Genealogy & Local History in Buffalo, NY
Vintage
Maps of Buffalo, Erie
County, and Western NYIn case it isn't obvious, the little elves at BuffaloResearch.com do not own any old Buffalo maps. Instead, we watch for when other people or institutions digitize local maps. Then we add the links below for your convenience. Over 125 mostly vintage or historic maps & atlases are sorted into these categories:
For up-to-date maps of municipalities, jurisdictions, school districts, legislative districts, cenus tracts, and more, in all eight counties of Western New York, check out the Regional Knowledge Network's excellent Reference Maps.
Buffalo
Maps| Date |
Link
and Name of Map |
Description
or
Notes if Any |
| Undated |
List of Street Name Changes in Buffalo | |
| Various |
Historical Nautical Map & Chart Project | Search on Buffalo at the screen provided here by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration to get about 70 outdated nautical charts for the Buffalo waterfront. These charts are NOT to be used for navigation! |
| 1802 |
Original Land Subdivisions in Buffalo | Shows the names and outlines of large tracts of land in early Buffalo |
| 1802 |
Original Land Subdivisions in Buffalo | This map, produced in 1901, takes the tract boundaries shown in the map above and superimposes modern-day city streets over them. See, for example, the original boundaries of Black Rock. |
| 1804 |
Village of New Amsterdam | As designed by Joseph Ellicott, before the name Buffalo stuck |
| 1804 |
Village of New Amsterdam | Another scan of Joseph Ellicott's plan |
| 1804 |
Village of Buffalo | Another version of Joseph Ellicott's design for Buffalo |
| 1804 |
Village of New Amsterdam | Another rendering of Ellicott's design |
| ca.
1805 |
Village of Buffalo | The inner lots, essentially the Niagara Square/Main Street portion of downtown Buffalo |
| ca.
1805 |
Village of Buffalo | Another map showing the inner lots |
| ca.
1805 |
Village of Buffalo | The outer lots, or roughly the square mile at the center of Buffalo |
| ca.
1805 |
Village of Buffalo | Another map showing the outer lots |
| ca.
1810 |
Village of Black Rock Prior to War of 1812 | Shows the location of the actual black rock |
| ca. 1810 | Buffalo Creek | Shows lots on the shore of what is now the Buffalo River |
| 1810 | Buffalo Creek & Lake Erie | Shows lots between the creek and lake |
| 1813 |
Village
of Black Rock |
Hand-drawn
map showing location of major buildings |
| 1813 | Buffalo Village | Shows buildings and some land owners |
| 1813 |
Map of Burned Buffalo | A diagram of the tiny village of Buffalo that was burned during the War of 1812 |
| 1825 |
Village of Buffalo | Shows the inner (downtown) lots |
| 1829 |
Black
Rock |
Part of the Niagara River and Plan of the proposed Harbour at Black Rock, a printed map |
| 1829 | Black Rock | Part of the Niagara River and Plan of the proposed Harbour at Black Rock, a sketch |
| 1834 | Erie Canal Surveys | 12 maps of the Erie Canal in Buffalo and Black Rock, brought to you by the New York State Archives |
| 1836 |
Proposed Harbor Improvements | Self-explanatory |
| 1838 |
Buffalo | An interesting negative (white on black background) map of the downtown area |
| 1847 |
Map of Buffalo | From Smith's History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County |
| 1849 |
Buffalo | Includes ward boundaries used for the 1840 and the 1850 censuses. Look for numbers 1-5 and subtle dotted lines |
| 1850,
1900,
1901 |
