Attractions in Buffalo

As I-90 sweeps down into the state's second largest city, Buffalo, downtown looms up in a cluster of Art Deco spires and glass-box skyscrapers - Manhattan in miniature on Lake Erie. The city's early twentieth-century prosperity is reflected in such architecturally significant structures as the towering 1928 City Hall (the tallest in the country, and with a free observation deck on the top floor), the deep red terra-cotta relief of Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building on Church Street, as well as major buildings by H.H. Richardson, Eliel Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright. However, the dereliction of the immediate environs suggests that the Rust Belt of rotting industrial towns may now have reached Buffalo. The city has only distant memories of the boom years, when the massive grain elevators along the Erie waterfront were busy 24 hours a day.

Darwin D. Martin House
125 Jewett Parkway, Buffalo, NY
716-856-3858
Master designer and architect Frank Lloyd Wright went to Buffalo to design the headquarters of a soap company, and executives were so impressed by his work that several commissioned him to design homes. The 1904 Darwin D. Martin House in North Buffalo is a classic example of Wright's Prairie style.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery
1285 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY
716-882-8700
Often ranked as one of the country's top museums for modern art, with works by Picasso, Matisse, van Gogh, Monet and other masters

Amherst Museum
3755 Tonawanda Creek Road, Buffalo, NY
716-689-1440
Restored historic buildings from the 1800s in a 35-acre/14-hectare park. Living-history demonstrations and tours are offered. The park is open April-October Tuesday-Friday 9:30 am-4:30 pm.

Burchfield-Penney Arts Center
1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY
716-878-6011
Displays the world's largest collection of works by renowned American watercolorist Charles E. Burchfield. Handcrafted items from the Roycroft Arts and Crafts community in nearby East Aurora also are showcased.

African American Cultural Center
350 Masten Avenue, Buffalo, NY
716-884-2013
The AACC is home to the Paul Robeson Theatre, a showcase for the talents of African American playwrights, directors and actors, as well as home of the Drum Performance Company.

Michigan Avenue Baptist Church
511 Michigan Avenue, Buffalo, NY
716-854-7976
Michigan Avenue Baptist Church is Buffalo's best known underground railroad site. It is believed to be the oldest property continuously owned, operated and occupied by African-Americans in Western New York.

Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens
2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY
716-827-1584
Come take a stroll through the most intact Frederick Law Olmsted landscape and arboretum in the country. Exotic horticultural treasures from different climates can be found in the Victorian Tri-dome glass conservatory. Visit the annual flower shows and see perhaps the largest collection of ivy in the world.