page_title: History of Buffalo, New York
section_title: City of Light, 1900–1957
hierarchical_section_title: History of Buffalo, New York / The 20th century / City of Light, 1900–1957
caption_attribution_description: English: "Delivering the address - President's Day" depicts an address by United States President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on the day before his assassination. Crowd shot looking on the presidential gazebo. McKinley stands hatless, wearing a tuxedo, holding speech notes in his left hand. Español: Presidente de los Estados Unidos William McKinley el día antes de su asesinato cuando visitando la exposición panamericana en Búfalo, Nueva York.
context_page_description: Buffalo is the county seat of Erie County, and the second most populous city in the U.S. state of New York, after New York City. Originating around 1789 as a small trading community inhabited by the Neutral Nation near the mouth of Buffalo Creek, the city, then a town, grew quickly after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, with the city at its western terminus. Its position at the eastern end of Lake Erie strengthened the economy, based on grain milling and steel production along the southern shores and in nearby Lackawanna.
  In the dawn of the 20th century, Buffalo was one of the most populous cities in the United States. It had hosted the Pan-American Exposition in 1901 and later became a center for the automotive industry.
  Later, the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway combined with the effects of suburbanization, deindustrialization, and globalization led to the decline of the city's chief industries. The city lost over half of its population from 1950 to 2010. Buffalo retains many industries and has developed a diverse economy based upon advanced manufacturing, healthcare and education.
context_section_description: Around the start of the 20th century, Buffalo was a growing city with a burgeoning economy. Immigrants came from Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Poland to work in the steel and grain mills which had taken advantage of the city's critical location at the junction of the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal. Hydroelectric power harnessed from nearby Niagara Falls made Buffalo the first American city to have widespread electric lighting yielding it the nickname, the "City of Light". Electricity was used to dramatic effect at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901.
  The Pan-American was also notable for being the scene of the assassination of United States President William McKinley.  He was shot by Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901 at the Exposition, and died in Buffalo on the 14th.  Theodore Roosevelt was then sworn in on September 14, 1901 at the Ansley Wilcox Mansion, now the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, becoming one of the few presidents to be sworn in outside of Washington, D.C.
  In 1918, the upgrade of the Erie Canal into the  New York State Barge Canal meant that the canal now ended where Tonawanda Creek met the Niagara River.  The advent of powered tugboats meant that barges could more easily move upstream in the upper portion of the river.  As a result, the final section of the old canal, which had run alongside the river from Tonawanda to Buffalo – and which had been so critical to the city's growth nearly a century earlier – became obsolete and was gradually filled in over time.
  The opening of the Peace Bridge linking Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario on August 7, 1927 was an occasion for significant celebrations. When it opened, Buffalo and Fort Erie each became the chief port of entry to their respective countries from the other. The bridge remains one of North America's important commercial ports with four thousand trucks crossing it daily.
  The Great Depression of 1929-39 saw severe unemployment, especially among working-class men. The New Deal relief programs operated full force. The city became a stronghold of labor unions and the Democratic Party. 
  Buffalo's City Hall, an Art Deco masterpiece, was dedicated on July 1, 1932.
  During World War II, Buffalo saw the return of prosperity and full employment due to its position as a manufacturing center. As one of the most populous cities of the 1950s, Buffalo's economy revolved almost entirely on its manufacturing base. Major companies such as Republic Steel and Lackawanna Steel employed tens of thousands of Buffalonians. Integrated national shipping routes would use the Soo Locks near Lake Superior and a vast network of railroads and yards that crossed the city.
caption: McKinley's last speech delivered September 5, 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition
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