A Brief History of Buffalo, New York

The area was first settled by Europeans in the 18th Century, but the area was originally settled by an Iroquois tribe, the Ongiara. Buffalo received its name from the creek that flows through it, and the city was designed in 1804 with a radial street and grid system, one of only three in the US. The city was incorporated in 1832. Buffalo was also a terminus of the Underground Railroad and helped many fugitives cross the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada and freedom. In the 20th century, immigrants from Europe came in to work in the local mills which used local hydro-electric power. That was when Buffalo got the nickname "City of Light", due to the widespread electric lighting used. The link to Fort Erie, known as the Peace Bridge, was opened in 1927, and Buffalo is also scheduled to get a new tallest building; the Buffalo City Tower will be 600 ft. in 2010.