Our Neighborhoods

South Buffalo

Home many unique Buffalo Assets. Cazenovia Park and South Park Lake are both part of Olmsted's  Park and parkway system. Gallagher Beach,The Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, and Tifft Nature Preserve make this a great area of Buffalo.

This residential neighborhood grew in response to the commercial success of the industrial development in the First Ward. Traditionally Irish-American, the neighborhood retains its Celtic flavor in area restaurants, churches, and social clubs. Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo and Trocaire College are important community centers. Cazenovia Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo River, winds through the neighborhood and the beautifully landscaped Cazenovia Park to South Park.

Kaisertown

By the 1890s, the population of the German neighborhood increased significantly as Polish immigrants began to make their homes there. Settling in the western corner of the district, they found work in the railroad yards or at the Snow Steam Pumps factory, later known as Worthington Compressor. Typical of their characteristic of settling in the vicinity of a Catholic house of worship, in 1890 the earliest arrivals established. St. Casimer Church as the social and religious center of their lives.

East Lovejoy

Commonly referred to as Iron Island, the Lovejoy area is located on land once owned by Millard Fillmore. Legend has it that an assistant pastor at St. Agnes Church on Ludington Street gave the area the unique designation after hearing a train whistle. Recognizing that railroad tracks circled the entire perimeter ofthe neighborhood, he began to refer to it as Iron Island, a name which has more or less stuck with the neighborhood.

The Old First Ward

Oldest section of south buffalo. The only area of south Buffalo that wasn't purchased from the Seneca Indian Tribe in the 1800's.

The Valley

Separated by the tracks, this area became known as The Valley, as the only way in became via bridges over the tracks. Prior to their removal to the area near William and Fillmore Avenue, the northwest corner of The Valley, near the intersection of Elk and Van Rensselaer Streets, served as the location of the first stock yards in the city.

Clinton-Bailey

Today, the location of the Clinton-Bailey Farmers Market is central within the growing region and central within the “food distribution hub” of the City of Buffalo.

Seneca-Babcock

As the population of the city spread into the area in the late1870s and early 1880s, the area became known as Oakdale after the large number of Oak trees standing there.
The intersection of Babcock and Clinton developed approximately ten years later as a German community, with many.of the residents there working in the adjacent railroad yards.

Excerpts from Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York, by James Napora.

[ We would like to fill in further description, including an Individual History page for Each Neighborhood. We appreciate Reader Submissions. ]