# Timeline of Buffalo, New York

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Buffalo, New York, United States.

## Prior to 18th century

* 1620 - Erie Nation occupies area
* 1651 - Seneca Nation destroys Erie Nation
* 1679 - La Salle built Fort Conti and launched Le Griffon.
* 1687 - Marquis de Denonville built Fort Denonville at the mouth of the river.

## 18th century

* 1784 - Area known as the Buffalo Creek region.
* 1793 - Holland Land Purchase is completed

## 19th century
### 1800s-1860s

* 1801 - Buffalo is founded by Joseph Ellicott.
* 1810 - Population: 1,508.
* 1811 - Buffalo Gazette newspaper begins publication.
* 1813 - December 30: Battle of Buffalo fought during the War of 1812.
* 1816 - Village incorporated in Niagara County.
* 1818 - Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. It was named after Walk-in-the-Water a Huron chief.
* 1820 - Population: 2,095.
* 1821 - Buffalo designated seat of newly created Erie County.
* 1825 - Erie Canal opens.
* 1830 - Population: 8,668.
* 1832
** City of Buffalo incorporated.
** Ebenezer Johnson served as the first Mayor.
* 1833 - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway established.
* 1834 - Cholera.
* 1835 - November 11: "Cyclone" occurs.
* 1836
** Young Men's Association active.
** Buffalo Library (social library) organized.
* 1840 - Population: 18,213.
* 1842 - Joseph Dart invented the Dart's Elevator, a steam-powered grain elevator.
* 1844 - A seiche on Lake Erie sends a 22-foot (6.7 m) surge of water onshore, killing 78 people.
* 1846 - University of Buffalo and its Medical School established.
* 1847 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo established.
* 1848 - June: 1848 Free Soil Party national convention held in Buffalo; Martin Van Buren nominated as U.S. presidential candidate.
* 1849 - Forest Lawn Cemetery established.
* 1850 - Population: 42,261.
* 1851
** St. Paul's Cathedral built.
** Buffalo Seminary founded.
* 1852 - Metropolitan Theatre is built and opens.
* 1853 - New York Central Railroad in operation.
* 1854 - YMCA U.S. branch organized in Buffalo.
* 1856
** Chippewa Market opens.
** Manufacturers and Traders Bank in business.
* 1858 - Broadway Arsenal opened.
* 1860 - Population: 81,129.
* 1861
** Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences founded.
** St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute founded.
* 1862 - Buffalo Historical Society formed.
* 1863 - St. Joseph Cathedral consecrated.
* 1868 - Metropolitan Theatre is renovated and re-opens as the Academy of Music

### 1870s-1890s

* 1870
** Richardson Olmsted Complex built.
** Roman Catholic (Jesuit) Canisius College founded.
** Population: 117,714.
* 1871 - Buffalo Normal School founded, became "State Normal and Training School"
* 1873
** Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr established.
** International Railway Bridge to Canada opens.
** Buffalo Sunday Morning News begins publication.
* 1874 - "The number of ships built at Buffalo was thirty-seven."
* 1875
** County and City Hall constructed.
** Population: 134,238.
* 1876
** Delaware Park–Front Park System developed.
** Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church built.
* 1880 - Population: 155,134.
* 1881 - Architect Louise Blanchard Bethune in business.
* 1882 - Grover Cleveland becomes mayor.
* 1886
** Westinghouse AC electrical power station begins operating.
** University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy established.
* 1887 - University at Buffalo Law School established.
* 1890 - Population: 255,664.
* 1892 - University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine established.
* 1893
** Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad in operation.
** Former mayor Grover Cleveland becomes U.S. president.
* 1894 - Twentieth Century Club founded.
* 1896 - Ellicott Square Building completed.
* 1899 - Labor strike of grain workers.
* 1900
** Manufacture of Thomas Auto-Bi motorcycle begins.
** Population: 352,387.

