Forest Lawn Cemetery

The Forest Lawn Cemetery tour was very different than the last two tours I took. That doesn't mean it was any less interesting though. The cemetery itself has 165,000 inhabitants and 1.5 million documents on file. That is astounding! It was actually opened in 1849 when Charles Clark was in Boston and saw a new movement. The movement was the Rural Cemetery movement. Instead of burying your families dead at the family farm, people were buried in an eclipsed area. Clark came back from Boston and bought 80 acres of land from Erasnus Granger. It wasnt until a year later that a fur trader bought the first plot for burial. Walking through the cemetery we came across some trees. I always thought the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Soxiety was the only thing standing from the Pan-Am Expo, but I was wrong! There were actually tree planted during the Pan-Am that are in the cemetery, they came from Louisianna. 

I have come to realize that sandstone from Medina is very popular...in fact one of the families that helped shape Buffalo had their mausoleum made out of it. The family was the Larkin family. It is 3 stories tall and houses 35 members from the Larkin family. 

There are a lot of mausoleums at the cemetery, and it's actually interesting how the whole system works. The family actually buys the plot to build it, and actually has to pay an endowment to the cemetery for upkeep. And when you sign a contract to get buried here, it's for life! No one will ever be moved from the cemetery! There were of course plenty of Celtic crosses, which historically helped make the merger of paganism and Christianity easier. 

I also learned about cenotaphs, which was a word I had never heard before. They are basically memorial without anyone buried there. Forest Lawn Cemetery actually has quite a few! Including this guy...

There were also random steps almost going nowhere. They actually had iron or metal fences and handrails going around them once. But during World War I the government asked for metal for the war effort and families donated the metal. 

The cemetery itself has over 120 different species of trees. Unfortunately the October Surprise Storm in 2006 I believe cost 1.4 million in damages to the plant life and insurance didn't cover it. There are trees from all over the world, including elm trees which were planted in various locations. I know we talked about homes sold out of the Sears catalog. There were once burial monuments also sold out of the seats catalog! One is on this cemetery, it's a light blue color and made from zinc. 

There was also the Blocher Memorial, which is one of the most impressive Victorian style memorial in the world actually! The story behind the family is also very interesting. 

And of course there is the only cemetery memorial Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed in Forest Lawn Cemetery. "Blue Sky" was built in 2004, paid for by Forest Lawn Cemetery. You can actually get buried in one its crypts if you want, however I'm sure it's really expensive. The family that had it designed for them went broke during the depression, and couldn't afford it anymore. The family was Darwin Martin's family. 

There is one last place we stopped on the tour. It is called The Meadow. It has trees everywhere that are over 100 years old. It was maybe my favorite place during the tour. The many different species of trees is absolutely stunning! 

Package Tours Abroad

When looking at package tours for Anerica it seemed to almost be more family oriented. Family trips were huge, as well as shopping. Florida and Disney World popped up a lot. I even saw tours  that were specifically designed for Christmas shopping! 

http://www.americanholidays.com

The website above is full of the words family and shopping. They also had the classic trip to Vegas, Miami, and New York City as well. The one that shocked me the most was Boston, it seemed out of character compared to the rest of the trips they offered. I honestly was shocked to not see places like Niagara Falls. I tried a different site however and was able to find place like Yosemite park, Niagara Falls and Martha's Vineyard. 

European package tours seem to be more invested in their history, really expressing the blend of history and modernity. The big spots on the site are the obvious ones like Rome, Paris, and London. 

http://www.applevacations.com/europe/

The income they make of tourism really comes from the history of Europe. 

Comparing the different packages is basically what I would have expected. The American tours are more heard towards pleasure...including shopping, family trips to Disney world, and gambling. Europeans trips are more geared towards living the history of Europe. I wouldn't go to Europe to gamble, I would go there to see the history. However I honestly think more and more people are looking outside the box these days, trying to find different places to explore. It's the places like the  Rockies to go snowboarding, or cool towns like Port Angeles in Washington state. And the same goes for Europe, more people are looking to see what's off the beaten path. 