Buffalo Historical GIS | A work in progress. The final product will be interactive and will include more text and more categories, such as schools, hospitals, grocery stores, taverns, theaters, boarding houses, benevolent organizations, etc. Other icons will display demographic data such as population density, ethnicity, household income, property values, etc. and governmental information. Be sure to see the Buffalo ward maps! |
| 1853 |
Buffalo Harbor | A
bird's eye view of the foot of Main Street |
| 1854 |
Buffalo
Harbor |
Shows
the breakwater and water depths |
| 1854 | Buffalo Harbor | Another version, with zoom and pan options |
| 1855 |
Buffalo | Oddly printed with the Niagara River flowing east-west, but shows ward boundaries |
| 1855-1890 |
Ward Map of Buffalo for Census Years 1855-1890 | Title is self-explanatory |
| 1863 |
Bird's Eye View of the City of Buffalo, NY | Photographs of a map on exhibit at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society. Shows individual buildings. |
| 1866 |
Buffalo |
Reproduced from the Stone & Stewart Atlas of Erie County. Shows some buildings as tiny, indistinct black squares or undifferentiated blocks. |
| 1866 |
Buffalo,
Part One Buffalo, Part Two |
Reproductions from the Stone & Stewart Atlas of Erie County. This site sells reproductions of the plates. |
| 1870? |
Niagara River | Shows proposed bridge crossings at Buffalo, ship canal, Black Rock channel, Squaw Island |
| 1872 |
Hopkins
Atlas of Buffalo |
This
is one of the first atlases in Buffalo to show individual
buildings and name of property owners. Digitized by the New
York
Public Library. |
| 1872 |
Hopkins
Atlas of Buffalo |
This
site sells reproductions of the plates. |
| 1880 |
Buffalo
Ward Map |
Shows
names of large land owners. Reproduced
from the Beers Atlas of Erie County.
Brought
to you by the NY Public Library. |
| 1880 | Buffalo Ward Map | Shows names of large land owners. Reproduced from the Beers Atlas of Erie County. Brought to you by the New York State Archives. You may need to disable your pop-up blocker. |
| 1880 |
Buffalo Parks | A schematic map showing the street grid but not street names, with the Olmsted park system picked out in black |
| 1880 |
Bird's
Eye View of Buffalo |
An
artist's conception showing downtown in the foreground |
| 1884 |
Buffalo, Erie Co., NY Street Directory | This list of streets was scanned from microfilm prints of the Buffalo City Directory. Buffalo city streets were renumbered in 1868 as described on the first page of the directory. No personal names here, just street names. |
| 1884 |
Buffalo Waterfront | Scroll down to see a page from the full-color Hopkins atlas showing the blocks north of the Commercial Slip |
| 1884 |
Western
Terminus of the Erie Canal |
An
1884 map of the Canal district in Buffalo, with a modern aerial
photograph superimposed on it |
| 1893 | City of Buffalo | From the G.M. Hopkins Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, and Buffalo atlas. Shows ward boundaries. Image is zoomable and can be purchased as a reproduction. |
| 1894 |
City of Buffalo Atlas | All three volumes are online, brought to you by the County of Erie. Each volume has a clickable map to bring up the appropriate page in the atlas. This is one of the few Buffalo atlases that shows individual buildings. |
| 1895 |
Buffalo
Ward Map |
Full
color sheet map published by Joseph Rudolph Bien. Shows ward
boundaries. |
| 1895 | Buffalo | By Rand McNally & Company |
| 1896 |
Buffalo | A full color sheet map |
| 1896 | Buffalo | From Cram's Universal Atlas Geographical, Astronomical and Historical |
| 1897 |
Buffalo |
From
a
Rand McNally's Atlas of the World |
| 1897 |
