Lafayette Square (Buffalo, New York)
Lafayette Square | |
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Lafayette Square (Metro Rail) |
Lafayette Square (formerly Court House Park or Courthouse Square
The square was part of the original
Today, the square offers a clear view of
Location
Lafayette Square is one of three squares laid out in
Buildings flanking the square include the Liberty Building,[11][12] the Main Court Building,[12] 10 Lafayette Square,[12][13] the Rand Building (14 Lafayette Square),[12][13] and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (One Lafayette Square).[12] The south side of the square hosts two historic buildings: the 300-room Lafayette Hotel, designed by Louise Blanchard Bethune in 1904; and the Brisbane building, designed by Milton Earl Beebe and erected by James Mooney and James Brisbane in 1894–5. The corner north of the current library and northeast of the square once hosted the Buffalo Savings Bank building that was demolished in 1922.[14]
Lafayette Square is served by several Metro Bus routes and the
Design
Square
The square once was surrounded by an iron fence that was no longer present by 1905.[17] By the 1860s, the square was a heavily wooded park.[7] In 1876–77, trees that lined the square along main street were removed.[18][19]
Lafayette Square was the last park in the heart of the city, but the commercialization of the downtown area caused vehicular space demands.[19] The original parklike square was originally viewed by urban planners as an impediment to crosstown traffic.[8] In 1912, the Buffalo Common Council authorized the extension of Broadway to Main Street through Lafayette Square, which reduced the size of the square "to devote to street purposes all that part of the Square except for a small circle around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument."[19] The square has since been redeveloped a few times and is now more of a thoroughfare than a park.[8] In 1920, the square circumscribed a vehicular circle with the monument in the center surrounded by sidewalks and grass.[20]
Monument
The monument's shaft supports a 10-foot-6-inch (3.2 m) female figure, and four 8-foot (2.4 m) bronze statues, representing the infantry, artillery, cavalry and navy, sculpted by Caspar Buberl, which face the four cardinal points. Bronze bas-reliefs encircle the column above the statues.[2] The female figure is an allegorical figure representing the Union.[7] By the time of the 1979 report for the Mayor's Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs, two plaques were missing from the monument.[21]
The dedication on the west (Main Street) side honors those who laid down their lives "in the war to maintain the union for the cause of their country and of mankind." Half of
History
At one time, a
The original Erie County court house was built facing the square park in 1818. Buffalo was the county seat of Niagara County until 1821, when Erie County was created. In 1833 an adjacent county jailhouse was added.
A
In 1825
In 1848, the
The first meeting regarding the erection of a Civil War monument was held on April 14, 1866. Efforts stalled until Mrs.
Then-
The monument has survived two significant threats. First, in 1889, the
Today
Every summer from 1986 to 2011, Buffalo Place, Inc. hosted a free concert series, called Thursday at the Square on Thursday evenings in Lafayette Square, starting in May and running until September.[6] A typical schedule includes a wide variety of musical acts. As of 2012 the concert series has been moved to the Buffalo inner harbor and renamed Thursday at Canalside.[32]
Because of its central, symbolic location, Lafayette Square is often chosen for various
See also
Notes
- ^ a b "Lafayette Square". Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau. Retrieved March 25, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Lalli, V. Roger (watercolor)/ Rote, David Mott (text) (1994). "Buffalo My City: Water Color Series". www.ci.buffalo.ny.us. GLK Enterprises. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Meeting of the Grand Committee of Conference". Official Proceedings of the National Free Soil Convention, assembled at Buffalo, N.Y., August 9th and 10th, 1848. E. A. Maynard & Co. 1848. p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e "Familiar Downtown Area Retains Oldtime Laurels: Lafayetts Square, once Court House Square still center of activities". Buffalo Courier-Express. September 30, 1934.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Lafayette Square Buffalo, New York". Lancaster Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
- ^ a b "Summer Concert Series". Buffalo Place Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fox, p. 75.
- ^ a b c d e f Kowsky, p. 88.
- ^ a b c "System Maps: City of Buffalo Map" (PDF). Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 9, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
- ^ "Welcome to the NFTA-Metro Web site >> System Maps". Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
- ^ Kowsky, p. 87.
- ^ a b c d e "Buffalo Downtown Map". OnLine Media, Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ a b c Kowsky, p. 89.
- ^ a b Van Ness, p. 46.
- Buffalo News. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- Buffalo News. June 24, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ "Passing of Old Building Recalls Early Buffalo". Buffalo Times. December 21, 1920.
- ^ Buffalo Historical Society. pp. 172–175.
- ^ a b c Kowsky, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Bisco, p. 59.
- ^ School of Architecture and Environmental Design, State University of New York at Buffalo (December 20, 1979). "Buffalo's Public Art". The Mayor's Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs: 62.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ see plaque picture on this page, Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association, 1905.
- ^ a b c "Historic Markers, Monuments, and Memorials in Buffalo, New York". Chris Andrle. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
- ^ Van Ness, p. 60.
- ^ a b c Van Ness, p. 61.
- ^ Eberle and Grande, p. 28.
- ^ Eberle and Grande, p. 29.
- ^ a b Eberle and Grande, p. 33.
- ^ Eberle and Grande, p. 48.
- ^ Brown, p. 120.
- ^ Van Ness, Cynthia. "The Old Curiosity Shop". Buffalo Preservation Report. Archived from the original on October 29, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
- ^ "2012 Thursday at the Harbor; Buffalo Rocks the Harbor Schedule (video)". WGRZ. May 30, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
- ^ Anderson, Dave (January 12, 1992). "Sports of The Times; Blue Collars, Blue Wigs, Spicy Wings". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ "The Region; Judge Won't Enjoin Nazi Rally in Buffalo". The New York Times. January 14, 1981. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ Rule, Sheila (January 16, 1981). "1,000 Meet In Buffalo In Tribute To Dr. King As Counter Rally Fails". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
References
- Bisco, Jim (1986). A Greater Look At Greater Buffalo. Windsor Publications. p. 58. ISBN 0-89781-198-4.
- Brown, Richard C. and Bob Watson (illustrators) (1981). Buffalo: Lake City In Niagara Land: An Illustrated History. Windsor Publications, Inc.
- Eberle, Scott; Joseph A. Grande (1987). Second Looks: A Pictorial History of Buffalo and Erie County (1013 of 2000 ed.). The Donning Company. ISBN 0-89865-609-5.
- Fox, Austin M. (1986). Designated Landmarks of the Niagara Frontier: A History of The Niagara Frontier as told through its landmarks. Meyer Enterprises.
- Kowsky, Francis R., Mark Goldman, Austin Fox, John D. Randall, Jack Quinan, and Teresa Lasher (1982). Buffalo Architecture: A Guide (Third printing ed.). The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-02172-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Van Ness, Cynthia (1999). Victorian Buffalo: Images From The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Western New York Wares. ISBN 1-879201-30-5.