Establishing Buffalo in 1758, Joncaire or Indian, or Both?

   Some histories tell us that the first white settler to build within what is now the city of Buffalo was Chabert Joncaire, who established a settlement on Buffalo Creek in 1758 under the orders of the Governor of French Canada. Chabert Joncaire was neither white nor  Indian. He was the son of the famed Louis Thomas de Chabert, a Frenchman of illustrious lineage, and a Seneca Indian woman.  

  The Sieur de Chabert was called Joncaire, and to distinguish himself from his son, the son was known as Chabert Joncaire. Because the Senecas only inherited from the mother, the younger Chabert was regarded by the Senecas as an Indian, and not as a Frenchman. The Sieur de Chabert, who came to the Niagara region in the early days of the French, had great influence with the Indians--an influence that played a most important part in establishing French control of the Niagara.  His son, Chabert Joncaire, had even greater control over the Indians, and through his relationship with the Seneca's he made it possible for the French to build Fort Niagara when permission to do so had previously been refused both the French and the English. With Fort Niagara being completed in 1726 and dominating the mouth of the Niagara, the French had plans for another fort at the Lake Erie entrance to the river, and that is why Chabert Joncaire was sent to Buffalo Creek to establish a settlement in 1758.  

  Chabert reported that he had built “a shed 100 feet long, of pine; a barn, 100 feet, with cedar timbers… a stable, a dwelling, 45 feet; a shop, 20 feet, for the blacksmith; a storehouse 25 feet long; a second barn nearly finished.”  Horses were used to plow and till the fields.  Corn, tobacco and hay were cultivated within an area of one half mile by three fourths of a mile. A year later Fort Niagara fell to the British, and Joncaire's project at Buffalo was abandoned until the Holland Land Company opened up this region for settlement in 1799.

   

  

It Is Our Heritage: Respect It, Care For It, Use It!

Commentary: Why Not Here?  

Quaker Square Inn - Akron Ohio

   Just a few driving hours away from Buffalo in Akron Ohio lies one of the best examples of grain elevator re-use when the option of grain storage is no longer viable. They had one grain elevator in Akron near downtown and after it closed there was a grand transformation to the site. Demolition, a Buffalo tradition? Of course not, they put it to good use and made a first class hotel out of it. Currently, The Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron. (click for website)

   I have stayed there three times and slept in a silo! This hotel is very impressive, steeped in tradition of the Quaker Oats Company who had a mill to go along with the elevator. One doesn't come away thinking this an interesting hotel inside a grain elevator, the reaction is more like, "this is a magnificent hotel!" And this is by no means the only example of this type of re-use. Since this was built there have been many similar reconstructions into living space in grain elevator and related mill buildings around this country and around the world.  What does all this have to do with Buffalo? Plenty.
   One doesn't have to go back too far in the local news to find the subject of grain elevators. Defended by preservationists, historians, scholars and ordinary people from Buffalo and around the world, the grain elevators here have taken an uncalled for hit over the last few years while the City threw away grand opportunities for needed redevelopment in the interest of creating another parking lot! I don't see too many tourists flocking to Buffalo to see our historic parking lots! But tens of thousands have flocked to Buffalo to see the grain elevators over the years. The Industrial Heritage Committee, Inc. has been conducting their classic Historic Buffalo River Tours to sell out crowds for 29 seasons, attracting and educating people from all over this country and the world. 

Quaker Square Inn - Akron Ohio

  The Connecting Terminal Elevator across the Buffalo River from downtown and the Saskatchewan Pool Elevator on the outer harbor would be ideal candidates for hotel development with incredible views of the lake and downtown. This is especially true now that Fuhrmann Blvd. has been rebuilt with a whole new infrastructure. Tourists going to Niagara Falls would stay in Buffalo just to say they slept in a silo!  We have had out of town developers who were interested in doing a similar development here as in Akron, but were driven out of town by the politics in WNY.     I'm not saying make every elevator into a hotel, but that is the obvious place to start for certain ones. There are a number of the elevators still in service storing grain including one that has just re-opened recently.

