Saving Buffalo Bill: Discovery of the Jamestown Buffalo Bill Billboard

A Buffalo Bill billboard was unearthed in 2002 on a building owned by the Reg Lenna Civic Center, a non-profit arts organization in Jamestown, New York. The Reg Lenna had tackled the dismantling of a crumbling facade from one of its buildings, scheduling the procedure at night due to the location in an area of high tourist traffice. Despite low light conditons and late hours, one of the crew members discovered tattered paper faces and text beneath the brick facade. The object on the wooden wall underlying the bricks proved to be an entire 10' x 26' advertisement for a very early Buffalo Bill, a.k.a William Cody theatrical touring show from 1878. William Cody and his theatrical troupe (the "Buffalo Bill Combination") had performed a melodrama in Jamestown's historic Allen Opera House soon after the billboard was posted. The enormous advertisement had been pasted up on a building under construction, bricked over and forgotten for over a century.

To read the rest of this story by Laura Schell, see page 32 of the Winter 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

Pioneer Preacher Glezen Fillmore

"Help!" came a cry from afar and heard by a farmer a mile away. Again, "Help," shouted the deep voice from the Tonawanda Swamp north of the escarpment near Harris Hill. It turned out to be the Reverend Glezen Fillmore who had become lost in the swampy remains of extinct postglacial Lake Tonawanda. This remarkable man was no doubt physically lost more than once but no one was ever convinced that he was ever lost spiritually. Glezen Fillmore's cousin, the better known Millard Fillmore, once said, "Glezen has more brains than any other Fillmore alive" remarking how Glezen devoured every book he could get his hands on. Glezen also had an unusually rugged constitution. He was taller than most men and of a stout build. These assets allowed him to serve the church for 56 years on the Niagara Frontier whereas most frontier preachers lasted only five or 10 years. In those five decades Fillmore brought religion to thousands of people and aided in the establishment of multiple churches, including the first church built in Buffalo.

To view the rest of this story by John W. Percy, see page 64 in the Winter 2009 Heritage Magazine.

Another Look: Rosary Hall & 60 Years of Daemen College

.Daemen College is celebrating its 60th anniversary by creating for itself a new face that is certain to turn heads while people drive down Main Street in Snyder - the $10 million glass fronted Research and Information Commons.

But behind the new library, and behind the other main buildings of the former Rosary Hill College, stands a nearly century-old gem, sparkling with history. As you drive down the narrow road on campus, you approach the "Hill," and coming into view out of its quiet seclusion amidst the season's foliage is Rosary Hall, the Georgian mansion where it all began in 1948.

Originally built on the property of a wealthy man's estate, Rosary Hall is known for its distinguished arched elliptical window design gracing the exterior of the building. In 1912, Herbert Crouch built a 15-room, two-story Georgian mansion that was completely hidden from Main Street...

To read the rest of Carol Cardinale's Another Look, see page 68 of the Winter 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

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