Historical Markers in
Erie County, New York

106th Field Artillery Regiment 1844 Springbrook Mill Gear Assembly 1992 The New York State Convention of Universalists 28th U. S. Infantry 57 MM Anti-Tank Gun of World War II 65th Infantry Regiment, The Borinqueneers A Changing Waterfront A Dam on Tonawanda Creek A Home for Fish A Melting Pot A Tribute of Love A Tribute of Love A Tribute to Those Who Served A Tribute to "Pop" Glenn Scobey Warner Aaron Salisbury Aaron Salisbury Adam House AH-1 "Whiskey Cobra" Helicopter Albert James Myer, M.D. All Veterans / Middle East Wars Monument Allenton Farm/Creating Beaver Island State Park American Doughboy "Over the Top" to Victory America's Crossroads: The Spaulding Exchange An Architectural Treasure Anna Mae Bacon Bird Sanctuary As We Honor the Memory Aurora Aurora Baker Memorial United Methodist Church Battle of Scajaquada Creek Bridge Bedell House 1877 - 1935 Beef on Weck Bell Huey UH-1H Helicopter Bellevue Bennet Cemetery Bernard G. Hitro Jr. Bertrand Chaffee Hospital Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna Big Flats Bigelow House Birthplace of Ellen Beach Yaw Birthplace of the Grain Elevator Birthplace of Willis Haviland Carrier Black Rock Black Rock Harbor Black Rock Harbor / From Plantation to Promised Land Black Rock Lock Blasdell High School Blossom Boston, N.Y. War Honor Roll Boston's First Settler Brigadier General Albert James Myer Broadway Historic District Broderick Park / Distinctive River Ecosystems Buffalo - A Network of Canals Buffalo - An Industrial Powerhouse Buffalo - Queen City of the Lakes Buffalo and Black Rock Railroad Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad Buffalo Burns!!! Buffalo Cavalry Association Buffalo Creek Indian Reservation North Boundary Buffalo Harbor Buffalo Lightship Buffalo Main & Harbor Lights Buffalo Municipal Baseball Association Buffalo Riverfront Historical Eras to 1930 Buffalo Seminary Buffalo Water Intake, Horseshoe Reef Light Buffalo Zoo Buffalo's Birthplace Buffalo's First School House Buffalo's Olmsted Parks Buffalo’s Irish Regiment Buffum Homestead Buffum Inn Burial Land Since 1816 Burial Site of Asa Ames / Pioneer Cemetery 1810-1928 Burning of Blackrock and Buffalo Canal and Harbor Canisius College Central Avenue Historic District Central Presbyterian Church Charles R. Turner Chester C. Gorski Christian Metz Home Christian Ulrich Citizens National Bank City of Tonawanda Clarence Center Clarence Center Clarence Town Park Clarksburg Coit House Col. Asa Warren Colden Colden United Methodist Church Colored Musicians Club Commemoration for African American Soldiers of the American Civil War Community of True Inspiration Residence Concord Concordia Cemetery Corpus Christi Church Complex David Eddy Dedicated in Grateful Appreciation Dedicated to our Boys and Girls Dedicated to Our Veterans Dedicated to the Honor Dedicated to the Honor Dedicated to the Honor and Sacrifice Dedicated to the Memory Dedicated to the Memory Dedicated to the Memory of Dedicated to the Memory of the Brave Men Dedicated to the Men and Women Dedicated to the Men and Women of Wales Dedicated to the Men of the 102nd Separate Battalion Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Dedicated to Those Who Served Dedicated to Those Who Served Dedicated with Respect Dennis E. Nolan Development of the Inner Harbor Development of the Outer Harbor Did You Ever Wonder What It Takes to Restore an Island? Disaster at Eagle Park Donald "Duke" Spittler D'Youville College Earliest Church Early Lake Erie Water Craft East Aurora Cemetery East Elma Ebenezer House Ebenezer Walden Ecological Restoration Eden Valley Mills Elbert Hubbard / Michelangelo Ellicott Square Ellicott Square Building Elma Centre Elma Town Museum Elma Village Mill Engineering the Erie Canal Environmental Remediation Erastus Granger Erected by the Grateful People Erie Canal Site Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Erie County Erie County Erie County Father Baker's Gas Well Final resting place of The Senecas Fireproof Grain Elevators / Concrete Grain Elevators First Baptist Church First Church First Congregational Church First Fire Company First Greek Settlers of Buffalo First Polish Colony First Railroad First Religious Body in Buffalo First Settler First Settler - Town of Concord First Town Meeting First Unitarian Congregational Society Building Flint Hill Encampment 1812 For the Birds Forest Lawn Cemetery Forks Former Baptist