, in my opinion, to locate there on Ganson Street, and not only that but wasting a water side location totally unnecessary for their type of business. That I might say is a City Hall failing to even allow it to be there. 

    The Wheeler and GLF feed mill complex  is an intricate part of our industrial heritage and a key link in future waterfront planning which is now going on. It would be a great complex for highlightng Buffalo’s grain handling and milling histories with incredible views of the waterfront from above. People in power to make decisions in Buffalo need to be aware that all the elevators in the city are individually different in many ways, and form a unique museum as a whole, of world wide significance, even as they stand today. 

    Careful planning and patience with these structures will create a tourist attraction unlike any other in the world when linked together showing the evolution of these structures in history. This will bring more tourism dollars and prestige to the city for generations to come and far surpass anything that this company could offer in jobs or tax dollars. Although we thank them for doing business  in the city, they can be elsewhere in the city and offer the same potential, if not more, for jobs and tax dollars as on Ganson Street.

Jerry Malloy    

The Industrial Heritage Committee, Inc.

Power to the People, Tesla's Current Reaches Buffalo

Run by Falls Power

Street Cars Operated by the New Current

SUCCESS OF THE TRANSMISSION WAS COMPLETELY 

AND FULLY DEMONSTRATED YESTERDAY-USED ON THE MAIN

AND EAST FERRY STREET LINES

Buffalo Express/Commercial Advertiser Nov. 19 1896

  The cars of the Buffalo Railway Company began yesterday to move by water-power. The mighty energy of Niagara Falls, harnessed to turbine wheels, and transmitted over copper wires to Buffalo, supplied the force that turned the wheels of traffic and brought nickels to the coffers of the street car company. The success of the transmission of the power was completely and fully demonstrated.

  There has not been at any time since the first dynamo began to revolve at the falls, any doubt that the energy could be brought successfully to Buffalo.  Never-the-less, the experiment was the greatest ever attempted in conveying such a volume of power to such a distance, and cautious people waited until yesterday, when the first practical application of the power in Buffalo was made, before crowing too much over the new force that is to revolutionize business and bring mills and factories and people to the Electric City.
   At 10 o'clock in the morning Niagara Falls power was turned on to the system of the Buffalo Railway Company and all the cars on Main Street between Ohio Street and Cold Spring Barns were operated by Niagara Falls Power, also the cars on East Ferry Street and Kensington Ave. 

Power Lines to Buffalo

  The test was made in this part of the city in order that the general public might have an opportunity of observing the test of running the cars by electricity generated at Niagara Falls, conveyed to Buffalo over long distance wires from the power house of the Cataract City.  In every respect the test was satisfactory. Motormen had no difficulty in running their cars smoothly and on time. There was no hitch. There were no delays. The experiment was an experiment no longer. It was a complete success. Not many of the thousands of passengers who rode through Main Street, knew the cars which they rode were propelled by power generated 26 miles away, and borrowed from the worlds mightiest cataract.
  For years the eyes of the whole world were on Niagara Falls and Buffalo.  The transportation of power from the mighty cataract to the great city at the foot of the lake was an event that called for the world-wide interest of electricians, scientists and businessmen. It meant the revolutionizing of industry.  
   Today the mighty waters of Niagara revolved the wheels of the street railway system of this city, proving beyond a doubt that the power can travel, that the wheels of factory and of mill can be turned miles away from the cataract by the power generated at Niagara Falls. It is a great day for Buffalo, a day to be made memorable by the successful test of one of the greatest electric feats known to the world. 

The Edward Dean Adams Power Plant,  the first power plant at 

Niagara Falls, the ‘father’ of the modern electric power plant. 

This plant opened in 1895. Was the first big plant to generate and

transmit current by means of Tesla Polyphase System."

  There was no ceremony at the turning on of the power, but at the power house were a number of officials who closely watched the test. One of the officials of the Buffalo Railway Company, who closely observed the testing of the power as it was tried for the first time this morning, said:   "It is like the work of an expert watch maker.  Every part of the intricate mechanism of the watch must be closely inspected, every minute detail closely observed. We are regulating the mechanism and the power much as a watch-maker regulates a watch. We will let the cars run for several hours by Niagara Falls Power, observing it's action carefully, then switch it off and make use of our observations. Presently we will have everything just right and then the new power will be used continuously. Todays test has been very satisfactory. That is all that can be said at present."
  Following the line along the river bank, for a distance of about 26 miles, the electric current travels to Buffalo. Today the people of this city have the opportunity to observe the practical and successful working of the energy generated at Niagara Falls.

