Erie County Savings Bank/Main Place Tower - Buffalo, NY
Posted by: 
Rayman
N 42° 52.997 W 078° 52.520
17T E 673508 N 4750043
The Erie County Savings Bank was a beautiful Romanesque building on the site of the current Main Place Tower in downtown Buffalo.
Waymark Code: WM3MFE
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 04/20/2008
Views: 96
Erie County Savings Bank was built in 1893 on the site of the former First Presbyterian Church. The 9-story Richardsonian Romanesque building was the main branch of the three branch bank and was located in the heart of the commercial district of downtown Buffalo. At the time, Niagara Street continued from the northeast, through Niagara Square, and terminated on Main Street where the bank was located.
After the bank closed and the other office tenants moved out, the building was scheduled for demolition. It was done in 1968 as part of a revitalization effort to improve downtown commerce. In the process, the portion of Niagara Street the banked fronted upon was also closed off, destroying the radial street pattern laid out by Joseph Ellicott.
In place of the bank building is currently Main Place Tower, home to several IT businesses. Where Niagara Street was is the Main Place Mall, a mostly vacant mall containing only a small handful of stores and a food court.
The old photo shown is courtesy of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the distance atop the Liberty Building as they can in the current photos.
Year photo was taken: May 1965
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