Shelton Square, looking east, showing the Palace Theater, Bank of Buffalo and the Iroquois Hotel. This area is now the site of the M & T Bank Building and the Church Street extensions. Summer 1921
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Shelton Square, looking east, showing the Palace Theater, Bank of Buffalo and the Iroquois Hotel. This area is now the site of the M & T Bank Building and the Church Street extensions. Summer 1921 |
Main Street, Buffalo, New York-more precisely that stretch between South Division Street and Chippewa Street-was the heartbeat of the city for more than 150 years. The retail and commercial interests of the city bustled with activity. In addition to those who lived on Main Street, thousands of people flocked to the seven-block area every day to shop and work.
Paralleling this growth of Main Street was the rising interest in the new art/science of photography. Most of the major photographic galleries were located in buildings along this main business strip. Catering to the carriage trade and others eager for images of themselves or their families, this new-fangled art made its way into the homes of Buffalonians.
The early photographic process invented by a Frenchman named Daguerre in 1839 was brought to Buffalo in 1840. The technique involved the use of bulky equipment and wet glass plates. (Today we use roll film.) The earliest surviving Daguerreotype is a view of the fire ruins of the American Hotel taken by McDonnell in 1850. This site is on the west side of Main Street and is now the entrance to the Main Place Mall. Since that earliest photograph thousands of photos of Main Street have been taken. Many views now reside in various historical collections. Many do not. of Buffalo and the Iroquois Hotel.
In 1996 while the Western New York Heritage Institute was conducting an archaeological investigation in the old Canal District of the city, a gentleman approached us and asked if we were interested in old photographs. Of course we said yes. He returned in minutes with a series of views of the Main Street Shelton Square, Lafayette Square and the Main Street Chippewa Street area. The photographs were taken in 1921 by the then well known Buffalo photographer George Hare. Through the generosity of Mr. Carson Collins' gift to the Western New York Heritage Institute, we are reproducing them here for your enjoyment.
The photographs are somewhat candid and mostly of the east side of Mann Street, known to the merchants who had businesses there as the "cheapside." Rents were cheaper on that side because the exposure to the prevailing winds that swept up the street from the lake. These photos have not been reproduced elsewhere. It is unclear why they were taken. Perhaps they may have been done for the Chamber of Commerce.
Go here to view the slide show of 17 photos