Chart of Buffalo Harbor | From the Blue Book of American Shipping, Cleveland, OH: Marine Review, 1897 |
| 1898 | Buffalo | From Cram's Universal Atlas, Geographical, Astronomical and Historical |
| 1901 | Buffalo | From Rand McNally's Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers Guide |
| 1901 |
Topographic Map of Buffalo | One of the first
topographic maps of
Buffalo |
| 1901,
1948 |
Topographic Maps of Buffalo | These maps are divided in four sections which can be enlarged |
| 1901 |
Map of Buffalo Pavement | Shows different kinds of pavement used on the streets |
| 1901 |
New
Map of
the City of Buffalo |
Shows
the Pan American Exposition grounds in relation to the rest of the city |
| 1901? |
All Roads Will Lead to Buffalo in September | An artist's conception of Buffalo as seen from the air |
| 1901 |
Pan-American Exposition Grounds | A low-resolution black and white illustration |
| 1901 |
Pan
American
Exposition Grounds |
A
large-scale (2MB), detailed black & while map |
| 1901 |
Pan
American Exposition Grounds |
A
rendering in black, white, and red |
| 1901 |
Pan-American Exposition Grounds | A color rendering |
| 1901 |
Pan
American Exposition Grounds |
Another
color rendering |
| 1901 |
Pan
American Exposition Grounds |
A
bird's eye view in full color |
| 1901
& later |
Pan
American Exposition Grounds and Neighborhood Overlay |
Shows
the Pan Am grounds with an overlay of the streets that were built there
after the Exposition |
| 1901
& 1926 |
1926 Photo Superimposed on the Map of the Pan American Exposition |
A
cool
animattion that shows a small section of the Exposition morphing into
an aerial photograph from 1926 |
| 1902 |
Bird's Eye View of Buffalo | This one is impressive--you can zoom in and see your own neighborhood! You'll find that it shows individual buildings! Obviously, whoever drew this had to use artistic shortcuts--he couldn't go out and sketch every single factory, house, and shed. But it's still a must-see. |
| 1902 |
Bird's
Eye View of Buffalo |
The
same map as above only with less ability to zoom in |
| 1906 |
Buffalo Harbor | From History of the Canal System of the State of New York by Nobel E. Whitford |
| 1906 | Geological Map of Buffalo | "Typical geologic map with fine detail including details of Buffalo city proper and cross section printed perpendicular to map along edge." |
| 1907 | Buffalo | From Cram's Standard American Atlas |
| 1909 |
Buffalo |
From
Baedeker's
Guide |
| 1909 | Buffalo | From P.F. Collier and Son's The New Encyclopedic Atlas and Gazetteer of the World |
| 1909 | Buffalo
Ward Map |
From
the Century
Atlas of Erie County |
| 1911 | Buffalo | From Rand McNally's Indexed Atlas |
| 1914 |
Olmsted Parks and Parkways in Buffalo | Brought to you by the University at Buffalo |
| 1914 |
Buffalo River Area | Shows the downtown and South Buffalo area from roughly Tupper Street to the Buffalo River |
| 1915 |
Buffalo
New Century Atlas, vol. 1 |
Covers
Buffalo downtown and north of downtown, shows individual buildings
& names of some land owners |
| 1915 |
Buffalo
New Century Atlas, vol. 2 |
Covers Buffalo south of downtown, shows individual buildings & names of some land owners |
| 1915 |
Ward Map of Buffalo's East Side | This is a modern map of the east side of the city of Buffalo, with the ward boundaries for the 1915 New York State added. In other words, be forewarned that the map might show thing that didn't exist in 1915. |
| 1917 | Buffalo | A street map produced for the 1917 Buffalo city directory. Brought to you by the New York State Archives. You may need to disable your pop-up blocker. |
| ca.
