Tour Elmwood
Stroll along tree-lined, residential streets with lush gardens, relax in cafes and coffeehouses, shop at independently owned boutiques and experience the beauty of parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Start at (1) SPOT COFFEE in the heart of the Elmwood Village at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Cleveland Avenue. As you set off east on Cleveland you’ll immediately come across the (2) CHEMICAL NO. 5 FIREHOUSE. This striking edifice has been adapted for use as a residence and is one of the few buildings in Buffalo with Art Nouveau details. The station was originally built to accommodate horse-drawn firefighting equipment.
Turn right on (3) TUDOR PLACE, a street of beautiful turn-of-the-century mansions. Go left on West Ferry Street, so named for the ferry that once took travelers across the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario on the river’s far shore. To your left you’ll notice one of Buffalo’s most impressive apartment buildings, (4) 800 WEST FERRY.
Turn left on Delaware Avenue and pass the gracious campus of (5) CANISIUS HIGH SCHOOL, which touts the late television journalist and best-selling author Tim Russert among its graduates. It was on this site, in the long-demolished Milburn House, that President William McKinley died after being shot at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901.
Continue north on Delaware to Gates Circle, one of many traffic circles that are a part of Buffalo’s (6) FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED-DESIGNED PARKWAYS. The circle’s ornate light standards and fountain originated on the drawing table of Buffalo architect E.B. Green.
Walk along the western rim of the circle and proceed to your left down Chapin Parkway, one of the city’s most gracious avenues. Named in honor of Col. Edward Chapin, who was killed during the Civil War, Chapin Parkway is a street of impressive homes dating from the early 20th century, including an example (at 8 NO. 121) of work by Esenwein & Johnson, one of Buffalo’s most notable local architectural firms from its turn-of-the-century heyday. At West Delavan, go left and make a slight detour to the beautiful homes and gardens, especially those at 9 NO. 755. This lovely Victorian home is one of the highlights of the annual Garden Walk Buffalo. Return to Chapin Parkway and continue left to Soldier’s Circle.
Proceed down Bidwell Parkway, named for local Civil War hero General Daniel Davidson Bidwell and home to a Saturday farmers market from May through November and a regular schedule of concerts throughout the summer. Stop at (9) CAFFÉ AROMA at the corner of Bidwell and Elmwood for a cup of coffee and then browse the well-stocked shelves of Talking Leaves Books next door. Cross Elmwood Avenue and turn right on Dorchester, a gem of a street that will connect you to tree-lined Richmond Avenue.
Turn left on Richmond, which will bring you to Colonial Circle – notice the (10) STATUE OF BIDWELL in the center. Bear left around the circle and take the branch of Lafayette Avenue that runs alongside St. John’s Grace Episcopal Church. Turn right on Elmwood and window shop your way back to your starting point at Cleveland Avenue. You’ll pass a variety of restaurants, coffee shops, cafes and boutiques, including the (11) LEXINGTON CO-OP, (12) PASTEURIZED TEES,(13) MICHELE FOR HAIR, (14) GLOBE MARKET and many other shops.
NOTES FOR PHOTOS:
(4) 800 WEST FERRY WEST FERRY NEAR DELAWARE AVENUE Bley & Lyman, 1929
This Tudor style apartment building was actually a house of many mansions: each arm of the x-shaped plan contained two-story apartments as spacious and well-appointed as any freestanding home. Darwin R. Martin (whose father built the Darwin D. Martin House by Frank Lloyd Wright) was behind this project, and his luxury penthouse occupied the top floors. The grand apartments have since been split into single-floor units that are now sold rather than rented.
(6) OLMSTED PARKWAYS Olmsted, Vaux & Co. 1870-1874
Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City’s Central Park, once called Buffalo the best planned city in the nation, which he greatly enriched with the first integrated park and parkway system in the United States. South of Delaware Park (the largest of Olmsted’s three original Buffalo parks), reach Lincoln, Bidwell and Chapin Parkways. These 200-foot wide “linear parks” serve to extend the park lands into the heart of the residential areas. These parkways were originally shaded by a towering canopy of Elm trees.
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