Eccliastical Expert: Chester Oakley's Masterpiece in Western New York

Tucked away on a quiet street in Buffalo's Kensington neighborhood sits Blessed Trinity Church (317 Leroy Ave.), completed in 1928 to serve the local Irish and German population. Drive much faster than the posted speed limit and you might miss it altogether, but take the time to stop and you will see one of the truest Lombard Romanesque designs in the world. This tribute to medieval architecture can be credited to Chester A. Oakley (1893-1968), a self-taught Buffalo architect whose attention to detail helped created several remarkable church and institutional buildings around Western New York.

To read the rest of this story by Clarence C. Picard, see page 50 of the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

To the Moon! The Road Went Through Western New York

During the late evening of July 20, 1969, a reported 200 million Americans, and countless others around the world, sat transfixed in front of their televisions as Neil Armstrong took "one small step for man" and planted his foot on the powdery surface of th e Moon. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of that incredible moment, we should not forget Western New York's significant contributions to the Apollo XI mission.

The area has played a central role in American aviation from its earliest days. Although the Wright Brothers enjoy iconic status as "first in flight," it is Glenn Hammond Curtiss, who relocated his manufacturing operation to Buffalo at the outbreak of World War I, who is generally acknowledged as the father of American aviation...

Drawn by the region's ready supply of electrical power, other manufacturers followed and, in turn, attracted some of the nation's best and brightest engineering talent...

To view the rest of this story by Jacek A.Wysocki, see page 60 in the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine.

Another Look: TheLackawanna Steel Office Building

Drawn by its proximity to Great Lakes commerce and numerous rail lines, William Walker Scranton determined to move the operation of the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company from its birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania to the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca in 1899. By the end of the century, he had obtained the needed land through the local services of John J. Albright. The location chosen was a strip of waterfront south of the city of Buffalo and on the western side of the town of West Seneca.

To read the rest of Douglas W. DeCroix's Another Look, see page 68 of the Summer 2009 Heritage Magazine.

 

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