Church Former Cemetery Former Saint Mary of the Angels Fourteen Holy Helpers R. C. Church Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building Frederick Law Olmsted From Buffalo... To the White House From Frontier to Major City / Buffalo City Hall From Social Center to Civic Center Gastown Gateway to the West General Daniel Davidson Bidwell General Kazimierz Pulaski General Mills and Great Northern Elevators George Schuster Wins 1908 NY to Paris Automobile Race George Urban, Jr. Residence German Evangelical Church Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) God Honor and Country Goddard Memorial Hall, 1902 Goodrich-Landow Log Cabin Gowanda Historic Site Gowanda Shrine Club No.1 Grand Island Ferry Grant Club Pole Graycliff Great Ships of the Niagara Griffins Mills Grover Cleveland Grover Cleveland & Grand Island / Lewis F. Allen & Western New York Guide Board Road Hanna Furnace Harboring Hopes Harris Hill Harrowing Journey Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation Henry Wolanski Heroic Dead Hicksite Quaker Meeting House Highlights of Buffalo History Hill's Corners Historic Lake Avenue Historic Lake Erie Historic Scajaquada Creek History of Times Beach Holy Angels Church Home of Tallcut Patchin Honor Roll Horton Hill Hull House Hunting and Fishing off the Porch Improvements in Ship Design In God We Trust In Honor of Those Men and Women In Honor of Those Who Fought In Honor of "Mark O" In Memory of 100th New York Volunteer Infantry In Memory of Alfred M. Kalinowski In Memory of Millard Fillmore In Memory of Our Comrades / In Grateful Memory In Memory of the Sons In Memory of the Sons and Daughters In Memory of the Valiant Service In Memory of Those Who Gave Their Lives In Memory of Wales, NY Veterans In Recognition of Long and Faithful Service In the Spirit of America Industrial Icons Industrial Powerhouse International Crossing International Railroad Bridge International Shipmasters' Association Isaac Long Alley Island Life Iwo Jima Memorial J. Eschelman and Company Store Jack Berry's Town Jacob Smith House and Tavern James D. Griffin Plaza Job Hoisington, Buffalo's 1812 War Hero Job's Last Stand Jolls Homestead Joncaire Trading Post Jubilee Springs Kaisertown's Fallen Heroes Kau-Qua-Tau Keepers of the Western Door Kenmore - Tonawanda Municipal Building Kenmore-Tonawanda Honors the Memory Korea Korea Korea Kronenberg Alley Lafayette High School Lake Erie Lake Erie Lancaster Glass Works Lancaster Municipal Building Lancaster Post Office Lancaster Presbyterian Church Lewis Northrup Liebler-Rohl Gasoline Station Lighthouse LV82 Lighthouse Point Park Little Harlem Hotel Long Homestead Louis P.A. Eberhardt Home Lumber Capital Main Street Village of Hamburg Major William C. Dudley Management Marble Ruins Marilla Veterans Memorial Marilla World War Honor Holl Market Square Market Square Mary B. Talbert Mary Morris Burnett Talbert McMillan Medical Society of the County of Erie Members of the United States Armed Forces Memorial Dedicated to the Memory of John A. Boechat Michael Cemetery Michigan Avenue Baptist Church Michigan Street Baptist Church Middle East Conflict Milburn House Miles Gilbert "Tim" Horton Military Road Millard Fillmore House Miller-Mackey House Moving North Niagara Frontier Niagara River and her Ships Niagara River Corridor / Avian Walk Niagara Square Nikola Tesla North Star Tavern Nowak Pier Obadiah Baker Homestead Offermann Stadium Old Navy Yard Oliver Hazard Perry Monument Olmsted's Vision On This Day of May 30, 1991, The Semper Fidelis Post #356 Onondaga Village Operation Enduring Freedom Orchard Park Orchard Park Orchard Park Depot Our Honored Dead Our Lady of Victory Basilica Our Legacy of Abundant Water Our Men Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice Pan-American Exposition Park Lane Condominium Park with a View Parkside Candy / University Heights Penobscot-Morania Collision Peter B. Porter Pioneer Church Poland’s Contribution in the Second World War, 1939 - 1945 Porter Square President McKinley Prudential (Guaranty) Building PTF-17 Quaker Cemetery Railroad Station Railroads and the Steel Industry Rebecca Gilbert and Elizabeth Peart Rebirth & Renewal Recovery Red Jacket Red Jacket Republic F-84 Restoring Nature Robert "Frankie" Franklin Roll of Honor Russell Park Saint Paul's Episcopal Church Samuel Helm Samuel Manning Welch Samuel Tubbs Secession & Reunion Second Home of the Medical School Seneca Indian Park Shark