Historical Tours of the Knox Mansion

We’re excited to announce that tours of the historic Knox Mansion on Delaware Ave. are available to the public here in Buffalo, free of charge. Our tours will be held on weekends, either Saturday or Sunday, at 10:00 AM. Each tour will last about an hour and a half, and does include utilizing several stairwells. Due to the length of the tour, it is not recommended for children 12 and under.

History of The Knox Mansion:

Construction on the Knox Mansion began in 1915 and was completed three years later at a cost of $600,000, which equates to a cost of about $13.4 million in today’s dollars. Charles Pierrepont Gilbert, prominent architect of many houses on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, designed this French Renaissance-style mansion. The original house included 25 rooms, excluding kitchens, pantries, bathrooms, maintenance quarters, and cloakrooms. Seymour H. Knox’s family first occupied the mansion. Mr. Knox was co-founder of Woolworth and Knox department stores, known as Woolworth’s, and later served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Marine Midland Bank, which was acquired by HSBC in 1980. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to live in his home because he died in 1915 on the eve of construction.