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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.
- 1620 - Erie Nation occupies area
- 1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation
- 1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon.[1]
- 1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.[1]
- 1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region.[1]
- 1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed
1800s-1860s
- 1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott. [2]
- 1810 - Population: 1,508.
- 1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication.[3]
- 1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812.[2][4]
- 1816 - Village incorporated in Niagara County.[5]
- 1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief.[6][1]
- 1820 - Population: 2,095.[2]
- 1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County.[5]
- 1825 - Erie Canal opens.[7]
- 1830 - Population: 8,668.[8][2]
- 1832
- City of Buffalo incorporated.[5]
- Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor.[1]
- 1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established.[2]
- 1834 - Cholera.[1]
- 1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs.
- 1836
- Young Men's Association active.[9][10]
- Buffalo Library (social library) organized.[11]
- 1840 - Population: 18,213.[8][2]
- 1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator.[1]
- 1844 - A seiche on Lake Erie sends a 22-foot (6.7 m) surge of water onshore, killing 78 people.[12]
- 1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established.
- 1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established.[13]
- 1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate.[6][1]
- 1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established.[1]
- 1850 - Population: 42,261.[8][2]
- 1851
- St. Paul's Cathedral built.[2]
- Buffalo Seminary founded.[1]
- 1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens.[14]
- 1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation.[4]
- 1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo.[6]
- 1856
- Chippewa Market opens.[15]
- Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business.[16]
- 1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened.
- 1860 - Population: 81,129.[8][2]
- 1861
- Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded.[17]
- St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded.[1]
- 1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed.[17]
- 1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated.
- 1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music[14]
1870s-1890s
- 1870
- Richardson Olmsted Complex built.
- Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded.[1]
- Population: 117,714.[8][2]
- 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.[5]
- Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication.[3]
- 1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven."[2]
- 1875
- County and City Hall constructed.[2]
- Population: 134,238.[2]
- 1876
- Delaware Park–Front Park System developed.[2]
- Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built.
- 1880 - Population: 155,134.[8]
- 1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business.[18]
- 1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor.[4]
- 1886
- Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating.[4][7]
- University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established.[1]
- 1887 - University at Buffalo Law School established.[1]
- 1890 - Population: 255,664.[8]
- 1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established.[1]
- 1893
- Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation.[19]
- Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president.[4]
- 1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded.
- 1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed.[1]
- 1899 - Labor strike of grain workers.[20]
- 1900
- Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins.[18]
- Population: 352,387.[8]
- 1901
- May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park.[6]
- September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president.[21][1]
- September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president.
- September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held.[6]
- 1902 - YMCA Central Building built.[22]
- 1905 - Albright Art Gallery (of modern art) opens.[18]
- 1908
- D'Youville College founded.[22]
- Hotel Statler in business (first in chain).[18]
- 1910 - Population: 423,715.[8]
- 1914 - Art Theater in business.[23]
- 1917 - December 9: Snowstorm.[24]
- 1919
- The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal.[22]
- Rivoli Theatre in business.[23]
- 1920
- University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription.[22]
- Population: 506,775.[8][22]
- 1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business.[23]
- 1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting.[25]
- 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
- 1926
- Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982).[3]
- 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.[6]
- 1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public.
- 1932 - Buffalo City Hall built.[5]
- 1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business.[18]
- 1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened
- 1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[26]
- 1950 - Population: 580,132.[8]
- 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.[26]
- 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.[24]
- Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established.[17]
- 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.[24]
- Erie Community College Buffalo campus established.[5]
- 1977 - January: Blizzard of '77.[4]
- 1979
- Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established.[17]
- Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations
- 1984 -
- Buffalo Metro Rail begins service
- Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill
- 1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium
- 1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo.[17]
- 1990 - Population: 328,123.[8]
- 1996
- KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
- City website online (approximate date).[27][28]
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- 2000 - Population: 292,648
- 2001
- Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established
- December: Snowstorm.[5]
- 2005
- Byron Brown becomes mayor.
- Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district.[29]
- 2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid"[24]
- 2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work.[30]
- 2010 - Population: 261,310.[31]
- 2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm.[24]
- 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.[32]
- Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests
- 2022
- May 14: The deadliest shooting in the city's 221-year history occurs. 13 people are shot, and 10 of them die.[33]
- 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.
- 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
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