BuffaloResearch.com

Seven Cranky Hot Takes

BuffaloResearch — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 19:56:14 +0000

Actually, retirement is great for un-grumping and poking fun at ourselves We loved library and museum work and enjoy sharing what we learned from them at this site, but retirement means being able to offer up the seven most crabby…

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Who Wants to Throw a Voting Party?

BuffaloResearch — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:58:02 +0000

What if gatherings like this started before, not after, the trip to the polls? Now that we have computerized voting systems and early voting, aspiring organizers have a few dates to choose from and voters are not limited to one designated polling place, tied to their address. If states are going to ban mail-in ballots, then let’s make in-person voting as delightful as possible. Doing this as a fun outing helps ease the trepidations of first-time voters and provides moral support during check-in processes.…

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Buffalo Needs a Snow Sculpture Festival

BuffaloResearch — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 21:28:24 +0000

There's one thing Buffalo does not do with snow and that is turn it into art. Buffalo needs an annual snow sculpture festival. Or contest, if you prefer. Where I grew up in Rochester, our neighborhood association held an annual snow sculpture carnival. …

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How to date your Buffalo house

BuffaloResearch — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 21:49:32 +0000

Let's say you, new homeowner, have your abstract of title in hand. You open it up and see that it goes all the way back to 1803! Millard Fillmore's name is on it! Holy cow, does this mean that your house was built in 1803 and Millard Fillmore once lived there? …

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Victims of the Fugitive Slave Act: An Incomplete Index

BuffaloResearch — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:12:52 +0000

We do not know the names of all freedom seekers who suffered under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Acts. But we know some of them, thanks to two historians, Samuel May and Marion Gleason McDougall. Those names are listed here.…

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“We’re downsizing…

BuffaloResearch — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:12:07 +0000

When you're downsizing or cleaning out a relative's house, here is our guide to what items might be worth offering to a library, museum, or historical society in the Buffalo, NY area.…

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Who coined the phrase “Rust Belt?”

BuffaloResearch — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 22:56:31 +0000

If you ask Google's AI who first coined the phrase Rust Belt, it credits Walter Mondale in 1984. Like so much of what LLMs (Large Language Models) generate, this attribution is inadequate. As we'll see, Mondale doesn't deserve the credit.…

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Chicken Wings in Buffalo: A Timeline

BuffaloResearch — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 01:45:18 +0000

This project collects and lays out documentary evidence in chronological order, tracing the evolution of chicken wings, popularly called Buffalo wings, from a local curiosity to a national culinary favorite. The result is over 100 events, major and minor, from 1855 to the present.…

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John M. Young’s Letters to the Editor

BuffaloResearch — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 21:59:09 +0000

While looking up other stuff, I came across six letters to the editor that chicken wing pioneer John Young wrote to the Buffalo Challenger between 1967 and 1997. …

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Who Said We Had the Greatest Urban Vista?

BuffaloResearch — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:51:34 +0000

Buffalonians like to quote Ada Louise Huxtable, who pronounced a view in downtown Buffalo, NY as "the greatest urban vista in America." But she never said this. We figured out who did.…

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Salisbury Press Bibliography

BuffaloResearch — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:11:33 +0000

The last scholarship on Buffalo's first printers, the Salisbury Press, was in 1954. Because no one seems to have compiled a bibliography of the Salisbury Press publications, through its many iterations as partners came and went, I decided to do so. …

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Buffalo’s First Recorded Pizzerias

BuffaloResearch — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 19:09:46 +0000

When do pizza and pizzerias enter Buffalo's fabled culinary history? Earlier than you think.…

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New York’s Juneteenth

BuffaloResearch — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 12:49:00 +0000

The bicentennial of the abolition of slavery in New York state occurs in 2027. How shall we observe it?…

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The Buffalo Redlining Report

BuffaloResearch — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 21:18:02 +0000

The original Home Owners Loan Corporation redlining maps and study for Buffalo, NY are online here.…

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Buffalo Population Figures, 1820-1990

BuffaloResearch — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 18:58:05 +0000

This post is an attempt to answer questions about the racial composition of the city of Buffalo during 170 years of federal censuses, 1820 to 1990…

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A Holland Land Company Index

BuffaloResearch — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 20:57:59 +0000

While looking to see if anyone has digitized Deed Tables...in the County of Erie, as Sold by the Holland Land Company (not yet), we found a good alternative: an Excel spreadsheet drawn from the set of Holland Land Company Deed tables in the New York State Archives.…

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Pick-Up Trucks as Sandals

BuffaloResearch — Mon, 26 May 2025 17:04:37 +0000

What if pick-up trucks were actually giant sandals? We get to the bottom of it.…

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How Do We Know What Happened in the Past?

BuffaloResearch — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:00:08 +0000

I first encountered this diagram courtesy of Dr. Monroe Fordham. If it predates him, or is known by other names, please let me know so I can provide proper credit. How do you know what happened before you were born?…

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Buffalonians Who Lost Their Homes and Businesses to the Kensington Expressway

BuffaloResearch — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 01:06:24 +0000

Names and addresses of Buffalo property owners whose houses and other buildings were taken by eminent domain and demolished to build the Kensington Expressway.…

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Buffalonians Who Lived on Humboldt Parkway

BuffaloResearch — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 22:17:36 +0000

What were the demographics of Humboldt Parkway before, during, and after the construction of the Kensington Expressway? We're not qualified to answer this, but we hope by gathering these resources together, someone with demographic analysis expertise can tackle the question.…

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Buffalo’s Millionaire Count

BuffaloResearch — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 17:35:16 +0000

Have you heard the claim, "In 1900, Buffalo had more millionaires per capita than any other city in America"? Me, too. Who wants to prove or disprove it?…

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