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   Nicola Tesla, writing of the future of Buffalo in 1893, said: "The energy of Niagara Falls is equal to 5,000,000 or possibly 6,000,000 horse power, while 4,000,000 horse power economically directed, would run all the machinery, drive every steamship, run every railroad, heat and light every store and house in the United States.  I believe that it will soon be possible to carry such energy 1,000 miles with slight loss, and that eventually it will be transmitted without any wire. I believe that in thus claiming the waste water power of the world and sending it's energy broadcast, lies the future usefulness of electrical science.  No achievement that can be thought of compares with the possibility of emancipating all that army of laborers which now toils in mine and forest to supply the nation with fuel, and the other army that is needed to transport, distribute and use it."
... [As a youth] I was fascinated by a description of Niagara Falls I had perused, and pictured in my imagination a big wheel run by the Falls. I told my uncle that I would go to America and carry out this scheme. Thirty years later I saw my ideas carried out at Niagara and marveled at the unfathomable mystery of the mind.”  Nicola Tesla

Hertel Avenue - Not Worth A Sewer!

Hertel Avenue As It Is - 1887

Old House On Hertel Avenue, Near Colvin Street

   Buffalo Express April 3, 1887 The public-spirited citizen of Buffalo in these days finds many questions, touching the prosperity of this city, well worth careful consideration.  One of them is building a sewer through Hertel Ave.  This avenue is nearly four miles long, and runs from the Niagara River at lower Black Rock across the extreme northern side of the city, to Main Street.  For the greater part of its length it is a country road.  The land through which it runs is largely held by land associations and others who anticipate a rapid development of the section as a residence neighborhood. 

Hertel Avenue, Buffalo -- Near Cornelius Creek

  These property holders are of course eager for improvements, and claim that many would follow the construction of the desired sewer, concerning which THE EXPRESS has said: "It is difficult to present any good reason for building the proposed sewer. No truthful man in his senses will maintain that the sewer is needed now, or likely to be needed many years to come. It's only present use would be to create a demand for outlying farm lands cut up into city lots, and that is only a personal and local reason which should have no weight whatever with the Legislature. The business of the Senate and the Assembly is to legislate for the public interest--and not for individual.  The proposed law to bond the City in order to make this local  improvement, which is not even needed, would be special legislation of the most glaring character."

  The accompanying illustrations well show the character and scenery of the Hertel Avenue District.  The old stone house, shown in the picture, stands at the head of Colvin Street, and is uninhabited. The lintel over the front door bears a remarkable inscription in what appears to be misspelled Dutch, as follows: 18 { MACH - TAILENA - PEOHL - W } 45  The members of the Historical Society or any local archeologist who can render this into intelligible English, and concoct a theory to go with it will deserve the renown given by Dickens to the Pickwick Club. The interpretation may be "Magdalena Pfohl", or it may not. The reader may formulate a better translation if he can. 

  The third illustration gives a view on Hertel Avenue, looking through the Erie Trestle near Cornelius Creek.

Hertel Avenue Looking Through the Erie Trestle

Editors Note:  Of course we all know now what Hertel Avenue has become, one of the most vibrant and active thoroughfares in Buffalo. But in 1887 it's potential was not as easily recognized, at least not by the Editors of the BUFFALO EXPRESS anyway. Oh, and by the way, can anyone interpret the words on the lentil of the house above, MACH - TAILENA - PEOHL - W ?  

Also see: So Who Was Hertel Avenue?

The Girl Scout Pioneers of Buffalo - 1917

 JENNIE TRUMBLE FORMED FIRST BUFFALO GIRL SCOUTS' UNIT

January 12, 1923

TROOP 1, Organized by Jennie Trumble in 1917 Five Years 
After the National Organization was Founded

Jennie Trumble

  The oldest and largest and one of the most active of the Girl Scout Troops of Buffalo, is Troop 1, meeting in Babcock Street Community House under the leadership of Mrs. George Trumble. Mrs. Trumble has been captain of Troop 1 since she organized it in St. Peter's Evangelical Church on April 10 in 1917 as the American Beauty Rose Troop 1, with 15 girls as charter members.  "I was always interested in Boy Scouts," said Mrs. Trumble, "as Mr. Trumble was scoutmaster of Troop 37, and I thought it was a mighty fine organization. Why not have it for girls? 

