By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
The path of the Scajaquada Expressway looks similar — but much more serene in this aerial photo taken around 1955.
Even without a ribbon of highway curling between them, the buildings in the foreground remain familiar landmarks 65 years later, although each is now known by a different name than when this photo was taken.
The school, then commonly known as State Teachers College, is now commonly known as Buffalo State College (or formally SUNY Buffalo State.)
The Albright Art Gallery was a few years away from renovations funded by Seymour H. Knox Jr., which would see the name added to the museum originally funded by John J. Albright in 1900. Albright and Knox will make way for another major benefactor when the renovated Albright Knox Gundlach Art Museum will open in 2022, with major funding by Jeffrey Gundlach.
The Buffalo Historical Society became the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in 1960. In 2012, the name was changed to the Buffalo History Museum.
Looking up Scajaquada Creek, to the right the industrial area where Wegmans was eventually built is visible, as are the familiar towers of the Church of the Assumption.
In the area on Grant Street, behind and around the water tower in the photo, is the Black Rock public market.
The water tower eventually came down with the expansion of the Buffalo State College campus.