  The GLF/Wheeler/Agway elevator complex on Ganson St. on the other hand, is an ideal location for a working grain elevator museum to commemorate the grain elevator and milling history of Buffalo and the world. Have you ever been in a grain elevator and witnessed the monstrous marine leg descend into the hold of a ship to extract the grain? It is a site to behold that has not been done any where in the world for the public that I know of.  It would have an actual grain ship docked at it's side for unloading. People would experience first hand a better understanding the scale of engineering of these structures and what it took to manage the hundreds of million bushels of grain a year that passed through these incredible buildings. You can't experience that from a book or computer. The Wheeler elevator itself is one of a kind structure, made of concrete but on the unique design of the old wooden elevators. It is definitely worth preserving for there is not another elevator like it. This is Buffalo's history and legacy, what tourists want to know about, they've told us so. 

Saskatchewan Pool Elevator on Outer Harbor 
 Ideally Situated for a Hotel Project

  There are many other ideas and examples which I do not have space to elaborate on now but will publish in booklet sometime this summer to be available on the Historic Buffalo River Tours. Buffalo's History is it's future, it is the easiest and most logical path to take for redevelopment. We have more than enough history to be proud of on our waterfront to share with others.  Remember, many of the beautiful mansions and classic architecture we hold so dear on our Delaware and other Avenues, were built on the backs of the grain elevator and flour milling and other commercial industries on Buffalo's Harbor.
   Buffalo was the birthplace of the grain elevator, the largest grain handling and flour milling port in the world for most of it's history. The greatest grain flow in the world was down the Great Lakes through Buffalo's grain elevators to the east coast for export. Buffalo's elevators have literally fed the world. But we treat them with the adage, "yeah, but what have you done for us lately?" Respect for ones heritage is the first step towards the re-growth of this area. History is Buffalo's future. Properly respected and done with care we can combine history with a living environment that is uniquely Buffalo, and a destination attraction for tourists.  

Jerry M. Malloy

For information on the Historic Buffalo River Tours click on: 

http://www.buffaloindustrialheritage.com/  

Editor:

  The Wheeler Elevator is one of the most significant of Buffalo’s waterfront elevators. Its design is unique among the elevators here in Buffalo. It was an early concrete elevator but took the design characteristics of the old wooden structures from the previous century. There are no conveyor systems on top as in the modern concrete elevators. All the grain coming in from the marine tower was spouted directly into the bins.  The bins themselves are all open on top, something you will never see in a conventional concrete elevator. These features are  exclusive to the Wheeler and an important transition example in the evolution of grain elevator construction from wood to concrete, one which needs to be preserved. 

   Observing the elevator recently, the main problem is the corrugated iron on the marine tower which could either be removed or repaired. As far as the elevator is concerned, an independent engineer should be brought in to ascertain it’s structural integrity, and not be left up to a demolition company, of all things, to make that assessment. Concrete holds up a lot better than most people think over the years.

   The reasons given for demolition is safety with an eye on expansion of the business. That is all well and good and usually a refreshing concept in the Buffalo area, and normally I would applaud their efforts. But prior to purchasing the original parcel of land I feel safe to say that they were well aware of the elevators existence, and future expansion was not suitable or easily done on this parcel. Buffalo abounds with open land suitable for the type business they have. It was not necessary or advisable to purchase the land next to the elevators (or on the water for that matter) then complain about the neighbors and lack of room.

    A better plan for them now, would be to look for a location elsewhere in the city which is suitable for expansion and future needs. Purchasing that original site likens to someone building a house near an airport then complain about the noise to the town and airport owners for the next ten years. It was a poor business decision, in my opinion, to locate there on Ganson Street, and not only that but wasting a water side location totally unnecessary for their type of business. That I might say is a City Hall failing to even allow it to be there. 