Girl Sheridan Drive Ship Canal Commons Shuttleworth Park Sisters of Charity Hospital Site of Abbot's Corners Presbyterian Church Site of Alden's Black Water Mineral Baths Site of Erastus D. Webster Homestead Site of Erie County Agricultural Fair Site of First Grist Mill Site of First Grist Mill Site of First Post Office in Present Orchard Park Township Site of First Town Hall Site of Moffat's Tannery Site of the First Meeting of the Optimist Club Site of the John Love Murder Site of Toll Gate Site of Underground Railway Station Site of Wolf's Mill Site of "Bundy's Mill" Smith Alley Soldiers & Sailors Monument Special Marine Corps Units of W.W.II Spring Brook Springville Academy Springville and Sardinia Narrow Gauge Springville and Sardinia Railroad SS. Peter & Paul Church St. Ann's Church St. John's Cemetery St. John's Church St. John's German Cemetery St. Mary's-on-the-Hill St. Paul's Cathedral St. Peter's UCC St. Stanislaus Church Stage Coach Stop Stephen W. Howell Strawberry Island Sweet Home Common School No.15 Temple Beth Zion The 150th Anniversary of the Start of the Civil War The 1833 Buffalo Lighthouse The Alhambra The American Elevator The Big Picture The Bigelow Bridge The Blacksmith Shop The Brewery The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens The Buffalo Club The Buffalo Stockyards The Cargill Superior Elevator The City of Buffalo Sent 18893 Men to Serve in the Great War The Coast Guard The Cobblestone Historic District The Concrete Central Elevator The Connecting Terminal and General Mills Elevators The Connecting Terminal Elevator The Dam The Early Grain Trade / Influence of the Erie Canal The Electric Elevator Annex The Engineers of the Grain Elevators The Erie Canal / Two Waterfronts The Erie Canal at Amherst The Father Justin Rosary Hour The Fenian Invasion of 1866 The First Grain Elevator / Early Grain Elevators The First Pioneers The Flint Hill Encampment The French Connection The Grain Elevators The Grain Industry Decline / Buffalo's Grain Legacy The Grand Canal The Great Lakes The H-O Oats Elevator The Hiker The Historic First Church of Evans The Immigrant Steps The Industrial Heritage Trail The Japanese Garden on Mirror Lake The Lake and Rail Elevator The Legend of John Maynard The Lehigh Portland Cement Company The Lifeboat Station The Lighthouse Service The Long Homestead The Mansion on Delaware Avenue The Marine "A" Elevator The Middle Road The Nash House The Niagara River The Original Site of Forks Hose Company #2 The Pan-American Exposition The People The Perot Malting Elevator The Railroad The Roycroft Shops The Ruins at Canalside The Sample Shop The Saskatchewan Pool Elevator The Site of Fort Tompkins The Site of the First Court Houses of Niagara and Erie County The Site of the St. John House The South Pier The Spencer Kellogg Elevator The Standard Elevator The Town of Colden Honors Our Men & Women The Union Ship Canal The Viet Nam War The Village of Hamburg The Village of Hamburg The War of 1812 The West Village The Wheeler / GLF Elevator The White City The Willis Hotel Theodore Roosevelt This Memorial This Memorial is Dedicated to All of the Service Members from WNY This Memorial is to Honor the Commitment This Monument Honors the Soldiers and Sailors This Purple Heart Memorial Thunder Over the Niagara Tifft Nature Preserve Times Beach Nature Preserve To Commemorate the Bravery To Commemorate the Gallantry of To Honor the Memory of Our Dead To Honor the Men and Women To Preserve the Memories To The Glory of God and in Grateful Remembrance Tonawanda All Heroes Memorial Tonawanda Civil War Memorial Tonawanda Rails to Trails Tonawanda Veterans Memorial Toni Sisti Park Tow Path Park Town Line, N.Y. Town of Brant Honors Town of Brant Memorial Park Town of Clarence - First Grist Mill in Erie County Town of Clarence - Ransom's Grove Town of Clarence - Swormville Town of Concord Town of Holland Veterans Memorial Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial Transit Road Church Tree planted November 30, 1925 Tree With Bank Account Trinity Church Typhoid Traced to Well U. S. Barracks 1812 U.S. Submarine Veterans World War II UH-1 Helicopter Underground Railroad River Crossing Unity Island University Presbyterian Church Unnamed Soldiers of the War of 1812 USS Boston SSN703 USS Grenadier (SS210) USS The Sullivans (DD-537) Valor Veterans Memorial Veterans Memorial Grove Veterans Park Village of East Aurora Village of Hamburg Historic Walking