 
I saw an article in a Sunday paper about Philadelphia Girl Scouts. Anyone interested was asked to write to Girl Scout headquarters in New York. This I did and Troop 1 was organized from New York, as there was no local Girl Scout Council in Buffalo at the time. 

  Mrs. Trumble's application to national headquarters for a captains commission was signed by the Rev. T.V. Bode and Mrs. M. Moyer.  In due time the application was approved and Captain Trumble held her first meeting, the girls being taught whistle signals and each girl making for herself a copy of the scout promise and laws. At the second meeting on April 17, Troop 35 of the Boy Scouts, invited Troop 1, Girl Scouts to attend it's next meeting. That invitation was accepted and the boys gave a demonstration of scout work. The Boy Scout troop, at the conclusion of this meeting, presented the Girl Scout troop with a flag. By the time of the May 15 meeting of Troop 1 the membership had grown to 31. This meeting was attended by a field organizer from Girl Scout national headquarters in New York, and Mrs. Daniel K Stucki, treasurer of the newly organized Girl Scout Council of Buffalo, of which Ada M. Gates was the first commissioner. The Girls were given a talk on Scout work by the field organizer, and were taught a number of new games. Miss Ruth Nagel joined the Troop at this meeting as a lieutenant to assist Mrs. Trumble.

Members of Troop 1 Lackawanna, Leona Holstein-

Patrol Leader, Annie Reynolds, Mildred Bowen 

and Elizabeth Radder-Patrol Leader (1922)

  As the pioneer Girls Scout Troop in Buffalo, Troop 1 was being closely observed and was frequently asked to demonstrate Scouting to groups of interested girls and parents. During it's first year 35 girls passed their tenderfoot  examinations. Shortly after celebrating it's first anniversary, the troop went to Dom Polski and gave a demonstration of Scout work. The Troop also demonstrated a model Girl Scout meeting in connection with the Red Cross Pageant. About this time Miss Marie Nicklis succeeded Miss Nagel as lieutenant of the troop. 

  Troop 1's members were active in the Liberty Loan campaigns, one member receiving a bronze medal from the Federal government for selling the largest number of bonds. Other civic good turns performed by members of Troop 1 included the distribution of Liberty Loan circulars and the distribution of more than 3,000 cards during the thrift campaign, and helping in the thrift kitchen on Saturday mornings during the war. The girls had penny savings accounts which they kept active for two years, when they turned their savings into government thrift stamps.

Editors Note: Mrs. Trumble led Troop 1 for 25 years. She also served as the leader of the Park-Delaware District, Girl Scout Council of Buffalo & Erie County and led a troop at St. Mary's School For the Deaf. She retired from scouting in 1947, and passed away Sept. 9, 1970.

Girl Scouts of Western New York Website Link

Lou Henry Hoover

  Did you know that Herbert Hoover’s wife "Lou" served as president of the Girl Scouts and helped coordinate one of the first Girl Scout Cookie Drives in 1935? 

  In the 1920s and 1930s, Girl Scouts all across the country baked their own simple sugar cookies with their mothers. They then packaged their coookies in wax paper bags sealed with a sticker and sold them door-to-door for 25 to 35 cents a dozen.

These facts are from a wonderful Blog Titled: 

THE HISTORY CHEF! Who new that learning about history could be so delicious? (click here) It is history from a unique perspective that is sure to accommodate everyones appetite.

Editor: If you would like the recipe for the original Girl Scout Cookies, 

go to The History Chef directly at this link: 

http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/2011/02/lou-henry-hoover-and-first-organized.html

The Girl Scouts Their History and Practice

Horsing Around in Buffalo - Long Live The King!

Buffalo Renowned for Horses in Coaching Days 

  Forty five years ago this summer(1946), all Buffalo was discussing the latest innovation in family carriages with the same zest the exploits of Bob Feller and Ted Williams now receive. For Buffalo was crazy for horses both before and after the turn of the century. Every home of any size had its stable in the rear.