## 20th century

* 1901
** May 1: Pan-American Exposition opens in Delaware Park.
** September 6: Assassination of William McKinley, U.S. president.
** September 14: Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. president.
** September 23–24: Trial of assassin Leon Czolgosz held.
* 1902 - YMCA Central Building built.
* 1905 - Albright Art Gallery (of modern art) opens.
* 1908
** D'Youville College founded.
** Hotel Statler in business (first in chain).
* 1910 - Population: 423,715.
* 1914 - Art Theater in business.
* 1917 - December 9: Snowstorm.
* 1919
** The new Erie Canal was rebuilt as a barge canal.
** Rivoli Theatre in business.
* 1920
** University at Buffalo raised an endowment of $5m. by popular subscription.
** Population: 506,775.
* 1921 - Loew's State Theatre in business.
* 1922 - WGR radio begins broadcasting.
* 1923 - On February 24, Phi Omega chapter of the National Omega Psi Phi fraternity was chartered at University of New York at Buffalo as first African American Greek-Lettered Fraternity established in western New York.
* 1924
** DuPont cellophane manufactory begins operating.
** WEBR radio begins broadcasting.
* 1926
** Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper in publication (ceased 1982).
** Buffalo Niagara International Airport, then known as "Buffalo Municipal Airport", opens in nearby Cheektowaga
** Shea's Performing Arts Center opens.
* 1927 - Peace Bridge to Canada opens.
* 1929 - Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Central Terminal open to public.
* 1932 - Buffalo City Hall built.
* 1936 - Coin-operated Launder-Ur-Own laundromat in business.
* 1940 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium opened
* 1948 - WBEN-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
* 1950 - Population: 580,132.
* 1953 - New zoning laws include parking minimums, these new zoning laws are a factor in the decline of Buffalo over the following decades.
* 1954 - WGR-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
* 1960 - Buffalo Bills Football Inaugural Season. Team is second professional team with the name and the third professional football franchise in the city.
* 1966
** January: Blizzard.
** Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site established.
* 1967 - Race riot occurs in East Buffalo as part of Long, hot summer of 1967
* 1970
** Buffalo Sabres Hockey Inaugural Season
** Buffalo Braves Basketball Inaugural Season. Team plays 8 seasons in Buffalo before relocating to San Diego and later Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Clippers
* 1971
** February 22: Blizzard.
** Erie Community College Buffalo campus established.
* 1977 - January: Blizzard of '77.
* 1979
** Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park established.
** Amtrak closes Buffalo Central Terminal, redirecting passenger rail service to the Exchange Street and Depew stations
* 1984 -
** Buffalo Metro Rail begins service
** Republic Steel shutters South Buffalo mill
* 1988 - Sahlen Field (then known as "Pilot Field") opens, replacing War Memorial Stadium
* 1989 - Western New York Documentary Heritage Program headquartered in Buffalo.
* 1990 - Population: 328,123.
* 1996
** KeyBank Center (then named Marine Midland Center) opens, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
** City website online (approximate date).

## 21st century

* 2000 - Population: 292,648
* 2001
** Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus established
** December: Snowstorm.
* 2005
** Byron Brown becomes mayor.
** Brian Higgins becomes U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district.
* 2006 - October 13: Lake Storm "Aphid"
* 2008 - Canalside, then named Erie Canal Harbor, reopens to public after early phase of redevelopment work.
* 2010 - Population: 261,310.
* 2014 - November 17–20: "Snowvember" snowstorm.
* 2017
** Minimum parking requirements were eliminated citywide in order to revitalize the city after decades of decline.
** Tesla, Inc. opens Giga New York solar panel factory on old Republic Steel site
* 2020
** Population: 278,349, Buffalo finally gains population again after 70 years.
** Buffalo police shoving incident occurs as part of George Floyd protests
* 2022
** May 14: The deadliest shooting in the city's 221-year history occurs. 13 people are shot, and 10 of them die.
** December 23–27: A snowstorm kills 41 people, becoming the deadliest snowstorm in the city's history.
* 2023
** Mayor Byron Brown begins his 5th term, becoming the longest-serving mayor of Buffalo.
** A magnitude 3.8 earthquake affects the Buffalo area in February.