    The Wheeler and GLF feed mill complex  is an intricate part of our industrial heritage and a key link in future waterfront planning which is now going on. It would be a great complex for highlightng Buffalo’s grain handling and milling histories with incredible views of the waterfront from above. People in power to make decisions in Buffalo need to be aware that all the elevators in the city are individually different in many ways, and form a unique museum as a whole, of world wide significance, even as they stand today. 

    Careful planning and patience with these structures will create a tourist attraction unlike any other in the world when linked together showing the evolution of these structures in history. This will bring more tourism dollars and prestige to the city for generations to come and far surpass anything that this company could offer in jobs or tax dollars. Although we thank them for doing business  in the city, they can be elsewhere in the city and offer the same potential, if not more, for jobs and tax dollars as on Ganson Street.

Jerry Malloy    

The Industrial Heritage Committee, Inc.

Power to the People, Tesla's Current Reaches Buffalo

Run by Falls Power

Street Cars Operated by the New Current

SUCCESS OF THE TRANSMISSION WAS COMPLETELY 

AND FULLY DEMONSTRATED YESTERDAY-USED ON THE MAIN

AND EAST FERRY STREET LINES

Buffalo Express/Commercial Advertiser Nov. 19 1896

  The cars of the Buffalo Railway Company began yesterday to move by water-power. The mighty energy of Niagara Falls, harnessed to turbine wheels, and transmitted over copper wires to Buffalo, supplied the force that turned the wheels of traffic and brought nickels to the coffers of the street car company. The success of the transmission of the power was completely and fully demonstrated.

  There has not been at any time since the first dynamo began to revolve at the falls, any doubt that the energy could be brought successfully to Buffalo.  Never-the-less, the experiment was the greatest ever attempted in conveying such a volume of power to such a distance, and cautious people waited until yesterday, when the first practical application of the power in Buffalo was made, before crowing too much over the new force that is to revolutionize business and bring mills and factories and people to the Electric City.
   At 10 o'clock in the morning Niagara Falls power was turned on to the system of the Buffalo Railway Company and all the cars on Main Street between Ohio Street and Cold Spring Barns were operated by Niagara Falls Power, also the cars on East Ferry Street and Kensington Ave. 

Power Lines to Buffalo

  The test was made in this part of the city in order that the general public might have an opportunity of observing the test of running the cars by electricity generated at Niagara Falls, conveyed to Buffalo over long distance wires from the power house of the Cataract City.  In every respect the test was satisfactory. Motormen had no difficulty in running their cars smoothly and on time. There was no hitch. There were no delays. The experiment was an experiment no longer. It was a complete success. Not many of the thousands of passengers who rode through Main Street, knew the cars which they rode were propelled by power generated 26 miles away, and borrowed from the worlds mightiest cataract.
  For years the eyes of the whole world were on Niagara Falls and Buffalo.  The transportation of power from the mighty cataract to the great city at the foot of the lake was an event that called for the world-wide interest of electricians, scientists and businessmen. It meant the revolutionizing of industry.  
   Today the mighty waters of Niagara revolved the wheels of the street railway system of this city, proving beyond a doubt that the power can travel, that the wheels of factory and of mill can be turned miles away from the cataract by the power generated at Niagara Falls. It is a great day for Buffalo, a day to be made memorable by the successful test of one of the greatest electric feats known to the world. 

The Edward Dean Adams Power Plant,  the first power plant at 

Niagara Falls, the ‘father’ of the modern electric power plant. 

This plant opened in 1895. Was the first big plant to generate and

transmit current by means of Tesla Polyphase System."