1920 |
Railroad Map of Buffalo | Shows "pre-merger" railroad lines along the Niagara River and in Buffalo |
| 1920 |
Extension of City Limits | Shows how the city expanded over time |
| 1920 |
The Future Electric City | Imagines Buffalo with 360 square miles, encompassing Niagara Falls, and a population of 2,000,000 |
| 1921 |
Buffalo | By Rand McNally |
| 1922 | Plan of Buffalo | Very few street names are shown, but parks and major traffic routes are color-coded. Brought to you by the New York State Archives. You may need to disable your pop-up blocker. |
| 1920s-1950s |
Buffalo Movie Theaters | Hand drawn by Carl Zoschke |
| 1930 to present | Buffalo Ward Map | Shows ward boundaries, 1930 to the present |
| 1931 |
Grain Elevators | A detailed map of the Buffalo harbor by the Army Corps of Engineers, showing locations of grain elevators, mills, railroads, and slips |
| 1938 |
Buffalo Police Precincts | |
| 1940 |
Buffalo | Scanned in four sections |
| 1950 |
Downtown Buffalo |
Shows
the property owners in downtown Buffalo just before the advent of Urban
Removal and surface parking blight |
| 1950 |
Historic USGS Maps | Focuses on railroads in Buffalo |
| 1950s |
New York Central Railroad, Buffalo | Includes the New York Central Terminal |
| 1960s |
Topographic Map of North Buffalo | |
| 1960s |
Topographic Map of South Buffalo | |
| 1970 |
Buffalo | Scale 1:500,000 |
| 1971 |
Buffalo Nostalgic Map | Shows locations of some neighborhoods |
| 1977 |
Buffalo Public Schools | |
| 1984 |
Buffalo Central Terminal | Sanborn maps of the entire complex |
| 1987 |
City of Buffalo Zoning Map | Brought to you by the University at Buffalo |
| 2000 |
Average Housing Age Distribution | Shows
age of Buffalo houses based on census figures but does not make a
distinction among
houses older than 50 years, which is most of the city |
| 2002 |
Buffalo Neighborhoods | Shows
commonly used neighborhood names and areas |
| 2003 |
Downtown Buffalo Parking Lots and Ramps | Contrary to the popular imagination, there is so much parking downtown that there is little to do BUT park |
| 2003 |
Buffalo Common Council Districts | |
| 2004 |
Buffalo Niagara Map | The ultimate tourist map of Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier. Shows locations of hotels, highways, attractions, parks, hospitals, museums, colleges, parking facilities, etc. For best results, print on oversized paper. |
| 2004 |
Broadway-Fillmore
Neighborhood |
Shows
house lots but not buildings. In PDF. |
| 2004 |
Triangle
Neighborhood |
South
Park-Abbott Rd area in South Buffalo. Shows house lots but
not
buildings. In PDF. |
| 2006 |
Hydrographic Surveys | Charts of Buffalo waterways brought to you by the Army Corps of Engineers |
Contemporary
and Undated
Buffalo Maps| Date | Link
and Name of Map |
Description
or Notes if Any |
| NYS Gazetteer & GeoData Collection | Search any place name or feature in New York State and this database locates which topographic map it appears on and supplies a Google Map link | |
| Buffalo Neighborhoods | Includes superb histories of all Buffalo neighborhoods | |
| Downtown
Buffalo Publicly Available Parking
|
Brought
to
you by Buffalo Place,
Inc. In PDF. |
|
| Downtown
Buffalo
|
Brought
to
you by the Buffalo
Niagara Partnership. Shows locations of
parking lots and metered parking spots. In PDF. |
|
| Downtown Buffalo | Shows accomodations, restaurants, attractions | |
| Downtown Buffalo | Shows location of County Hall & Court | |
| Buffalo Parks | Shows
small neighborhood parksin addition to our Olmsted treasures |
|
| Cemetery Maps of Buffalo | Actually, maps of Pine Hill in Cheektowaga, Mount Olivet in Kenmore, and Forest Lawn in Buffalo. Brought to you by the Schwert Family website. | |
| Olmsted Parks in Buffalo | Has several vintage maps and views | |
| Historic Districts in Buffalo | Shows the boundaries of preservation districts established by the City of Buffalo | |
| Buffalo | An interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau | |
| Buffalo Map Atlas and Data Library | A collection of up-to-date PDF maps depicting zoning and land use, Common Council districts, and more. Brought to you by City Hall. | |
| City
of Buffalo GIS |
Here is the City's Geographic Information System (GIS). Works best with a fast connection. It is a safe bet that this site supplies only current geographic information, not historical. | |
| Buffalo Maps | Brought to you by Chuck LaChiusa at his award-winning Buffalo History and Architecture website. Includes many of the maps seen here. |
Erie
County Maps
| Date |
Link
and Name of Map |
Description
or Notes if Any |
