Williams-Pratt House - Buffalo, NY - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

Charles H. Williams contracted the famous Buffalo architect McKim, Mead & White in February 1895 to design this house for him and his wife. The house was completed in 1896. His brother George also had a house designed on the parcel to the south. Charles was on the board of directors of three banks in the Buffalo/Niagara area and owned extensive real estate holdings in Buffalo and surrounding area. Charles and his wife Emma both died in 1909, at which time their daughter Jeannie Jewett Williams and her husband Frederick L. Pratt moved into the mansion.

Pratt, the eldest son of civic leader, banker and industrialist Pascal Paoli Pratt, spent his time managing the properties included in his inheritance. From this time until the fateful stock market crash of 1929, the Pratts lavishly entertained many distinguished guests and the reception room became known as Buffalo's "largest and one of the most elegant drawing rooms." One especially noteworthy event was the 1926 Oriental Ball when the mansion was transformed into a lush tropical garden. Frederick Pratt died in 1922, a few years before Mrs. Pratt lost her fortune to the Great Depression of the 1930's.

The City of Buffalo acquired the property for back taxes and filed a deed stating such on December 29, 1938. The building stood vacant for three years, during which time theft and neglect caused damage to the elaborate plumbing and the electrical fixtures. In 1940, the Buffalo Common Council voted to dedicate the mansion to the Veterans of the GAR and to the Spanish War Vets for use as a meeting place and the storage for records. The vets officially moved into the "GAR Memorial hall" April 15, 1941.

In 1955, two separate companies submitted purchase offers to the city with the intent of demolishing the house for a 2 or 3 story office building. The sale was opposed by the veterans group, and the council voted down the sale of the property and rededicated the mansion as the "GAR Memorial Hall" on December 27, 1955. In 1978 Buffalo businessman Paul Snyder bought the house from the city to house his Snyder corporation, the Niagara Trading Corp. The house was sold again in 2002 to the Liro Group, who has very recently put the house up for sale again.

The above information is from the Buffalo as an Architectural Museum website.

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Delaware Avenue Historic District Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link] NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): [Web Link] Address: 690 Delaware Ave Buffalo, NY 14201 How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below) Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

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