Niagara Square is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

located at the intersections of Delaware Avenue, Court Street, Genesee Street, and Niagara Street 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 Sou ...

. It is the central hub of

Joseph Ellicott Joseph Ellicott (November 1, 1760 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania – August 19, 1826 in New York City) was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith. Life Ellicott was born in Bucks Co ...

's original radial street pattern that he designed in 1804 for the then village of New Amsterdam. It continues to be the nexus of downtown Buffalo.

History

Niagara Square's origins date back to the conclusion of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

in 1763, which ended French domination of the Niagara Frontier and marked the advent of permanent settlement of the area. This trend increased after the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and in 1804

(1760–1826) mapped a town on the banks of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

at the mouth of the Buffalo Creek. The site of the city was part of the vast land holdings of the

Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam who in 1792 and 1793 purchased the western two-thirds of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, an area that afterward was known as the Holland Purchas ...

, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

firm that had purchased most of

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY i ...

. Ellicott, who was the local

agent, had earlier in his career helped his brother Andrew survey Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the new capital at Washington. The influence of L'Enfant's

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

is readily apparent in Ellicott's design for Buffalo (first named New Amsterdam). Niagara Square, located near the lakefront, became the center from which eight streets radiated in several directions. Among the streets passing through Niagara Square was Delaware Street (after 1879 called Delaware Avenue), which Ellicott is said to have named for one of the Indian groups that frequented the portage road around nearby Niagara Falls. Despite Ellicott's lofty vision for the new city — he said that the site was "developed by nature for the grand emporium of the Western world" — Buffalo remained for the first quarter of the nineteenth century a small village. As Buffalo's wealth and population grew in the 19th century, Niagara Square became a desirable residential address. Mayor Samuel Wilkeson, whose efforts to build the Buffalo Harbor were rewarded when the State of New York selected Buffalo as the terminus of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

, built his mansion on the west side of Niagara Square, presently the site of City Hall.

2020 Niagara Square police violence incident

On June 4, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests in New York state, police officers from the Buffalo Police Department pushed 75-year-old Martin Gugino during a confrontation in Niagara Square, causing him to fall to the ground which left him bleeding from the ear. He was brought to the hospital and was in " serious but stable condition." Two days later he was still listed as being in "critical condition" at Erie County Medical Center. He suffered a brain injury as a result of the fall and was still unable to walk nearly two weeks after the assault. The BPD claimed in their official statement that the man "tripped and fell". Following the incident, Buffalo mayor Byron Brown announced that the city would pause arrests for marijuana possession and ease restrictions on releasing police body camera footage.

Buildings and monuments

The square's transformation from a residential neighborhood to the center of government began in the early 20th century, with the erection of

Buffalo City Hall Buffalo City Hall is the city hall, seat for municipal government in the Buffalo, New York, City of Buffalo, New York (state), New York. Located at 65 Niagara Square, the 32-story Art Deco building was completed in 1931 by Dietel, Wade & Jones. ...

(1929–1931), Michael J. Dillon Memorial United States Courthouse (1935), and the Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building (1928–1932). This square is also home to the Statler Towers, Buffalo Athletic Club, the Buffalo City Court Building, the Robert H. Jackson United States Courthouse to the northwest side, and several other office buildings. Within the center of the modern square is a large

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

commemorating the assassination of President McKinley, who was assassinated in Buffalo during the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

of 1901.

Gallery

Image: McKinley Monument, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3702.JPG, McKinley Monument and Buffalo city hall (2010) Image: Niagara Square from City Hall Observation Deck.jpg, Niagara Square from City Hall Observation Deck (2012) Image: Niagara Sq Buffalo NY.jpg, Niagara Square looking up Court Street with the US District Court on the right and the Liberty Building in the background Image: Occupy buffalo.jpg, Occupy Buffalo protesters' camp (2012)

References

{{Protected areas of Erie County, New York Squares in New York (state) Geography of Buffalo, New York Tourist attractions in Buffalo, New York