57 Fun Facts About Buffalo, New York

Buffalo sits on the eastern shore of which body of water?

Lake Erie: Buffalo sits at the lake's eastern end, where its water drains into the Niagara River and flows north toward Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario.

Buffalo is the seat of government for which New York county?

Erie County: Buffalo has been its county seat since the county was carved out of Niagara County in 1821; the county courthouse and Erie County Hall stand downtown.

Which NFL team plays its home games just outside the city in Orchard Park?

The Buffalo Bills moved to Orchard Park in 1973, leaving War Memorial Stadium in the city for the roughly 80,000-seat Rich Stadium on Abbott Road.

Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery and which dressing?

Blue cheese dressing is the traditional Buffalo accompaniment, served alongside celery sticks; the wing sauce itself is cayenne-pepper hot sauce blended with melted butter.

Which Buffalo bar is usually credited with inventing Buffalo wings in 1964?

The Anchor Bar on Main Street is the usual claimant: co-owner Teressa Bellissimo is said to have first fried and sauced the wings there in 1964 for her son's friends.

Buffalo became the western terminus of which canal, completed in 1825?

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, ended at Buffalo, making the village the transfer point between Great Lakes ships and Hudson-bound barges; the boom led to city incorporation in 1832.

Which U.S. president was shot at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in 1901?

William McKinley was shot in the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901; one bullet lodged in his abdomen, and he died of gangrene eight days later.

Buffalo's NHL team, founded in 1970, is known by what name?

The Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL in 1970 alongside the Vancouver Canucks, expanding the league to 14 teams; owner Seymour Knox picked the name from a fan contest.

Where does Buffalo rank among New York State's most populous cities?

Second-largest: Buffalo's 2020 census count of 278,349 trailed only New York City among the state's cities, ahead of Yonkers and Rochester, each near 211,000.

The Peace Bridge links Buffalo with which Canadian town?

Fort Erie, Ontario faces Buffalo across the head of the Niagara River; the Peace Bridge, opened in 1927, crosses just below the point where the river leaves Lake Erie.

Roughly how much snow does Buffalo receive in an average year?

About 95 inches: Buffalo's 1991-2020 climate normal is roughly 95 inches of snow a year, much of it from lake-effect bands off Lake Erie, among the highest of any large U.S. city.

Which sport do the Buffalo Bandits play?

Box lacrosse: the Buffalo Bandits have played in the National Lacrosse League since 1992, winning the title in their first season and sharing the Sabres' downtown arena.

How many consecutive Super Bowls did the Buffalo Bills lose, starting with the 1990 season?

The Bills won four straight AFC Championships and lost every Super Bowl that followed, an NFL record.

Which alternative rock band from Buffalo had the 1998 hit "Iris"?

The Goo Goo Dolls, formed in Buffalo in 1986 by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, recorded "Iris" for the film City of Angels; it spent 18 weeks atop Billboard's airplay chart.

A beef on weck sandwich uses a roll topped with caraway seeds and what else?

The kummelweck roll is topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds; the rare roast beef gets horseradish and a dip in jus.

Which Buffalo firm, founded in 1875, grew from a soap factory into a mail-order conglomerate?

The Larkin Company, founded by John D. Larkin in 1875, sold soap and household goods by mail with premiums; Frank Lloyd Wright designed its 1906 Administration Building, demolished in 1950.

Which Prairie-style residence in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood did Frank Lloyd Wright design?

The Darwin D. Martin House complex, built 1903-1905 for Larkin Company executive Darwin Martin, is the Prairie-style estate Wright called his 'opus'; its restoration finished in 2019.

Which president took the oath of office at Buffalo's Wilcox Mansion on September 14, 1901?

Theodore Roosevelt took the oath there hours after McKinley died of his wounds; the Delaware Avenue house became the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1966.

Which 13th US president was a Buffalo attorney and first chancellor of its university?

Millard Fillmore, the last Whig president, practiced law in Buffalo and served as the University of Buffalo's first chancellor from its 1846 founding until his death in 1874.

Which president served as mayor of Buffalo in 1882?

Grover Cleveland was Buffalo's mayor from January to November 1882, resigning after winning the New York governorship; he went on to serve as the 22nd and 24th president.

Who shot President McKinley at the Temple of Music?

Leon Czolgosz, a self-described anarchist, fired two shots from a .32 Iver Johnson revolver hidden under a handkerchief as McKinley shook hands; he was electrocuted at Auburn Prison in October 1901.

