Buffalo: Then & Now
Experience our City’s Transformation
Welcome to a city where history feels brand new. We’ve spent the several decades restoring our extraordinary collection of late 19th and early 20th century architecture into incredible spaces where you can stay, play and explore. Imagine a former asylum reimagined as a boutique hotel, and waterfront grain silos reinvented as a rock-climbing wall and zip line course.
See how our landmarks have transformed in these then-and-now photos—and start planning your journey through our historically new city.
The Richardson Olmsted Campus
Step inside this century and a half old National Historic Landmark designed by Henry Hobson Richardson that was once known as the Buffalo State Asylum. Following decades of neglect and then extensive redevelopment, the campus now hosts the Richardson Hotel, with the new Lipsey Architecture Center to follow in 2027.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House
Wright considered the home he completed for Buffalo industrialist Darwin Martin in 1907 to be his “domestic symphony.” Over the last 30 years, Buffalo summoned the collective will to preserve, restore and reconstruct the house and surrounding property, transforming this once-faded masterpiece into one of the city’s top attractions.
Michigan Street Baptist Church
michiganstrretbaptistchurch.org
During the 1840s, freedom seekers built this house of worship on the east end of downtown that eventually hosted luminaries like Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. A community restoration effort led to the 2025 reopening of the church as a gathering space and anchor of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
Buffalo RiverWorks
Years ago, the Buffalo River bustled with lake freighters offloading grain to one of world’s largest collection of concrete silos, including the Grain League Federation (GLF) complex. These days, the river bustles instead with tiki boats, kayaks, and stand up paddleboarders, while the transformed GLF silos now house Buffalo Riverworks’ zip line course, rock climbing wall and beer garden.