Queen City Tour!!!(Part 4)

Last but not least on the tour we visited Buffalo City Hall. It was built in 1929. Like I said though, before that Buffalo worked out of Old County Hall. Buffalo actually started saving for a new city hall in 1920, so luckily when the depression hit in 1929 they were still able to build a new city hall. John Wade was the architect, and stated he used an Americanesque style, although today people would just call it Art Deco. If you look at the top of the Hall the building actually looks like it has a crown. This was intended do to Buffalo being called the Queen City. One side note is the court building next to city hall. It was built in a brutalist style, which I have never heard of before. I just found it interesting. 

What I took away from this tour is that Terra cotta was very popular in Buffalo. But most importantly, because of when Buffalo developed, a lot of the buildings needed skylights due to there being no electricity or light bulbs yet. And the ones that are still around(Market Arcade, Ellicot Square, ECC City Campus, and the Guaranty Building) are beautiful. It wouldn't surprise me if this architectural design is brought back and recycled. Especially with how the planet is moving more and more towards energy conservation. I also think it's amazing that all of these buildings have been repurposed in some way. All of this makes Buffalo the city it is today!

Queen City Tour!!!(Part3)

Right across the street is the Guaranty Building. It actually has Guaranty and Prudential on the building itself. That is because financing fell through and Prudential picked it up at the time. The building was designed by the man who actually taught Frank Lloyd Wright. His name was Louis Sullivan. It's a very impressive building, of course made from Terra cotta. You can vividly see the designs on the vertical beams which purposely draws your eyesight to its height. At the top it count ours out and has these branches almost like a tree. The back side is interesting. It actually looks very basic, and you can see the middle was added on. This was of course because there had to be a skylight when it was built in 1896. 

Next up was Old County Hall. This was built and actually houses both Erie County Hall and Buffalo's City Hall for awhile. It was finished in 1875, and designed with a Romanesque style. From above it looked like a double Roman cross. There are four statues on the building weighing 16 tons each. They represent Commerce, Mechanical Arts, Justice, and Agriculture. Millard Fillnore and Grover Cleveland actually practiced law out of this building at one point or another. 

Queen City Tour!!!(Part 2)

Sorry about the length of this, but it's too cool to not share!

Next up on this tour was One M&T Plaza! I honestly never even new what this building was for, but its basically the headquarters for M&T. The base of the building is made completely of marble. What's crazy is the top of the building though. The architect placed tiny chips of marble at the top of the building. Why you ask? It is actually used to self clean the building when it rains. I'm not sure how this works yet, but I will be looking into it! The building was built in 1966, right around the same time as the World Trade Towers. This was no coincidence though...as all were designed by the same man, Minoru Yamasaki. 

Next up was ECC City campus....originally a federal building and post office. On a side note, when this building was built in 1901, the Post Master General came to mail the first letter. He actually sent a letter to President McKinley inviting him to the Pan-Am Expo, where McKinley would eventually be assassinated. Since 1982 this building ceases to be a federal building and became ECC City Campus. The inside is really cool. It's very open, of course with a sky light due to the lack of electricity. You can actually see the worn out spot of the floor where people would come and drop there mail off. 

Next up was Ellicot Square, the first skyscraper. All of 10 stories. The building itself is beautiful. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside. My recommendation is you go visit this building, it is stunning. The outside amazing as well though. It's a roman design, with the statues of Venus and Mars. Go figure Mars is missing is head though. It of course has a sky light. The inside was redone in 1930 by William Wentworth Kent. The floor has an Art Deco theme, and actually has 23 million tiles. I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. 

Next we visited St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral was actually made from sandstone from Medina! It's amazing to think that they got the sandstone from Medina and floated it to Buffalo on the Erie Canal! It was designed by Richard Upjohn, who also designed the Trinity Church in New York City. The building was done with a gothic theme, and was finished in 1851. In 1888 there was a gas explosion and it blew the roof off. The only part made of wood. It was rebuilt by Gibson, making the roof higher and adding better columns. The inside has amazing stain glass images. They were very vibrant and bright. 

