The Hotel Ontario, circa 1897

       By Steve Cichon
       steve@buffalostories.com
       @stevebuffalo

This photo looks east down Genesee Street in the mid-1890s. The photographer was standing between Main and Washington to snap the image.

The Hotel Ontario was torn down in 1911 to make way for the headquarters of the General Electric Company.

Outside of the hotel in the foreground, the most visible building is the church six blocks away at Genesee and Hickory. What was then St. Peter’s Evangelical Church was built in 1877. St. Peter’s Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with Zion Evangelical and Reformed in 1955. The building still stands as home to SENSES Wellness Center.

The Hotel Ontario was known as Greuner’s Hotel for the last 15 years or so that it stood. It was torn down in 1911 to make way for the headquarters of the General Electric Company.

The iconic Electric Tower remains one of the most interesting buildings in downtown Buffalo.

The Electric Tower in 1928.

Published by

Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.