This area of the site will attempt to show the stark contrast between Buffalo and Western New York in its industrial northeast heyday and the sad reality of a depressed 21st Century Rust-Belt city.

Buffalo Central Terminal in 1951 and well over a decade after its abandonment in 1995
Note the complete eradication of the Stock Yards to the southeast. For a 1927 view just as its construction was started, click here.

Delaware Park in 1927 and again in 1995
The Scajaquada Expressway has replaced the drive through the Park, the Park Lake, Mirror Lake and Scajaquada Creek are much smaller and the west end of Humboldt Parkway and Agassiz Circle have been virtually destroyed by the Rt. 198 expressway.

Humboldt Parkway from Main Street to Florida Street in 1927 and 1995
This covers the area which became "The Hourglass" after the Kensington and Scajacquada Expressways were built. This is the second in the series which graphically demonstrates how these highways severed a number of east side neighborhoods.

The third image in the "Humboldt to Highway" series, 1927 and 1995 again
These two aerials continue south from Florida Street to Humboldt Park at Best Street. There is just enough relief visible in the 1995 half to really "drive home" how much damage the Kensington Expressway did to the now bisected east side of Buffalo.

Early images are adapted from Erie County aerial surveys and modern images are adapted from the USGS images in Microsoft's TerraServer project. Images were processed to enhance contrast and match each other in size.

© 2003-2007 J. Henry Priebe Jr.