Mambrino King, The Handsomest Horse in the World

  Even today, the old guard in dozens of Western New York stables are making preparations for the fall horse shows, county fairs and harness meets in the old tradition. As they shine their gear in preparation for the big days ahead their talk sometimes turns to the old days when Delaware, Linwood and Richmond Avenues were the show places of the equine world. They remember stables maintained by Seymore H. Knox Sr., the Cary Family, Frank A. Babcock and hundreds of others in all stages of wealth and affluence. Perhaps some speak once in a while of Mambrino King, the "handsomest horse in the world".

  The King was owned by Cicero Jabez Hamlin, grandfather of Chauncey J. Hamlin, president of the Buffalo Museum of Science.  On May 1, 1855 Mr. Hamlin founded the Village Farm in East Aurora.
As the years progressed the farm became famed as the worlds greatest trotting nursery, breeding more world's champions than any other single farm in either hemisphere. The Hamlin Stock Farm became famous the world over as the home of Mambrino King, Chimes, Almont, Junior, and of the beautiful recordbreaking Belle Hamlin. Mr. Hamlin dearly loved his horses and never drove a poor one. He did a great deal to improve the quality of stock in Western New York and in the country at large. In 1868, with others, he bought the ground which has ever since been the home of the Buffalo Driving Park.

  Mambrino King was the farm's Museum piece. In 1882 Cicero Hamlin bought the 10-year old for $25,000. Two years later, the King had attracted no less than 16,000 visitors who went "all the way to East Aurora" just to see him. Mambrino King was led in and out of his stall 170 times in one weekend so that he could be admired by horse lovers. This apparently was exercise for both the King and his grooms. The horse was a magnificent chestnut, sixteen and a half hands high and pronounced by French officers, who made a visit expressly to see him, "the handsomest horse in the world." In his lifetime, he attracted over 30,000 visitors to East Aurora.

Mambrino King 1896 - The Most Famous  Show Ring Champion Known To Trotting  Horse History

Mambrino King 1896 - The Most Famous 

Show Ring Champion Known To Trotting

 Horse History

  Mambrino King is credited with fifty-seven trotters and twenty pacers with standard records. At the close of 1927 he was credited with 42 sons that had got 226 trotters and 228 pacers with standard records. He had also got 107 daughters that had produced 134 trotters and 90 pacers with standard records.
  Finally the King grew old and Mr. Hamlin was forced to dispose of him. He engaged a veterinary to chloroform the gorgeous horse, and had a grave dug in East Aurora. The King still rests beneath the lawn in front of the home at 100 North Willow Street, his spirit still pounding down the stretch at the old Hamlin Driving Park.

 

A historic marker there reads:  "Here among the trees and on the old Hamlin Farm lies buried Mambrino King. Mr. Cicero Hamlin bought this 'most handsome horse in the world' in 1882. Many thousands of people came to the Village Farm to admire this sire of a famous line of trotting and racing horses."

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   All the racing didn't take part on formal tracks. One old resident recalls that on cold winter afternoons, "stern faced men" invaded Delaware Ave. They drove fast horses hitched to light sleighs and staged races to decide tavern wagers. The races continued until the lamp-lighters appeared, hurrying from gas light to gaslight with their long wands. As the shades were pulled down and the candles and gas mantels were lighted in the homes along the avenue in preparation for the evening meal, the racers disappeared, only to come back the next day.

   The more staid citizens owned coaches of many kinds. They took vast pride in their turnouts. Form in appointments and gear was as important as form now is to golf or tennis. The acceptable code for buckles, for example, was square for Victorias, Broughms, George IV Ladies' Phaetons and other town vehicles. The horseshoe shaped buckle was acceptable for road work. Form extended to the drivers, whether groom or owner. Most of the grooms and coachmen were European trained and were men of the world, having traveled as cavalrymen or family retainers over the highways of many countries before coming to Buffalo.

May 26, 1895
The Establishment of a New Boulevard Route Between Buffalo and Niagara Falls

  The last Sunday in May will go down in history as the date of the informal opening of a coach route between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The establishment of such a route is due to the coaching propensities of Mr. Seward Carey, one of the best whips in the country. The coach, which is pictured in todays Express with Mr. Seward Carey on the box, is the well known Brewster coach Vivid, which took first prize at the World's Fair and ran between New York and Philadelphia in the Spring of 1894. It has been re-christened Red Jacket and will be conducted as a public road coach on the Buffalo Niagara Falls route during pleasant weather.