| ca. 1800 | Hamburgh, Buffalo Creek Reservation | Holland Land Company maps of Township 9, ranges 7-9. Brought to you by the New York State Archives. Requires Flash version 9 or later. |
| 1819 |
Niagara
River Chart |
Shows
the river from Grand Island to Lake Ontario |
| 1820 |
Niagara
River |
Shows the river from Lake Erie to Grand Island. Brought to you by the New York Public Library. |
| 1892 |
Lancaster |
A bird's eye view |
| 1892 |
Springville |
A
bird's eye view |
| 1829 |
Erie County | From the David Rumsey map collection |
| 1829 |
Erie
County |
By David H. Burr; engraved.by Rawdon, Clark & Co., Albany, & Rawdon, Wright & Co., New York. |
| 1838 |
Erie County | |
| Mid
1840s |
Erie County | A basic outline map of the towns. Includes a summary of how Erie County came to be formed, plus a link to some or all of the names from the 1830 Erie County federal census |
| 1841 |
Erie County | By David H. Burr; engd. by Rawdon, Clark & Co., Albany, & Rawdon, Wright & Co., New York. |
| 1866 |
Stone
& Stewart Erie County Atlas |
The
oldest atlas that I know of that shows individual buildings, albeit as
indistinct tiny black squares. Also shows property owners'
names. Digitized by the New York Public Library. |
| 1866 |
Stone
& Stewart Erie County Atlas |
The
plates shown here are available for sale as
reproductions. |
| 1880 |
F.W.
Beers Atlas of Erie County |
Shows
some property owners' names. Digitized by the New York Public
Library. |
| 1880 |
F.W.
Beers Atlas of Erie County |
The entire atlas is online and the plates are available for sale as reproductions. |
| 1880 | Erie County | A
scan
of one page from the F.W. Beers atlas showing the entire
county.
Image is zoomable and can be dowloaded as an PDF. |
| 1893 | Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda and Buffalo | Includes
the towns of Erie County. Published
by G.M. Hopkins. Images are zoomable and can be purchased as
reproductions. |
| 1895 |
Erie County | A
sheet map |
| 1898 | Depew | A bird's eye view & artist's conception |
| 1909 |
Century
Map Co. Atlas of Erie County |
Shows some property owners' names. The plates shown here are available for sale as reproductions. |
| 1915 |
Buffalo
New Century Atlas, vol. 3 |
This
volumes covers towns and villages outside of the City of
Buffalo.
Shows individual buildings and names of property owners. |
| ca.
1926 |
General
Motorways System, Erie County |
Shows
plans for an early highway system |
| 1938 |
Niagara
Frontier Planning Board Atlas |
Shows
names of property owners |
| 1940 | Erie County | A rural route map dotted with mystery numbers |
| 1951 |
Erie County Aerial Photos | This clickable map brings up a vintage black & white photo of your neigborhood |
| Mid
20th
century |
Topographic Maps | Includes Amherst, Cheektowaga, Grand Island, Hamburg, Kenmore, Tonawanda, West Seneca, Depew, Springville, Eden, Silver Creek |
| 1990 |
Erie County | Shows Buffalo and the most populated towns bordering it |
| Undated |
Erie County Cemetery Maps | |
| Erie County Internet Mapping System | The
Erie
County Internet Mapping System is designed to provide
access to the
most popular layers of digital maps in the County's GIS.
Users
can create and print their own
maps, and locate
information on a variety of subjects such as roperty parcels, roads,
parks,
schools districts,
and environmental data. Do yourself a favor and read the
Help/Instruction pages first. |
|
| Erie County | From the US Census Bureau | |
| Erie County | From the US Geological Survey--featuring all official place names for Erie County, including communities, waterways, parks, some churches & cemeteries, and more; 11 pages total | |
| Erie County | From the Erie County Department of Planning. Has a few online samples. | |
| Erie County | Shows current attractions, including museums. Brought to you by the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau. |
Western
New York and Niagara Frontier Maps| Date |
Link and Name of Map | Description
or Notes if Any |
| Understanding New York's Political Divisions | A good article by Chris Andrle on our system of counties, town, cities, and villages | |
| Physical Regions of the Frontier | Shows the glacial and geological formations that shape the Niagara Frontier | |
| 1615-1708 | Seneca Villages and the Jesuit & French Contacts | Shows villages and sites east of Buffalo, with written explanations |
| 1683-1915 |
New
York County
Formation Maps |
Shows
how New York State's counties changed over two centuries |
| 1795-1841 |
Evolution
of
County
Boundaries in Western NY |
Includes a map of early migration routes into the area |
| ca.
