The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.
Prior to 18th century
1620 - Erie Nation occupies area 1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation 1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon. 1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.
18th century
1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region. 1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed
19th century
1800s-1860s 1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott. 1810 - Population: 1,508. 1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication. 1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812. 1816 - Village incorporated in Niagara County. 1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief. 1820 - Population: 2,095. 1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County. 1825 - Erie Canal opens. 1830 - Population: 8,668. 1832 City of Buffalo incorporated. Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor. 1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established. 1834 - Cholera. 1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs. 1836 Young Men's Association active. 1837- Buffalo Library (social library) organized. 1840 - Population: 18,213. 1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator. 1844 - A seiche on Lake Erie sends a surge of water onshore, killing 78 people. 1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established. 1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established. 1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate. 1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established. 1850 - Population: 42,261. 1851 St. Paul's Cathedral built. Buffalo Seminary founded. 1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens. 1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation. 1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo. 1856 Chippewa Market opens. Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business. 1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened. 1860 - Population: 81,129. 1861 Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded. St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded. 1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed. 1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated. 1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music
1870s-1890s
1870 Richardson Olmsted Complex built. Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded. Population: 117,714. 1871 - Buffalo Normal School founded, became "State Normal and Training School" 1873 Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr established. International Railway Bridge to Canada opens. Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication. 1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven." 1875 County and City Hall constructed. Population: 134,238. 1876 Delaware Park–Front Park System developed. Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built. 1880 - Population: 155,134. 1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business. 1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor. 1886 Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating. University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established. 1887 University at Buffalo Law School established. The Buffalo Orchestral Association, Buffalo's first professional orchestra, was founded with John Lund as its conductor. 1890 - Population: 255,664. 1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established. 1893 Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation. Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president. 1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded. 1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed. 1899 - Labor strike of grain workers. 1900 Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins. Population: 352,387.
20th century
1901 May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park. September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president. September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president. September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held. 1902 - YMCA Central Building built. 1905 - Albright Art Gallery (of modern art) opens. 1908 D'Youville College founded. Hotel Statler in business (first in chain). 1910 - Population: 423,715. 1914 - Art Theater in business. 1917 - December 9: Snowstorm. 1919 The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal. Rivoli Theatre in business. 1920 University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription. Population: 506,775. 1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business. 1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting. 1922 - McVan's nightclub, a popular music venue in the city, opens. Over the years it hosted some of the biggest names in music including Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Tatum and Jimi Hendrix. 1923 - On February 24, Phi Omega chapter of the National Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered at University of New York at Buffalo as first African American Greek-Lettered Fraternity established in western New York. 1924 DuPont cellophane manufactory begins operating. WEBR radio begins broadcasting. 1926 Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982). Buffalo Niagara International Airport, then known as "Buffalo Municipal Airport", opens in nearby Cheektowaga Shea's Performing Arts Center opens. 1927 - Peace Bridge to Canada opens. 1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public. 1932 - Buffalo City Hall built. 1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business. 1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened 1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1950 - Population: 580,132. 1953 - New zoning laws include parking minimums, these new zoning laws are a factor in the decline of Buffalo over the following decades. 1954 - WGR-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1960 - Buffalo Bills Football Inaugural Season. Team is second professional team with the name and the third professional football franchise in the city. 1966 January: Blizzard. Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established. 1967 - Race riot occurs in East Buffalo as part of Long, hot summer of 1967 1970 Buffalo Sabres Hockey Inaugural Season Buffalo Braves Basketball Inaugural Season. Team plays 8 seasons in Buffalo before relocating to San Diego and later Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Clippers 1971 February 22: Blizzard. Erie Community College Buffalo campus established. 1977 - January: Blizzard of '77. 1979 Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established. Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations 1983 - a propane explosion, resulting in 6 fatalities and widespread destruction, including leveling most of the local city block. 1984 - Buffalo Metro Rail begins service Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill McVan's nightclub closes 1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium 1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo. 1990 - Population: 328,123. 1996 KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium City website online (approximate date).
21st century
2000 - Population: 292,648 2001 Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established December: Snowstorm. 2005 Byron Brown becomes mayor. Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district. 2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid" 2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work. 2010 - Population: 261,310. 2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm. 2017 Minimum parking requirements were eliminated citywide in order to revitalize the city after decades of decline. Tesla, Inc. opens Giga New York solar panel factory on old Republic Steel site 2020 Population: 278,349, Buffalo finally gains population again after 70 years. Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests 2022 May 14: 2022 Buffalo shooting: 10 are killed and 3 injured in a racially motivated attack at a Tops Friendly Markets store. It is the deadliest shooting in the city's history. December 23–27: A snowstorm kills 41 people, becoming the deadliest snowstorm in the city's history. 2023 Mayor Byron Brown begins his 5th term, becoming the longest-serving mayor of Buffalo. A magnitude 3.8 earthquake affects the Buffalo area in February. 2025 Sean Ryan is elected mayor of Buffalo
See also History of Buffalo, New York On This Day Calendar by The Buffalo History Museum National Register of Historic Places listings in Buffalo, New York Timelines of other cities in New York state: New York City (also Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens); Saratoga Springs
References
Bibliography
External links
(Includes atlases, city directories, etc.)
Items related to Buffalo, New York, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)