The Life & Times of the Superior

The Walk in the Water, the first steamboat on the Upper Great Lakes, was built at Black Rock in 1818 under license from the Fulton-Livingston steamboat monopoly. Each voyage reinforced the impression that Black Rock, with its deep-water harbor, would be the major port at the eastern end of Lake Erie.After three years of service, however, the steamboat was wrecked off the village of Buffalo in a violent storm in October 1821. Her stockholders, under the banner of the Lake Erie Steamboat Company, all lived back east, but word quickly reached the Niagara Frontier that the steamboat company intended building a replacement for the following year....

The wrecking of the Walk in the Water at Buffalo's doorstep both angered and stimulated the citizens of Buffalo. It was the spark needed to set off a long dormant force...

 

To read more of Raymond A. Massey's story, see page 6 of the Winter 2006 Heritage Magazine. Suscribe now!

Genial Genius

Clarence Hollow, known to many for its antiques and quaint locally owned shops, most proudly hails Wilson "Bill" Greatbatch as its homegrown folk hero. Greatbatch is internationally knwon as the inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker and lithium battery, for which he has received over 30 awards. Most notably, he received the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Engineering - the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, presented in 2001 by the National Academy of Engineering. In 1985, the pacemaker was designated one of the ten greatest engineering contributions to society in the past 50 years. It has extended the lives of millions of people throughout the globe.

To read the rest of this story by Catherine L. Lange with John Conlin, see page 17 in the Winter 2006 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

 

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James J. Vullo: Buffalo Modernist

Artist James J. Vullo (1914-1999) was under appreciated during his lifetime. The shy Italian American was considered an eccentric, didn't become part of Buffalo's social fabric and his work didn't attract a large critical following. Outside a brief glimmer of recognition in the 1950's, he was largely forgotten. Yet his art shines as a beacon of creativity, reflecting a variety of scenes from his beloved city. A body of work that calls for reevaluation.

To read more of Albert L. Michael's story, see page 24 of the Winter 2006 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

 

 


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