Another website of positive stuff in Buffalo!

Another website of positive stuff in Buffalo!

Bill Rapaport, a University at Buffalo professor, suggested that readers of this blog may also enjoy his website, “Good Things About Buffalo and Western New York.“

I certainly did! Perhaps you will too. Check it out.

Discover Buffalo, One Street At A Time

Discover Buffalo, One Street At A Time

Buffalo is experiencing a Renaissance of messaging right now. The stories told about the city right now are vivacious, demonstrating its vibrant history and highlighting its current potential. I understand that this city was the punchline of many jokes during my childhood, but I do not remember. Buffalo is a city of current potential and a rich history. The marketers are on the first, and the historians are on the second.

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite blogs about Buffalo’s history. It’s about the history behind the city’s foundation: the STREETS.

Discovering Buffalo, One Street At A Time

Angela Keppel, an urban planner and history enthusiast, thoroughly documents the history behind some of Buffalo’s streets. It’s a fascinating blog, complete with lots of lovely images of Buffalo in her yesteryears. Keppel thoroughly researches each street. Recently Ms. Keppel finished a series about Canalside and I recommend checking it out.

I had the chance to discuss the blog with Ms. Keppel. The backstory is as interesting as many of the streets’ stories

Positive Buffalo: Where did you get the idea for the blog, or the idea to make this bit of history into a blog?

Angela Keppel: It all started because I really want to know the origins of Keppel Street, a street off of Seneca Street.  Since I was young, I wanted to know why it was called Keppel Street.  When I started to research the streets, I realized that there were a lot of neat stories.  I started the blog because some of my friends would roll their eyes when I’d tell them stories, so I’d write the blog post so as not to bore them.  I’ll be going on three years of researching streets, and I somehow STILL have not figured out who Keppel Street was named after!  

PB: What is the most difficult part about researching a particular street?​

AK: Sometimes, there’s just a lack of information.  I spend a lot of time tracking down primary sources.  There’s a lot on the internet these days, and that’s really great, but it doesn’t mean that it’s always correct. There’s lists of “Streets In Buffalo Named After Presidents” that include Wilson Street as named after Woodrow Wilson, but the street had it’s name when Woodrow was just a boy.   I try to be as factual as possible, tracking down as many primary or published secondary sources as possible.  I list my sources in the post, so I hope people appreciate that.

 

PB: Have you been surprised by anything in the process of creating this site?

AK: One thing that surprises me is how popular some of my posts are! [PB: We’re not surprised!]  I have learned some really neat stories about Buffalo’s history.  I find it interesting that some influential men have very short streets named after them and some less influential people have very long streets named after them.

One thing that is not necessarily surprising, but very interesting about the street names, is that in many cases, you can tell how the city grew outword by the namesakes of the streets – important pioneer settlers have names closer to downtown and people from the 1920s are closer to the outskirts and city-line.

PB: Which is your favorite neat story?​

AK: One of my favorites is John Scatcherd (Scatcherd is this little bitty street off of Peabody Street near Seneca). [PB: It is so small that you can’t even find it on Google maps, but it’s here.] John and his dad had a large lumberyard, and were prominent Buffalonians. When President McKinley died, Theodore Roosevelt was rushed to Buffalo to be inaugurated.  He got to town without a hat, and proper ettiquitte would have a President wear a hat, so Mr. Scatcherd loaned Teddy his hat.  

I’m also a big fan of the Mineral Springs information.  There actually is a mineral spring near there, and in the 1830s and 40s, it operated as a spa.  The library actually has a copy of the booklet the spa put out to tell of all the diseases and ailments the mineral springs would treat and what methods to use to treat them using the sulpherated water.

PB: Which posts have been your most popular?

AK: My most popular post is Zittel Street – he’s the guy who decided the post office should be called “South Buffalo” when it was still a hamlet, so a lot of people shared it.  My posts about South Buffalo tend to get the most shares – I’m not really 100% why, but I think they have a lot of neighborhood pride – my grandparents were South Buffalonians, so it makes me happy that they get a lot of shares too.