What was the centerpiece structure of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition?

The Electric Tower anchored the fairgrounds' main axis and was outlined in thousands of light bulbs powered by alternating current transmitted from Niagara Falls, the exposition's showpiece.

Buffalo inventor Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar created which device in 1843?

Dart's Elevator initially processed a thousand bushels an hour, making Buffalo the world's largest grain port.

What was Buffalo's original name when Joseph Ellicott laid out the village?

New Amsterdam: Joseph Ellicott of the Holland Land Company laid out the village in 1804 under that Dutch name, but settlers kept calling it Buffalo, after Buffalo Creek.

During which war did British forces burn most of Buffalo?

The War of 1812: British troops under Phineas Riall crossed the Niagara River and burned Buffalo and Black Rock on December 30, 1813, in reprisal for the American burning of Newark, Upper Canada.

The 1993 playoff game in which the Bills erased a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston is known as what?

"The Comeback": backup Frank Reich rallied Buffalo from 35-3 down to a 41-38 overtime win over the Houston Oilers on January 3, 1993, a 32-point playoff record.

Which Bills kicker missed wide right at the end of Super Bowl XXV?

Scott Norwood's 47-yard attempt sailed wide right with eight seconds left, and the Giants won Super Bowl XXV 20-19 on January 27, 1991.

Buffalo's 1970s hockey line of Perreault, Martin and Robert was nicknamed after which movie?

The French Connection line, named for the 1971 film, paired Gilbert Perreault with Rick Martin and Rene Robert; Martin's 44 rookie goals in 1971-72 broke Perreault's NHL record.

Whose triple-overtime goal, disputed as "No Goal" in Buffalo, ended the 1999 Stanley Cup Final?

Brett Hull scored for Dallas 14:51 into the third overtime of Game 6; his skate was in the crease before the puck, which the NHL said was allowed because he had possession.

Which Buffalo-born funk star recorded "Super Freak", later sampled by MC Hammer?

Rick James, born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. in Buffalo in 1948, released "Super Freak" in 1981; MC Hammer built "U Can't Touch This" on its bass line in 1990.

Ani DiFranco releases her albums on which Buffalo-based label she founded?

Righteous Babe Records, founded by DiFranco in 1990, is headquartered in Babeville, the restored Delaware Avenue church she and manager Scot Fisher reopened as a venue in 2006.

Which longtime Meet the Press moderator was born in Buffalo in 1950?

Tim Russert, born in South Buffalo in 1950, moderated Meet the Press from 1991 until his death in 2008; his "Florida, Florida, Florida" whiteboard from election night 2000 is in the Smithsonian.

Kleinhans Music Hall, home of the Buffalo Philharmonic, was designed by which father-and-son team?

Eliel and Eero Saarinen designed Kleinhans Music Hall with local architects F. J. and W. A. Kidd; it opened October 12, 1940 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Which luxury automaker, based in Buffalo from 1901 to 1938, supplied the White House's first official cars?

Pierce-Arrow: President Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrow cars for state occasions in 1909, among the first official White House automobiles; the Buffalo firm had begun by making gilded birdcages and iceboxes.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed Buffalo's park system beginning in which year?

1868: Olmsted first visited Buffalo in August 1868 and, with Vaux, laid out an interconnected parks-and-parkways plan, often called America's first coordinated park system, completed through 1876.

Buffalo's 17-story Art Deco train station, opened in 1929, was built for which company?

New York Central Railroad: the Central Terminal on Paderewski Drive opened in June 1929, designed by Fellheimer & Wagner; Amtrak's last train left in October 1979.

In 2013 the Buffalo Bisons became the Triple-A affiliate of which MLB club?

Toronto Blue Jays: the Bisons switched from the Mets to Toronto in 2013, and the Blue Jays played their 2020 home games and part of 2021 in Buffalo during pandemic border closures.

Buffalo's NBA team of the 1970s, the Braves, became which franchise?

The Los Angeles Clippers: after a 1978 franchise swap between owners John Y. Brown and Irv Levin, the Braves moved to San Diego as the Clippers, then to Los Angeles in 1984.

The Blizzard of 1977 was the first snowstorm ever declared what by the U.S. government?

Federal disaster area: President Carter's major-disaster declaration for the Blizzard of 1977 was the first ever for a snowstorm; gusts reached 69 mph and 23 people died in Western New York.

