The Lovejoy District is a neighborhood in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
. Lovejoy is the easternmost portion of the city, running along the city's border with
Cheektowaga
Cheektowaga () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the ...
. The
councilman
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
of the area in 2017 is Richard Fontana.
Lovejoy is named after Sarah Lovejoy, an American killed in December 1813 during a British-Indian raid on Buffalo during
Niagara Frontier
The Niagara Frontier refers to the stretch of land in the United States that is south of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie, and extends westward to Cleveland, Ohio. The term dates to the War of 1812, when the northern border was in contention b ...
warfare of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
.
"North-West Buffalo War of 1812"
Black Rock Historical Society
Ethnicity
As Buffalo developed as an industrial city, Lovejoy became a destination for European immigrants and later, migrants from the rural South. In the 1830s, it was a primarily German neighborhood. With later demographic changes and immigration from southern and eastern Europe, it became a neighborhood of Italians. In the 20th century, African Americans and Hispanics moved in as well. The most recent 21st-century arrivals have been Arab and Asian, reflecting changing immigration patterns. The neighborhood is still dominated numerically by Italian Americans
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...
.
Schools
PS #43 is the primary school in the East Lovejoy area, which many student-age children attend. It has architectural and significant history. Started in 1831 by Joseph Churchyard, the man who owned the land, the school created an annex on East Lovejoy and Benzinger streets. This is the current school #43. Built to accommodate 600 ethnic German children living in the area, the school had 49 classrooms, two gymnasiums, a cafeteria, and other features. In 1926, the number of students attending was 1,662.
Recently, the school underwent a $56 million construction project; another building was constructed on the former parking lot and connected to the old one. PS 43 is now one of the Buffalo Public Community Schools.
St. Agnes Catholic parish school operated in Lovejoy for about 100 years before its close in 2009. The diocese did not have the funds for needed upgrades. It opened in the 1800s.
Parks
Among the many parks in the Lovejoy area are Hennipin Park, the main and largest park, including a recently redone community center; Davey Park, and Moreland Field.
Iron Island
"Iron Island" is a popular nickname for the area of Lovejoy that is almost entirely surrounded by train tracks (Tracks run along William Street, Broadway, many go through the Buffalo Central Terminal, and across William Street). The area also had a CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
building located on N. Ogden Street, which was destroyed in a large fire in July 2012.
See also
*Neighborhoods of Buffalo, New York
The city of Buffalo, New York consists of five sectors of thirty-five different neighborhoods, over an area of fifty-two square miles.
Background
The boundaries of Buffalo's neighborhoods have changed over time. The city is officially divided ...
References
{{Buffalo Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in Buffalo, New York