Buffalo/Niagara Falls NY Fun Facts

Buffalo was the quintessential 19th Century boomtown. Its position at the western end of the Erie Canal made it the Gateway to the West – the departure point for immigrants on their way to the heartland.

• Second larges city in New York State with population 261,310
• It was the first city to feature electric street lights in 1886 (thanks to the proximity to Niagara Falls)
• Anchor Bar invented Buffalo Chicken Wings in 1964
• Buffalo is host to the longest-running foot race in America – the annual Turkey Trot started in 1896
• Windshield wipers were invented in Buffalo
• Buffalo was one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad, a beacon for runaway slaves seeking freedom on the far side of the Niagara River.
• Fortunes were made here by the likes of a young William G. Fargo, founder of American Express and Wells Fargo.
• A President was assassinated here – William McKinley at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition – and another inaugurated – Theodore Roosevelt at the Wilcox Mansion.
• Buffalo also sent two of its sons – Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland -to Washington as Presidents.
• At the beginning of the 1900s Buffalo was home to more millionaires per capital than any other city in the country and many of the homes were built on Delaware Ave known as “Millionaires Row”
• Over 200 movies have been filmed in Buffalo including Best Friends, Bruce Almighty, Hide in Plain Sight, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Tuck Everlasting.
• The Niagara Falls are made up of 3 waterfalls, the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The 3 waterfalls combine to produce the highest flow rate of any waterfall on earth
• The Niagara Falls are visited by around 30 million people every year.
• The Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States (1885).
• Power generation facilities along the Niagara River supply more than one-quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario.
• 50 to 75 percent of the water flowing along the Niagara River is diverted from going over the Falls to hydroelectric power generating stations.

VISIT THE SITES BELOW TO DISCOVER WHAT’S HAPPENING IN BUFFALO!