What insect-themed name did the NWS give the October 2006 snowfall that shredded Buffalo's trees?

Lake Storm Aphid: the NWS Buffalo office's 2006-07 insect naming scheme ran alphabetically, so the October 12-13 storm got the first name; locals call it the October Surprise.

The grammatical sentence made only of 'buffalo' repeated eight times appears in which 1994 book?

The Language Instinct (1994): Steven Pinker used the sentence as an example of grammatical recursion, crediting his student Annie Senghas; William J. Rapaport had devised similar versions in 1972.

Which Buffalo center killed a bat with his stick in a foggy 1975 Stanley Cup Final game?

Jim Lorentz swatted a bat out of the air with his stick during Game 3 at Memorial Auditorium on May 20, 1975; fog from the heat halted play repeatedly, and Rene Robert won it in overtime.

Who threw the lateral to Kevin Dyson in the Music City Miracle that eliminated the Bills in January 2000?

Frank Wycheck took Lorenzo Neal's handoff and threw the cross-field lateral to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards; Tennessee won 22-16 after Buffalo had led 16-15 with 16 seconds left.

The University at Buffalo, founded in 1846, began as what kind of institution?

Private medical college: the University of Buffalo opened in 1846 as a private medical school with Millard Fillmore as chancellor; it joined the SUNY system in 1962.

Shea's Buffalo, the 1926 movie palace, had its interior designed by which famous decorative artist?

Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio handled the interior decoration of the Rapp and Rapp-designed theater, which opened in January 1926 with 3,019 seats and retains its original Wurlitzer organ.

Which British royal attended the Peace Bridge dedication in August 1927?

Edward, Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, attended the August 7, 1927 dedication with his brother Prince George, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and U.S. Vice President Charles Dawes.

Which hot dog chain, founded in Buffalo in 1927, grills its franks over charcoal?

Ted's Hot Dogs: Greek immigrant Theodore Liaros began selling hot dogs from a shack near the Peace Bridge in 1927; the chain's stands grill them over charcoal.

Buffalo's new NHL club won the first pick in the 1970 draft, and thus Gilbert Perreault, by what method?

Spin of a wheel of fortune: Vancouver held numbers 1-10 and Buffalo 11-20; the wheel stopped on 11, though president Clarence Campbell first misread it as 1, and Buffalo took Perreault.

Which Buffalo-born death metal band is described as the most commercially successful in its genre?

Cannibal Corpse formed in Buffalo in December 1988 and later relocated to Tampa; the band appeared as itself in the 1994 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Which Buffalo hip-hop label launched Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher?

Griselda Records, founded in Buffalo by Westside Gunn, signed a deal with Eminem's Shady Records in 2017; Conway the Machine is his brother and Benny the Butcher their cousin.

Which financial institution was Buffalo's only Fortune 500 company on the 2025 list?

M&T Bank, founded in Buffalo in 1856 as Manufacturers and Traders Bank, was the city's lone Fortune 500 entry in 2025; Rich Products and Delaware North are privately held.

Buffalo's earliest recorded name appears in whose 1764 journal referring to "Buffalo Creek"?

John Montresor, a British military engineer, wrote of 'Buffalo Creek' in his 1764 journal, the earliest known record of the name; Hennepin and La Salle had passed through decades earlier.

Buffalo's Japanese Garden in Delaware Park was created in 1970 with which sister city?

Kanazawa, Buffalo's sister city since 1962, helped create the Japanese Garden beside Delaware Park's Hoyt Lake in 1970; its cherry trees bloom there each spring.

Which architect designed Buffalo's Guaranty Building, an early skyscraper?

Louis Sullivan, with partner Dankmar Adler, designed the 13-story Guaranty Building, completed in 1896 with terra-cotta cladding; it became a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

What was the Richardson Olmsted Complex, built in 1881, until it closed in the 1970s?

An insane asylum: H. H. Richardson designed the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, opened in 1880 on grounds planned by Olmsted; its twin-towered Medina sandstone main building was vacated in the 1970s.

How long is Buffalo's Metro Rail light-rail line?

6.4 miles: Metro Rail opened in stages in 1984-86 and runs 6.4 miles (10.3 km) from Erie Canal Harbor downtown to University Station at UB's South Campus, partly on the surface along Main Street.

In which suburb is Buffalo Niagara International Airport located?

Cheektowaga: the airport's Genesee Street campus lies just east of the Buffalo city line; its Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed terminal opened in 1997 with the Buffalo Niagara name.