  There was no ceremony at the turning on of the power, but at the power house were a number of officials who closely watched the test. One of the officials of the Buffalo Railway Company, who closely observed the testing of the power as it was tried for the first time this morning, said:   "It is like the work of an expert watch maker.  Every part of the intricate mechanism of the watch must be closely inspected, every minute detail closely observed. We are regulating the mechanism and the power much as a watch-maker regulates a watch. We will let the cars run for several hours by Niagara Falls Power, observing it's action carefully, then switch it off and make use of our observations. Presently we will have everything just right and then the new power will be used continuously. Todays test has been very satisfactory. That is all that can be said at present."
  Following the line along the river bank, for a distance of about 26 miles, the electric current travels to Buffalo. Today the people of this city have the opportunity to observe the practical and successful working of the energy generated at Niagara Falls.

--------------------------------

   Nicola Tesla, writing of the future of Buffalo in 1893, said: "The energy of Niagara Falls is equal to 5,000,000 or possibly 6,000,000 horse power, while 4,000,000 horse power economically directed, would run all the machinery, drive every steamship, run every railroad, heat and light every store and house in the United States.  I believe that it will soon be possible to carry such energy 1,000 miles with slight loss, and that eventually it will be transmitted without any wire. I believe that in thus claiming the waste water power of the world and sending it's energy broadcast, lies the future usefulness of electrical science.  No achievement that can be thought of compares with the possibility of emancipating all that army of laborers which now toils in mine and forest to supply the nation with fuel, and the other army that is needed to transport, distribute and use it."
... [As a youth] I was fascinated by a description of Niagara Falls I had perused, and pictured in my imagination a big wheel run by the Falls. I told my uncle that I would go to America and carry out this scheme. Thirty years later I saw my ideas carried out at Niagara and marveled at the unfathomable mystery of the mind.”  Nicola Tesla

Hertel Avenue - Not Worth A Sewer!

Hertel Avenue As It Is - 1887

Old House On Hertel Avenue, Near Colvin Street

   Buffalo Express April 3, 1887 The public-spirited citizen of Buffalo in these days finds many questions, touching the prosperity of this city, well worth careful consideration.  One of them is building a sewer through Hertel Ave.  This avenue is nearly four miles long, and runs from the Niagara River at lower Black Rock across the extreme northern side of the city, to Main Street.  For the greater part of its length it is a country road.  The land through which it runs is largely held by land associations and others who anticipate a rapid development of the section as a residence neighborhood. 

Hertel Avenue, Buffalo -- Near Cornelius Creek

  These property holders are of course eager for improvements, and claim that many would follow the construction of the desired sewer, concerning which THE EXPRESS has said: "It is difficult to present any good reason for building the proposed sewer. No truthful man in his senses will maintain that the sewer is needed now, or likely to be needed many years to come. It's only present use would be to create a demand for outlying farm lands cut up into city lots, and that is only a personal and local reason which should have no weight whatever with the Legislature. The business of the Senate and the Assembly is to legislate for the public interest--and not for individual.  The proposed law to bond the City in order to make this local  improvement, which is not even needed, would be special legislation of the most glaring character."

  The accompanying illustrations well show the character and scenery of the Hertel Avenue District.  The old stone house, shown in the picture, stands at the head of Colvin Street, and is uninhabited. The lintel over the front door bears a remarkable inscription in what appears to be misspelled Dutch, as follows: 18 { MACH - TAILENA - PEOHL - W } 45  The members of the Historical Society or any local archeologist who can render this into intelligible English, and concoct a theory to go with it will deserve the renown given by Dickens to the Pickwick Club. The interpretation may be "Magdalena Pfohl", or it may not. The reader may formulate a better translation if he can. 

  The third illustration gives a view on Hertel Avenue, looking through the Erie Trestle near Cornelius Creek.

Hertel Avenue Looking Through the Erie Trestle

Editors Note:  Of course we all know now what Hertel Avenue has become, one of the most vibrant and active thoroughfares in Buffalo. But in 1887 it's potential was not as easily recognized, at least not by the Editors of the BUFFALO EXPRESS anyway. Oh, and by the way, can anyone interpret the words on the lentil of the house above, MACH - TAILENA - PEOHL - W ?  

Also see: So Who Was Hertel Avenue?