Seward Cary's Road Coach Red Jacket, to Run Daily
 Between Buffalo and Niagara Falls

  The route will be down Genesee St. to Niagara Square, up Delaware Ave. along the edge of North Park, and over the Buffalo-Tonawanda boulevard to the Lumber City, eight miles away, where the first change of horses will be made. Owing to the unfavorable conditions of the River Road between Gratwick and LaSalle, which is now torn up for the construction of the new electric railway, the route for present will be diverted by way of Johnsburg and Bergholtz villages, rerturning to the River Road at LaSalle, where the second change of horses will be made. 

   From LaSalle the six mile drive is especially delightful, part of it lying in the Niagara Falls Reservation close by the grandest rapids in the world. The route is 22 miles long, 12 of it over smooth brick and asphalt pavements. It is expected that the 22 miles will be covered with three relays in two hours. It is proposed to leave Buffalo at 10 a.m., reaching Niagara Falls at 12 o'clock. The coach will remain at the falls four hours, and will be due in Buffalo again at 6 p.m.

Other Horse Related Story Links:  Horsing Around In Buffalo
Fire Fighting in the Horse Drawn Era

MATHER'S "SIGNATURE" BRIDGE - 1893

HARNESSING NIAGARA

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Alonzo C. Mathers Plan for Doing This

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HE WISHES TO TEST IT

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WILLING TO PAY ALL THE EXPENSES AND WILL GIVE THE CITY A PERCENTAGE 

OF THE REVENUE -- A POWER BRIDGE SUPPORTING WATER WHEELS

"half the wealth of the continent is wasted in allowing  the energy stored in the Great Lakes to run as waste through the Niagara River."

Buffalo Express May 12 1899

Alonzo C. Mather

  For a number of years Alonzo C. Mather has held the idea that the rush of water in the Niagara River off the City of Buffalo can furnish a great deal of motive power. Many citizens of Buffalo had the same idea, and years ago they offered a prize of $100,000 for a practical method of utilizing this motive power, but nothing came of it. Mr. Mather did not hold out for the prize. He is a man of means, and he offered to test his idea himself, paying all the expense for such test, and finally, on top of that, if his scheme proves practical, to pay to the city a percentage of the revenue derived from it.
  Buffalo people have thought, pretty unanimously, that Mr. Mather should have a chance, because his offer is too good to throw away. Nevertheless, he has had a hard time in trying to get the opportunity to spend his money to test his idea. At least two Mayors, in previous years have formally approved a bill giving him power to experiment and practically all the organized business associations have supported it; nevertheless, the measure did not become law. But Mr. Mather did not give up. This spring the legislature passed the bill anew, and on May 9th Mayor Diehl signed it and sent it to Albany for final consideration by Governor Roosevelt.
   Mr. Mather's plan is that of a bridge, the spans of which shall support undershot waterwheels turned by the Niagara River. Bridge and wheel will each be of steel. The total weight of a single span of the bridge would be 545 tons, and of the wheel 230 tons. On the bridge would be dynamos, run by belts from the wheels. Mr. Mathers purpose is to erect one experimental span, at the cost of at least $100,000. If that succeeds, he purposes to go on and build the remainder of the bridge. There would, of course, be a broad  drawbridge at the channel of the river, and the wheels would be hung only in the spans at the sides of the river. Both bridge and wheels are expected to yield a revenue, according to his plan.

    The Mather Bridge, it will be seen, will not divert any water from the river. The wheels merely swing in the current, and the water that propels them passes on unabated in volume. The plans are subject to approval by the State Engineer and Surveyor and what is more important, of the War Department of the United States. Unless Mr. Mather is able to convince the War Department that the bridge will not obstruct navigation, he will be unable to go ahead. Not only are the plans subject to veto by the War Department, but the inventor is required to give a liberal bond as indemnification against possible damage to others. Five percent of the revenue from the bridge is to be devoted to the City of Buffalo.