1793-1830 |
Holland
Land Company |
Use
the drop-down menu to see 1,361 maps of various towns and parcels in
the eight counties of Western NY as surveyed for the Holland Land
Company |
| 1802 |
Genesee County | All of Western New York was Genesee County at one time. This simple outline map shows when each county was split off from Genesee. |
| 1804 |
Morris's Purchase or West Geneseo In the State of New York by Joseph Ellicott | One of the first maps of what was later called the Holland Land purchase |
| 1804 |
Land Holdings in Western New York | Shows which developers owned which large tracts. Does not show names of individual buyers. |
| Mid
19th
century |
The War of 1812: Operations Along the Niagara River | Shows locations of forts, battles, and troop movements |
| 20th
century |
Niagara River Area, War of 1812 | Shows forts and battle sites along the Niagara Frontier |
| 1819 |
Straits of Niagara | Shows both sides of the river from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario |
| 1819 | Grand
Island |
Includes Buffalo, Black Rock, Bird Island, and Squaw Island |
| 1820 |
Niagara
River |
From Elkanah Watson's History of the rise, progress, and existing condition of the western canals in the state of New-York |
| 1820 |
Western New York | Self-explanatory |
| ca.
1825 |
Holland Land Purchase | Shows the entire Western NY region |
| 1827 | Niagara River | Oddly, Lake Erie is at the top of this map and Lake Ontario at the bottom, putting Buffalo on the "wrong" side of the river |
| 1830 |
Western NY | Shows some place names. Includes links to census indexes. |
| 1830 |
Niagara Frontier | |
| 1831 |
Western NY | Reproduced in very small scale from The Northern Traveller and Northern Tour, J & J Harper, 1831 |
| 1841 |
Upstate
New York |
New York State between Albany and Buffalo, showing Erie Canal and other transportation routes |
| 1869 |
Niagara
Frontier |
Zooms in then comes into focus |
| 1871 |
Western
New York |
Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Allegany, Monroe, and Livingston Counties |
| 1890 |
Tuscarora Indian Reservation | Shows names of residents |
| 1895 |
Niagara
and Erie Counties |
Published by Joseph Rudolph Bien |
| 1904 |
Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Vicinity: The Coming Industrial Center of America, 1904 | Shows New York Central Railroad lines |
| 1908 | Automobile Map of Buffalo District | Actually shows the Niagara Frontier and Ontario, Canada |
| 1920 |
Pennsylvania Railroad Routes in Western NY | |
| 1952 |
Upstate and Western New York | |
| 1989 |
Western NY | Shows county outlines, county seats, lakes, and little else |
| 2009 | War of 1812 | A large, detailed PDF of sites on both sides of the Niagara, brought to you by the Niagara Legacy Council in Ontario |
| Undated |
Western New York | A contemporary map showing major cities, towns, villages, and color-coded counties |
| Undated |
Buffalo
Niagara Falls Metro |
A
full-color
road map showing Niagara Falls to Lackawanna and Fort Erie in PDF |
Offline
MapsMore historic maps are offline, in various libraries, than online. Here are lists and guides for finding them.
| Repository |
Link |
Description |
| Buffalo
&
Erie County Public Library |
Buffalo
&
Erie County Atlases: Best Bets for House Researchers &
Genealogists |
A
guide to vintage
atlases
that show individual buildings, names of property owners, or both |
| University
at Buffalo |
Buffalo
&
Western NY Maps |
An
in-depth guide
to the
collection, which is enormous |
Updated 4 February 2010