North and South Buffalo. The East and West Sides. But how many neighborhoods can you name that don’t fit any of those descriptions?
From the biggest geographical sections, to the dozens of micro-neighborhoods and hundreds of great intersections, each little bit of Buffalo has it’s own unique story, and many of those stories are right here.
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This week 55 years ago, August 27, 1960, Western New York’s newest hospital was opened, as Bishop Joseph A. Burke cut the ribbon on the St. Joseph Intercommunity Hospital in Cheektowaga.
A special section of The News was dedicated to the latest advances seen inside, as highlighted by the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph.
Fifty-five years ago this week, The News’ special back-to-school section featured articles on the latest in education inside and outside of the classroom, and, of course, plenty of back-to-school ads.
Children around Western New York were getting ready to start in new schools that are still in use today.
The new Cheektowaga High School opened on a still mostly rural Union Road in 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Maple Road was also more rural than it is today in 1960. When St. Gregory The Great opened that fall, the parish’s current largest neighbor– Milliard Fillmore Suburban Hospital– was not yet built. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Opened as Orchard Park Junior High School in 1960, the building was enlarged in 1976 and it has been the home of Orchard Park High School ever since. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Fifty-five years later, Buffalonians are growing increasing excited as new and innovative uses are being created for the aging, hulking grain elevators and mills along the Buffalo River.
But this week in 1960, the chairman of International Milling would have “looked at you funny” had you told him the best use for grain elevators might be to wrap them to look like beer cans so people have something interesting to look at while they play outdoor ice hockey.
Charles Ritz — who hailed from Minneapolis, not Buffalo, mind you — said things like “Buffalo’s geographic advantage cannot be matched” and “Buffalo is best situated to supply growing populations of the American Northeast.”
Fifty-five years ago this week– the last week of August, 1960– The News’ special back-to-school section featured articles on the latest in education inside and outside of the classroom, and, of course, plenty of back-to-school ads.
Clothes shopping was a much more gender-specific endeavor in 1960 — while many larger department stores and discount stores obviously offered accouterments for both sexes, there were also plenty of specialty shops that catered to only boys or girls.
Girls were looking for dresses and skirts as they found new school clothes 55 years ago; most schools banned girls from wearing slacks.
Goldin’s, Morrisons and Oppenheim Collins all catered to women and girls.
Hengerer’s, Kobacher’s, Neisner’s, Sattler’s and the Sample sold men’s and women’s fashions.
Generations of Americans remember the home-style dinners and 28-flavor ice cream selection at the more than 1,000 Howard Johnson orange-roofed locations around the country.
Buffalo’s most popular HoJo’s was on Delaware and North — part of the sometimes strange development of Delaware Avenue. Working class families piled out of wood-paneled, American-made station wagons right across the street from the home of News Publisher and Buffalo aristocrat Mrs. Edward Butler.
Walgreens purchased what was Buffalo’s last Howard Johnson’s location and built a drug store at the site on Delaware and North in 1994.
You can almost hear the guttural laments of car enthusiasts everywhere.
Few cars are more sought after than early Corvettes, and there likely haven’t been many available at $2,795 since Mernan Chevrolet put this one out on the Bailey Avenue lot 55 years ago this week– August 24, 1960.
With a “flaming red” finish, this car, the folks at Mernan promise, had never been raced.
While many among us can see ourselves peeling off the hundreds to buy such a classic at such a rare price, it must be noted that the National Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator says this ‘Vette actually cost about $22,500 in 2015 dollars. Still a great deal, but maybe it doesn’t sting as bad for having missed it?
Today, Hertel Avenue has a hip, cosmopolitan vibe, with many blocks dotted with trendy bars and shops.
Twenty-five years ago, Hertel was in a state of flux, still transitioning from the center of Jewish culture in the Buffalo area.
For several generations before, interspersed along Hertel and surrounding streets were Jewish shuls, temples and synagogues, and storefronts that were home to Jewish bakeries, delis and other institutions catering to the needs of the Jewish community there.
By 1990, declines in attendance at services saw the merging of remaining congregations and the outright moving of several to Amherst. One sign of that was the building that was once Temple Brith Israel becoming Faith Good Shepherd Chapel 25 years ago this week.
When the FBI turned to Buffalo’s Joe Sacco to help take down organized crime in Buffalo, they must have had some inkling of what they were getting into.
Sacco, after all, was the same mob associate who, when discovered in a pool of blood by police, denied knowing that he’d been shot.
Twenty-five years ago this week, federal law enforcers were looking to pull back a deal with Sacco, who they say had not only been giving them ever-changing information but was also still involved in the underworld crime syndicate as it operated in Buffalo and Western New York.
For decades, Buffalo’s East Side was the cradle of the city’s Polonia culture. As people and institutions of Polish descent left the East Side, Buffalo’s unique blend of Polish and American traditions became spread out and not as easy to identify.
Twenty-five years ago, The News was asking whether Buffalo’s polka music culture was dead.