My Canal Street post has a ton of views as well – it’s my 4th most viewed post, and it’s only a month old!   I think the Canal Street story is fascinating, and it’s something that a lot of people don’t know, so that one is popular b/c of that.

I notice that anytime the Skyway is mentioned in the news, my post about the Skyway gets a lot of views too.  Also Central Park plaza redevelopment news stores send people to my post about Central Park.

PB: Have you ever thought of publishing your findings in a book?

AK: I do have plans to put out a book eventually.  It’s hard to find time, but hopefully someday!  If that never pans out, I plan to at the very least give my research to the Buffalo Library, so a record can be saved for the future.

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So there you have it! I highly recommend blocking off an hour or two and reading Discovering Buffalo, One Street At A Time. The time will pass quickly and you’ll have a richer sense of the city we live in.

The Broadway Market on Good Friday

You do not generally want to linger in a crowd in Buffalo. After all, we are New Yorkers, albeit Western New Yorkers. While friendlier than the downstate variety, we can be impatient. Anyone who has driven on the 290 expressway or accidentally wandered through the Amherst Street Wegmans on a Sunday can tell you tales of less than stellar dispositions when space gets tight.

None of this was true at the Broadway Market on Good Friday. The market was elbows to elbows of joviality and cheer.

The Broadway Market is a special place to Buffalonians. Currently 123 years old(!), the market was started by Eastern European immigrants, primarily Polish, to reproduce Old World customs. In Eastern Europe, it was common to have a market that sold basic goods and also served as the community’s social gathering place. Buffalo’s Broadway Market fulfilled both roles, and grew to fill the entire block of Broadway.

The Broadway Market is a traditional destination for the Polish ethnic community of Buffalo during Easter. I traveled there on Good Friday to check it out.

The scenery is striking. Buffalo is flat, so generally you only see the sky when you look into the distance. Not so in Historic Polonia! There, the sky is occupied with the towers of three different Roman Catholic churches (St. Stanislaus, Corpus Christi, and the former Transfiguration Church. In addition, you can see the magnificent tower of the Buffalo Central Terminal.

This is a contrast to being inside the market, where your range of sight is quite limited. It was PACKED.

It was as crowded as the occupants were delightful. People responded to the inevitable bumps with laughs and good-natured apologies, strangers were friendlier than usual, and everyone delighted in the act of being there. It is a traditional that marries Old World capitalism with religious celebration: the purpose of being there is to acquire the traditional items for Easter celebrations. This means butter sculpted into lambs, marvelously painted eggs, many varieties of sausage, pierogies, poppyseed rolls (which were delicious!), nut rolls, placek, chrusciki, and much more. There are produce vendors, crafters, and many wineries selling their creations. The vendors seemed to revel in the crowds, and the patrons basked in the re-enactment of a tradition. You could feel the electricity in the room. It was such a lovely experience!

The Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood is no longer a Polish enclave; it is now a primarily African-American neighborhood. The Broadway Market continues to have businesses year-round, making it a walkable destination of goods and services for the current residents of the area.

It was a lot of fun, and distinctly Buffalo. I totally recommend it.

First Post of this Project

Today I held my daughter’s hands as we walked down the street I live on. I could hear the bells echoing from the Church of the Assumption, likely celebrating Holy Thursday. The sun streamed gold against the nearly-century old houses. My neighbor’s kids were playing in the road. In the distance, I can see the towers of the Richardson-Olmsted complex, and in the far far distance, I can see the former HSBC Tower.

This city is a delight to walk through. You pass an abundance of gorgeous architecture, interact with mostly friendly people, and, at least for my neighborhood, arrive at your errand-running destination without needing to use a car. It has West Coast trends with Rust Belt rent. Buffalo has a lot going for it.

I hope with this blog, and twitter feed, to capture some of the loveliness which makes living in Buffalo wonderful. I am envisioning a community project where many people submit their essays.

I think the time is right for a project like this. Compared to when I lived here years ago, people seem to be excited and appreciative of the wonderful things going on. Let us document them. Let us remember.