By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
The Strohm family owned The Circle Inn on Lakeshore Road from 1939 until 1963. Before the new Lakeshore Rd. cut through the property, The Circle Inn was famous for what many said was the best view of the lake and the lakeshore back toward Buffalo.
The place was one of a handful of taverns and clubs which were right in the vicinity of that infamous “go-to” spot for television news broadcasts trying to show Western New York just how filled with frenzy the winds are coming off the lake.
The Circle Inn was directly across the street from Red Top Hot Dogs— not far from Hoak’s, where that now-famous car became encased in ice during a storm in January, 2016. The photo went viral, and had national news outlets like ABC visiting Hamburg.
At one point in 1950, the Strohms were offering “the only lakefront properties available between Buffalo and Evans, only 9 miles from Lafayette Square.” His property was divided into 20 smaller lots for summer homes.
After the Strohm family sold the business, the restaurant was known as The Seacrest Supper Club. The building burned down in 1968.
Frank Strohm lived in Hamburg from 1936 until he retired to Florida in 1963. He died in Boca Raton in 1971. While Frank is shown here behind the bar, it was his wife Mary who was the tavern’s legal owner. Living to see four great-great grandchildren, she died at the age of 101 in 2002.
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This story originally appeared in The Hamburg Sun.
