Shelton Square 1950's
Local writer George Kunz called Shelton Square "Buffalo's Piccadilly Circus,"
the place in the city where Niagara,
Main, Church, North Division, South Division, and Erie Streets converged. In
the center was a "trolley island,"
later known as a bus shelter. See map below for location. At right is the Ellicott
Square building.
Along Main Street behind the shelter was the Palace Theater, known for its burlesque
shows. The ornate building
visible behind the shelter (center of photo) is the old M & T Bank building,
later demolished for One M & T Center.
And the large modern-looking building at left is A. M. & A's.
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Shelton Square as it looked in the 1950's.
The same view in 2004. Shelton Square disappeared in the downtown redevelopment
of the 1970's. The
construction of Main Place Mall (31 on map above) cut off Niagara Street from
Main Street. Erie Street between Pearl and
Main Streets was replaced by Cathedral Park (22). North Division and South Division
Streets, once squarely
meeting Main Street, now enter at an angle, reducing the available Main Street
frontage in that area.
The bus shelter disappeared amid the re-drawing of these traffic patterns. (Map
exerpt taken from Online
Buffalo.)
Two of the anchors of Shelton Square, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Erie County
Savings Bank. Image c. 1910.
Shelton Square, looking from Main Street down Niagara Street to the McKinley
Monument. In foreground left is the Erie County
Savings Bank. At right is Main Street. Early 20th century image.
View of Shelton Square from Main Street, with Niagara Street at left and Main
Street at right. Early 20th century image.
Panoramic image from the Library of Congress collection, 1911. Far left is Main
Street; second from left is
Erie Street (now Cathedral Park); to the right of St. Paul's is Church Street;
to the right of the Erie County Savings Bank is
Niagara Street (no longer extending to Main); and visible again at right is
Main Street.