From 1880 to Today: The Erie County Jail

       By Steve Cichon
       steve@buffalostories.com
       @stevebuffalo

For more than 140 years, Erie County has held prisoners on Delaware Avenue between Eagle and Church streets.

Erie County Jail, 1890s.

The Erie County Jail was built in 1877 with room for 200 prisoners. It was connected by an underground passage with what was then Buffalo City Hall (and is now old County Hall and the County courthouse).

The current holding center building was built on the spot in 1938.