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1901 Map of Buffalo

Name: 1901 Topographic Map of Buffalo
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1903
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1903

About this map

The dense urban grid of Buffalo dominates the eastern shore of the Niagara River at the dawn of the twentieth century, serving as a massive terminal for commerce where the Great Lakes meet the rail networks of the East. A complex web of tracks including the Belt Line, Erie R.R., and Lehigh Valley R.R. converges on the city’s industrial waterfront, protected by the Buffalo Breakwater L.H. and the main Buffalo L.H.. Beyond the city center, the map reveals a ring of developing suburbs and rural hamlets like Kenmore, Eggertsville, and Williamsville to the north, and Orchard Park and Blasdell to the south.

International connectivity is anchored by the International Bridge crossing to the Canadian shore near the Fort Erie (Ruins). The topography illustrates the significant water infrastructure of the era, from the course of the Canal along the river to the numerous creeks such as Scajaquada Creek and Cazenovia Creek that shaped the inland landscape before modern channelization and heavy suburbanization.