Queen City Tour!(Part 1)

The Queen City tour was an extremely interesting tour. We got to walk around the city and look at different architectural structures. It is crazy to think that all this may not have ever happened if it weren't for DeWitt Clinton though. He was Govenor of New York and supported the the Erie Canal running from The Hudson to Lake Erie. He actually dug out the Buffalo River to make it wide enough for the Canal in order to persuade legislature to vote to have the Canal end in Buffalo. The tour itself started at Market Arcade on Main Street. It was built in 1892 and is three stories tall. Like many other buildings from this time it had a sky light due to electricity not really being available yet. The outside of the building was made from terra cotta and had a combination of roman, Greek, and French designs. It was essentially the shopping mall of the day. In many respects it still operates that way, as it houses shops and services. 

The use of terra cotta means that it does have to be restored from time to time die to the expansion and contraction of the material. Luckily one of three companies that produce terra cotta in the U.S. is local!

Our next stop was the Buffalo Savings Bank. Now it is part of M&T Bank. This building was constructed in 1901 and has operated as a bank since then! In 1998 the dome was changed to a gold dome costing half a million dollars! It is remarkable that after all these years it is still in operation. In fact if it weren't for the prominence of te banks in Buffalo and Western NY we may not be so lucky to have as much preservation of history as we do. The banks are huge supporters of culture and history in Buffalo! 

Next we passed the Hyatt Hotel. To my surprise that wasn't always the Hyatt hotel. In fact it used to be the log Genessee Office Building. Whatever they did to restore or renovate the outside with made the building look brand new! This building as well as the Market Arcade were both designed by Green and Wicks, prominent architects in Buffalo. 

Next we took a look at the Electric Tower. This was a built in 1912, and the extensions or wings coming off the tower were added later on. It was originally owned by Buffalo Electric, later Niagara Mohawk. What's amazing is the interior is made from marble, but through the years the marble was covered with dry wall as styles changed. The outside is made of white glaze terra cotta. Terra cotta seems to be a theme in Buffalo. Eventually the building was in really bad shape and bought, fixed up, stripping the dry wall down to show the true beauty of the building. Today every floor and office space is rented out in the building! 

Before the next main stop on our visit we took a brief look at the Civil War Memorial in Buffalo, as well as where the Knox family got there start. And if you're from Buffalo you most likely know them as the family who brought hockey to Buffalo, giving us the Buffalo Sabres! The Civil War monument is pretty amazing. At the base there are four men, representing the cavalry, infantry, artillery, and navy. The other building was the building where the Knox family got there businesses started. If you ever get the chance you should visit there farm in East Aurora. It is a public park now, and it's beautiful. 

The next main stop was the Hotel Lafayette. It stands where the old French church once stood. The hotel was actually supposed to be done for the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, but was not finished until 1904. It was actually considered the best hotel in the U.S. For many years, and even after that remained in the top 15. It wasn't until the 1950s that it fell into disrepair. What's interesting is that the hotel was designed by Louise Bethune, a female architect. In fact she was the first female architect! About 3 or 4 years ago I actually went and saw the special exhibit they had of her at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. She is a very impressive person. By 2010 the hotel pretty much became a dump site for the homeless, and I am not exaggerating about that. Fortunately it was finally redone, costing over 30 million dollars to restore it to its original glory. The hotel is done in style of a wedding boutique. Meaning you could get your attire, cake, and everything else for your wedding done at the hotel. 

The inside is equally as impressive as the outside. The main lobby has the original chandelier and elevators. The elevators were installed in 1920. Even a painting that was in the hotel was restored. The most amazing part about that is it was done by a French painter during the 1880's! In one of the banquet halls the chandeliers were original. Impressively 2/3 of the crystals on these chandeliers remained intact. The floors were also original, and the tiles are from Turkey. Not shockingly, the hotel was owned by a man who made his money in the distillery business. So during prohibition the hotel operated as a speakeasy also. There is proof of that ok one of the staircases. You can see the trim around the wall, which would be where the false floor would be put. 

Oh My, What A Factory!

Unfortunately I was not able to get out during the week and visit one of the many factories in Buffalo due to working full time and attending school full time. Also tomorrow I will be taking another tour in Buffalo(Blog post for that will be up on Sunday!), so I instead decided to do some research on the BMW factory in Germany!

 

 

 

This Factory is München, Germany, for us Americans that is Munich, Germany. The factory itself definitely did not resemble the icon I drew. I drew more of an old school image. However, there are parts of this factory that do resemble many factories around the area.