Tour Village of Orchard Park Village of Springville W. Aurora Church Wales Memorial Building and Park War of 1812 Cemetery Watchman's Flag Shanty, West Shore Railroad Waterfront Sites We Remember Forever Wedding of the Waters West Boston West Ferry Street Bascule Bridge West Seneca Gatling Gun West Seneca Vietnam Veterans Monument Western New York Western New York Vietnam Veterans Monument Westminster Presbyterian Church Westward to Buffalo Wilcox Mansion William Dorsheimer House William G. Fargo Mansion William McKinley William Wells Brown William Wells Brown Williamsville Christian Church Williamsville School No.9 Williamsville Water Mill Wind Power on the Waterfront Woodside Farms Working Together to Save Wetlands World War II Zuidema-Idsardi House "...With Liberty and Justice for All." "Angola Horror" "Fort Humphrey" "Old Shep" "Rust Bucket" "The Best Planned City" "The Black Rock" “Taylor Tract”
The New York City subway system, which opened in 1904, was the first rapid transit system in the world. The original line ran from City Hall to 145th Street in Harlem.
Erie County, located in western New York state, has a rich and diverse history that dates back to ancient times. The area was originally inhabited by Indigenous peoples, primarily the Seneca Nation of Indians. In the 17th century, European explorers, traders, and missionaries arrived, with the French establishing a brief presence in the region. However, after the French and Indian War, control over the area shifted to the British.

In the late 18th century, following the American Revolution, the region that is now Erie County became part of the newly formed United States. The area experienced significant growth and development in the early 19th century, with the construction of the Erie Canal, a transformative project connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, passing through the county. This led to the expansion of trade and commerce and attracted settlers from various parts of the country.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Erie County continued to thrive, becoming a center for industry and innovation. Buffalo, the county's largest city and the second-largest city in New York, played a crucial role in the development of transportation and manufacturing. It was a major hub for the Great Lakes shipping industry and became known as the "Queen City of the Great Lakes." The county also saw advancements in education and culture, with the establishment of schools, libraries, and cultural institutions.

In recent decades, Erie County has faced economic challenges due to deindustrialization and changes in the global economy. However, efforts have been made to diversify the economy and promote revitalization. Today, the county is known for its natural beauty, with attractions such as Niagara Falls and the Buffalo waterfront. It is also home to a vibrant arts and cultural scene, as well as several universities and research institutions. Erie County continues to evolve, embracing its rich history while looking towards a promising future.

This timeline provides a condensed summary of the historical journey of Erie County, New York.

  • 1679 - French explorer Robert de La Salle claims the area for France
  • 1758 - British forces capture the area during the French and Indian War
  • 1784 - The Sullivan Expedition destroys Native American villages in the area
  • 1800 - The Holland Land Company purchases the land from the Seneca Nation
  • 1810 - Buffalo becomes the first town in Erie County
  • 1812-1814 - Erie County sees battles during the War of 1812
  • 1821 - Erie County is officially established
  • 1825 - Completion of the Erie Canal boosts the county's economy
  • 1848 - Construction of the Buffalo and New York City Railroad begins
  • 1851 - Buffalo's population exceeds 42,000 people
  • 1872 - The Buffalo Zoo opens, becoming the third oldest zoo in the country
  • 1884 - Construction of the Erie County Hall is completed
  • 1901 - President William McKinley is assassinated in Buffalo
  • 1938 - The opening of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport
  • 1956 - Construction of the Niagara Thruway is completed
  • 1964-1965 - Buffalo hosts the World's Fair, known as Expo '64
  • 1970 - The construction of the Buffalo Metro Rail system begins
  • 1984 - The Buffalo Bills reach their first Super Bowl
  • 2006 - The implementation of the Buffalo-Niagara Riverkeeper organization