The YMCA building, occupying the southeast corner Main & Eagle, 1870. The building also housed the city's first substantial library.
Image source; private collection.
The YMCA building, occupying the southeast corner Main & Eagle, 1870. The building also housed the city's first substantial library.
Image source; private collection.
The YMCA became the Richmond Hotel in early 1887 and less than one month later burned,
killing 15 and injuring others. A shovel-ready site was thus created for the location's next phase.
The Iroquois Hotel as it appeared when it opened in August 1889. Image source: private collection.
The new Iroquois Hotel, designed by Cyrus L.W. Eiditz and billed as absolutely fireproof, opened August 3, 1889. Its lower floors
were
Medina sandstone; iIt was elegantly
furnished inside. Throughout its life as a hotel, H. Montgomery Gerrans was a
part-owner. His
manager was George H. Wooley until 1915.
The Iroquois as it looked after 1899, when a three-story addition was built. Total rooms: 350.
Image source: private collection.
The addition, designed by the Buffalo firm of Esenwein & Johnson with a Renaissance style roof, was
intended to capitalize on the expected tourist traffic for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. It was one of the
priciest accomodations offered to visitors that year.
Main Street looking North, the Iroquois looming, c. 1915. Image source: private collection
In 1916, Elmore C. Green purchased an interest in the Iroquois Hotel and became managing director, a position he
was to hold until the hotel closed in 1922. Known affectionately as 'Morey' to Buffalo's high society, his hotel became the
place to frequent for locals.
Said the New York Times in 1922 after Ellsworth Statler purchased the Iroquois in order
to shut down its hotel and
eliminate competition with his new Hotel Statler:"The Iroquois is to Buffalo what the Waldorf is to New York, a
conservative hotel of
tradition and standing."
After the new Hotel Statler opened in 1923, the Iroquois closed; Ellsworth Statler hired Elmore C. Green
as the new Statler Hotel manager. Statler also hired the former Iroquois maitre d' hotel, Joe Becht, for the same position
at the Statler, calling him the best maitre d' he knew of. The building then became known as the Gerrans Building and
was
converted
into office space on the upper floors. Bond's clothing store occupied the street level.
The corner of Main & Eagle in 2007.
The Gerrans Building was demolished in the early 1940s and replaced by an modern office building. In the early 1960's it and the other buildings
on this block were demolished to make way for One M & T Plaza,
opened in 1966.
Architects on the project included Minoru, Yamasaki & Associates; Duane Lyman Associates.
The building stands
21 stories high.