 

 

The buildings towards the back resemble the many flat rectangular buildings that I feel run rampant in Western, NY. So many factories around here have the same design, with many random things on the roofs. Those random things on the roofs probably have a purpose, but I have no knowledge of what their purpose is. The factory has many signs of modernization as well though. The first image shows two very modern looking buildings.

 

 

The picture above is of the same factory.....however this image is from 1957. It almost looks unrecognizable. There has clearly been many upgrades and expansions since then. I was unable to find when the plant itself opened, however I did find out that the location is a protected historical site. The tower(which is BMW headquarters), as new as it looks was actually built between 1968 and 1972. The very fancy looking building is actually a museum of sorts, and was built in 2007. The only part that is currently still in the factory business are the rectangular looking buildings behind it. I find it interesting, at least to me, that these buildings do not look any different than the ones in the United States.

I do hope to go to Germany one day, especially since I am in the process of learning the German language. While I am there I will most definitely take a tour of the factory!



Main St. Revisited!

Going back to Main Street in Williamsville I noticed a few things, actually. In my first post I actually touched on how there was only one building with three stories, but I didn't even think about what was in the upper levels! 

If I were to guess I would say these were once houses, but obviously I would need to do more research to find out. Some of them look more indicative of government buildings and businesses. I actually did walk by some government buildings...

....when I walked by these buildings the first time I honestly thought nothing of it. I was more interested in the small shops at the time. Looking at them again I wonder if they were always the town hall and town library? Could they have been something else? It's hard to imagine that these have been around since the village was incorporated, as they look so pristine. The lettering on the building in my opinion looked new. Also the facade looked redone. All in all, there isn't any way to tell if these buildings were built around the same time. Most of them look remodeled and redone, including the small businesses. 

Buffalo Grain Elevator Tour, AKA "Silo City"

Last weekend I decided to go on the Silo City: Grounded tour with my girlfriend, and it was a blast! The tour guide was very knowledgable, but best of all he was very enthusiastic and was excited to be there. I have lived in Buffalo my whole life and never knew how big of a role these grain elevators played in shaping Buffalo. Up until about the 1950's or 60's Buffalo was truly the grain capital of the world. The reason for this was because of the geography and location of Buffalo. In order to move grain from east to west, you had to go through Buffalo due to the Great Lakes(Lake Erie), and maybe more importantly the Erie Canal. The elevators were able to remove the bottleneck preventing grain from being transported and essentially fed the world! 

Originally storage was built from wood, but as you can imagine this caused many fire hazards(I actually have a video of the tour guide showing an example of how dust can cause an explosion/fire inside an elevator if you are interest). It was not until the 1920's that concrete was used though. The process to build these concrete silos was very interesting in itself. Storing the grain originally was done all by manual labor, but eventually thanks to the Buffalo River and the invention of the Marine Leg, boats were able to tie down and the grain would be transferred using conveyor belts. 

The picture above is a "marine leg", some of them are actually on tracks. You can get a better look at the tracks in the second picture. These trcks allowed the marine legs to move once the silo is filled. The best part about this was that the boat would be tied down to the marine leg, making storage a much more streamlined process. 

The storage silos actually used a very simple system to move the grain out from the silos once they were sold. They literally used gravity, and as you can see they would be pushed out on to conveyor belts so they could be sold. And if you were wondering how big the silos were, here is a better look from the inside!!!!

This one happens to be 120 feet high, and yes if you scream the echo lasts for quite some time!

There are a few things that I thought were interesting about the buildings themselves. We always assume that things are built for some aesthetic reason. That is not always the case though.....the land around Buffalo River was extremely valued, meaning it was expensive!!! So when you bought the land you wanted to use as much of it as you could. This one building at Silo City, which reminds me of the Flatiron Building in New York City is very aesthetically pleasing to me. However it was not built for that reason. In fact it was not even designed by some fancy architect....it was desgined by engineers! Most silos are in a stright line, however this one curves a little bit. The reason being that they wanted to use all of their land, so they built right up to their property line. Here is a look at the building!!!

I could go on and on about this place, and I highly recommend you take the tour if you get a chance. I will leave on one last note though....While only 3 elevators are in use today, Silo City is anything but dead. In fact the abandoned elevators are used for the Arts now!!!! Not to mention all the graffiti! But here are three examples of the art I saw in Silo City!