  Alonzo C. Mather visited Buffalo eight years ago(1893). He walked along the parade grounds on the river front and observed a hurrying current of water rushing at the rate of eight miles an hour through a channel  or millrace cut in stone by nature. To him it was a sight far greater than the Falls of Niagara, for he saw a vision of power bridges and great factories, bearing no smokestacks, lining the banks of the river.  He believed then as he does now, that a body of water 100 times greater than that which destroyed Johnstown, which picked up locomotives and carried them great distances, could be harnessed by the hands of man.
   Mr. Mather is not a Buffalonian by birth, born at Fairfield, Herkimer County. He has been an inventor all his life. About 1874 he went to Chicago was successful in business and is the author of a number of profitable inventions. One that is pretty well known to Americans is the Mather Live Stock Car. A car designed for the safe and humane transport of livestock by railroad.  He decided though that the Mather Bridge should be his life work, and when he traveled to foreign lands afterwards, he made a point of studying the bridges and the current.

Mathers Power Bridge Accommodated Rapid Transit, Foot
and Carriage Traffic

   "The principle of the bridge in a nutshell is the combined use of fixed pier dams, with fixed weir dams between the piers, together with power wheels acting as moveable water gates over the weir dam and between the piers; large locks being used to pass vessels from the level above the regulating structure, to the level below.
   The bridge as explained begins at the circle at the foot of Massachusettes Street, has a fixed span over the Erie Canal 65 feet above the water; next a jackknife draw over the so-called Black-Rock Harbor; next four 200 foot spans having their weir dams and power wheels there under; next a 400 hundred foot  draw span, operating over two locks at the most navigable portion of the river.  These locks are to be 500 feet long, and a fully 100 feet wide, in the clear, and big enough to pass steamers larger than any now in existence on the lakes, thus enabling steamers much larger than the Northwest or the Northland to run with safety to Tonawanda. After the locks and the draw span are three other power wheels, on the Canadian side, similar to those on the American side, making seven power spans in all.

Power Bridge Would Have been in Same location as
Present Peace Bridge

  The fall of the river from the level of Lake Erie, to the proposed bridge site, taking an average with respect to all conditions of wind and an annual periodical fluctuation, is from two to five feet, and the volume of water flowing through the channel is such that it is capable of generating 66,000 horsepower for each foot of fall at the bridge, if there were located there a perfect mechanism for securing the same. If the wheels are lowered between the piers deep enough into the water, so as to just clear the weir dams beneath them, then the maximum horsepower would be obtained. So that by varying the amount of load moved, or number of horsepower taken in connection with the wheels, the water above and below the bridge may be regulated, and the water in Buffalo harbor and other Lake Erie ports maintained at practically uniform depth, thus providing power production and river level regulation in  one operation." To provide approaches to his bridge power-plant, Mr. Mather obtained more than 100 acres of land on both sides of the river and won the approval of Canadian and Buffalo municipal authorities.

    As stated in the NY Times Jan 25, 1900 - The Mather Bridge Bill for the construction of an experimental span of a bridge for the generation of power over the Niagara River, which has been before the Legislature for eight years, was again introduced by Senator (William F.) Mackey today. It is understood that in its present form it is satisfactory to the Governor and likely to become law.

Alonzo C. Mather

  Albany, March 27 1900 - The Mather Bridge Bill finally passed the Senate this afternoon... The bill was passed by a vote of 31 to 6 and now goes to Governor Roosevelt.
  Albany April 24 1900 - "What is the objection," inquired Governor Roosevelt, of having the experiment tried of seeing if the proposed span would develop power? If great power was developed, it seems to me, this would accomplish great good for Buffalo."
   April 25 1900 - MATHER BRIDGE BILL LAW - Governor Signs Mackey Measure - Governor Roosevelt prior for his departure for the West this evening, signed the Mather Bridge bill introduced by Senator Mackey, which will permit the Mather Power Bridge Company to build and maintain a power bridge over the Niagara river.
  June 23 1902 - ...The Mather bridge has received the  endorsement of many of Buffalo's most prominent citizens. Ex Mayor Jewett was one of Mr. Mathers first sponsors when the bridge project was brought forward by him for practical consideration.

