subject: General Information About The Buffalo City [print this page] Population: 328,123 in the city and 969,000 in the metropolitan area
District type: Urban and Suburban
Geographical location/Climate: During the summer months, the temperatures are mostly hazy with
highs in the mid-70s and lows in the mid - 60s.
Closest major city: Toronto, Canada (100 miles).
Political structure: Buffalo is governed by a mayor and City Council.
History: On the banks of the Niagara River, explorer Rene'-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, built his ship the Griffon in 1679. A French trading post under Chabert Joncaire was established in 1758 but was abandoned the following year after it was burned by the British. Seneca Indians under British protection settled the area in 1780. The town was laid out in 1803""04 by Joseph Ellicott of the Holland Land Company. Named New Amsterdam (but popularly called Buffalo ), it had a population of about 1,500 at the time of the War of 1812 and became the American military headquarters for operations on the Niagara frontier. It was again burned by the British in 1813 but was rebuilt and incorporated as the village of Buffalo in 1816. The origin of the place-name is in dispute, as buffalo (bison) did not inhabit the area; it may reflect a mispronunciation of the French beau fleuve ("beautiful river"), in reference to the local Buffalo Creek.
The first steamboat on the upper Great Lakes, Walk-on-the-Water, was built at Buffalo in 1818. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought a tremendous economic boom to the community, attracting immigrants and boosting its population to some 10,000 at the time of its incorporation as a city in 1832.
Trade with the expanding West grew rapidly during the American Civil War period. Railroads, attracted by existing markets and trade routes, converged on the city. Shipyards, iron and steel mills, meat-packing plants, flour mills, and railroad car industries developed. The harnessing of Niagara waterpower in the 1890s further stimulated the growth of highly diversified industry.
Buffalo was the home of two U.S. presidents: Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland, who was elected mayor in 1881. President William McKinley was assassinated in the city while visiting the Pan-American Exposition (1901). The Ansley Wilcox Mansion, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office
following the assassination, was dedicated a national historic site in 1966. Niagara Square, dominated by the McKinley Monument and site of the City Hall (1932) and federal buildings, is the focus of the city.
Where to eat in Buffalo: Here is the list of the most popular Buffalo restaurants :
1. The Snack Shack
Central - Bakery, Coffee, Smoothies
2. Allegro Cafe
North Buffalo - Breakfast/Brunch, Burgers, American
3. Mulberry Italian Ristorante
South Buffalo - Italian 64 Jackson Ave
4. Left Bank
West Side - Italian, European 511 Rhode Island St
5. Imperial Pizza
South Buffalo - Fast Food, Pizza, Sandwiches/Subs 1035 Abbott Rd