  "There has been an apparent delay in the construction of the bridge but it is easily explained.  The opposition to the bridge had to be shown that it was not inimicable to their interests and this has been demonstrated.  I have delayed pushing this great work, also, because I knew nature would soon force the government to construct a great regulating dam at the head of the rapids in order to restore lake levels to where they formally were and guarantee the marine interests a regular and certain depth of water. This would mean the construction of a channel along the side of the river inside the breakwater, with the necessary locks, and thus the channel would be cleared. All this had been brought about in the last three years."
  "I am anxious to commence work and find out just what I have to contend with. All I require is the necessary permission from Congress and having got thus far I must not fail here. And even if my efforts are a total failure and my daydreams come to naught, no one is a loser except myself. I am not asking one dollar from anyone, although the experiment may cost $200,000 and require 3 or 4 years work of experiment."

View is About Same as Older Photo Above

(Ed.) Mr. Mathers Bridge Bill had supporters in Congress and went to committee and sub-committee hearings in 1903.  An irony of the main point of opposition to the bill is that it would be a hinderance to navigation on the river, yet the Federal government was making plans at the same time to build a dam across the Niagara River near Porter Ave. to control lake levels, and build a still water channel within the breakwater for ships to navigate to Tonawanda.  Mather was willing to wait till the channel was built before he started on the actual bridge so the argument of "navigation" could be eliminated.
   In the end Alonzo Mather needed the approval of the War Department that the bridge will not obstruct navigation. In 1904 Major Theodore A. Bingham, U.S Engineer for the district was unalterably opposed to the project, not even wanting the experimental span which would have been removed at Mather's expense if it failed. He said, "I do not like to  oppose publicly a project that has for it's object the furnishing of cheap power to this city, but this plan of Mr. Mather is so impracticable and will fall so far short of the object that it proposes to further, that I cannot for one consent to see it tried.  The scheme is visionary, and I might say truthfully that it is absolutely idiotic."
   A few days later, Mather wrote a letter in the Buffalo Express under the headline "Weary, But Not Hopeless" rebutting Bingham's arguments once again. He was buoyed by the outpouring of support from the citizens, organizations and business associations in Buffalo, along with three mayors and four State Legislatures.

In the end he wrote:

  "I fail to find in the United States a city that has not been benefited by bridges where they have been built, and there is no doubt if the money could be raised to build a bridge across the Niagara River within the limits of this city, it would be of great benefit, not only in bringing thousands of farmers and people from the other side to trade with, not withstanding the present tariff now amounts to a surprising sum, would be enormously increased by better communication.  It would also give the people on this side quick and easy access to the country on the other.
  In fact, it is in the line of progress and bound to come and no power on earth can prevent in no distant day a bridge across Niagara within the limits of the City of Buffalo, the same as there are bridges everywhere where the growth of the country will justify the investment necessary for their construction and whenever they are put over navigable streams, provisions are always made for the free passage of vessels.
...(The Power Bridge)I believe will make Buffalo the electrical City of the United States as in no other place do just such conditions exist, and make a ready market for her real estate at what it is really worth, due to her unsurpassed natural advantages and having water power of her own right at her door."

Very Respectfully, Alonzo C. Mather

View of Peace Bridge Through The Mather Arc

Editors Note: Alonzo C. Mather spent a large part of his lifetime exemplifying the spirit of good will between the United States and Canada. A former Buffalo resident, he owned considerable property in Canada, particularly in the vicinity of Fort Erie Ontario.  The park forming the Canadian approach to the Peace Bridge, was named Mather Park in his honor in 1940.  He donated the 75 acres for the park and $30,000 for it's construction. Mather died Jan 5, 1941 in LosAngeles at the age of 92.

Editor's Opinion:

   Alonzo Mather, we need you! He was a "visionary" in the true sense of the word in 1893 and I only wish he could be here now in light of all the bridge schemes, lacking in the most fundamental energy devices, that have surfaced in the last few years. If he was here he would probably be appalled at the lack of vision in the design of the so-called "signature bridges" not taking advantage of the natural resources we have here to generate power. Electricity was in it's infancy then, and even Tesla's power plant at Niagara Falls was 3 years in the future when Mather saw a great potential right at Buffalo's doorstep. Especially now when we have more diverse technologies at our fingertips like wind, solar, thermo-electric and many types water generators at our disposal.

  It is an embarrassment to our generation of "green energy" enthusiasts to build a bridge that is not self-supporting energy wise. Think about it. There is an inexhaustible supply of fast moving water under the bridge; an unobstructed exposure to sunlight, and wind uninhibited by obstructions over the water. One couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario for energy generation! Yet all anyone can come up with is "just make it look pretty".

  You can design solar power into the bridge, wind energy generators that are aesthetically pleasing and various types of current generators in the water. When the sun goes down, the wind and water would work, and if the wind wasn't blowing the water would still be going under the bridge, and if the water wasn't going under the bridge ...well... then we probably have bigger problems to worry about anyways.  A bridge will be "Signature" not because it's "pretty" (though it can be) but because it's practical. Not only making power for it's own use but selling excess back to the power companies. Throw in a fuel cell and thermo-electric generator for good measure and you will have a signature bridge unlike any other.  Also, using LED lighting, an energy surplus would most certainly be guaranteed.  The technology is here, USE IT!

JERRY M. MALLOY  

It Never Rained on Cincinnati (Street)

Cincinnati Street Along Buffalo 
River Once Busiest Place In City

Stevedores Loading an Erie Canal Barge From the Cincinnati St. Warehouse 
near the Michigan St. Bridge.  Kellogg Elevator in Background

Courier Express Feb. 28 1966

  COVERED STREET - Did you ever hear of Cincinnati Street? It is a cobblestone thoroughfare, 1,900 feet long extending from Ohio and Michigan almost to South Street alongside the Buffalo River (and connecting directly to Ohio St. near Mackinaw) It was Buffalo's only "covered" street. Now it is bared to the sun, moon, weather and sky as the work of demolishing the  New York Central and Ohio St. warehouse progresses.  Like the grimy wreckage of it's roofing and the great loading docks it traversed, Cincinnati St. bespeaks of days when this was the busiest place in Buffalo, and of a freight empire long gone.  

Click on Map to Enlarge

  BUSY PLACE - Once the little street echoed to the heel pounding of nine gangs of stevedores (30 men to a gang) and the rumbling and grinding of the wheels of 200 freight cars every day. During the 7 ½ month navigation season on the Great Lakes, a million and a half tons of freight were loaded each day onto freight cars traveling east and west from the tracks along side this street. On the warehouse side of the street, 600 men toiled a ten hour day filling the boxcars. On the boat side the 270 stevedores unloaded the boats.

 East bound freight freight outnumbered the west bound three to one. The boats docked at the unit (Consolidated) dock at 5 a.m. and the stevedores went to work. From 7a.m. until noon 100 freight cars were loaded. Then they were pulled out and 100 empties took their place. By dark these were ready for departure. One million, 200 thousand tons of freight went east every day and 300 thousand tons went west.

 Stevedores Unloading Cargo 

   STARTED IN '27 - This combined operation started in 1927 when the Great Lakes Transit Corporation and six railroads consolidated their facilities. The railroads were the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Erie, Lehigh Valley, D.L. & W. and the B&O. At this time Cincinnati St. which dated to the turn of the century, was deeded to the New York Central and the Ohio Street Warehouse, that is now being clawed into oblivion, was built higher and the street enclosed. 

  There were six buildings: Section 1 and 2 west bound; and 3,4,5,6 for east bound freight. Cincinnati Street extended between No's 2 and 3. Four tracks each containing 25 railroad freight cars, flanked each building. Prior to the combined operation it took two or three days to unload a lake freighter. Under the new system a freighter docked at dawn and could leave the same day.

  ONE LIGHT - Cincinnati Street had one electric light, an old carbon lamp high on the North side wall of the west bound warehouse. It may well be the oldest such light in Buffalo, and one of the first electric lights installed in the city.  

  WWII ended this activity although Cincinnati Street and the 300,000 sq. feet of warehousing became busier than ever, but the area was closed for security reasons. After the war that nemesis of railroad freight--the highway express trucks--was in full flower. They are tearing the Ohio Street warehouse down for tax saving and the property is up for sale.

Access to Cincinnati Street viewed from the Buffalo River in 1945

View Inside Freight House at Cincinnati St. Along Buffalo River

Warehouse on Left and the Curved Archway Which Was The Entrance To Cincinnati St. 

View is From Roof of the Harbor Inn on Ohio and Chicago Streets (early 1960's)