Harbor History @ Pearl Street
If you ever want to see an incredible painting of what the Buffalo waterfront looked like in the 1880s, just stop on into the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery. The remarkable painting was painstakingly created over a one-year period of time by Robert Averill who, at one point, owned Averill Gallery on Elmwood Avenue. The work of art hangs in the dining area towards the back of the restaurant. I've used bits and pieces of the details in previous posts, and each time someone has asked where image was from.
The oil and canvas work is four feet high and spans ten feet across. The detail and the accuracy of the area was recreated to show just what the harbors looked like back in the day. Pearl Street Grill & Brewery owner, Earl Ketry, commissioned the piece, and it was then that Robert Averill began the arduous process of researching the history of the area by studying early photos and drawings. If you're interested in getting a large-scale picture of what the harbor looked like back in the day, then this is a fascinating perspective. Pearl Street Grill & Brewery 76 Pearl Street Buffalo.
WOW!
Those waterfront buildings are beautiful, the entire scene is.
Just wow.
Where are all the surface lots?!? I refuse to accept this painting as Buffalo.
looks beatfiul...thanks for sharing.
makes me wanna cry... this city which once was...
makes me sad
Ah, don't be sad...close up, there probably was untreated sewage running down the alleys. There are definitely some perks not living in the 1880's.
PS...its an amazing painting, and I can't wait to see it! As always, glad to see original Buffalo art commissioned
Dear "zenfur",
And still today untreated sewage flows into the Buffalo River during heavy rains. Should we tear down what remains of Buffalo?
Sewers run under streets, not buildings.
Make this painting the development plan for our waterfront! Put everything back! EVERYTHING
It's not just symptomatic of Buffalo to lose a waterfront like that. Many cities probably resembled that at one point. I bet NYC had that look at one point too. I've seen old photos and depictions of the San Francisco waterfrotn that is similar to this and doesn't exist anymore. I think Buffalo definitely went to the extreme in terms of changing everything, but is seems like some nice things are happening at the canal terminus to at least start to bring back that seaport feel.
Delightful depiction from the sky, in daylight. Ah, the nostalgic romance.
Don't go down there at night, however-- Sherrif Grover Cleveland's aim at the time was to clean up the sewers that ran the blood of rough gangs in this area well known at the time to be the Barbary Coast of the East, home to some of the roughest characters in the country.
There was more oil and bilge release running in the river than water at this bustling "every man for himself" period. Tests taken 20 years after the period represented in this painting showed even bacteria wouldn't breathe in it, and much more to the point it was totally, totally void of fish.
The commerce and architecture of the period were both at their best, but n'ere see a lady walk the streets unless she was running her own commerce. The place and period makes for good paintings and good movies, but you probably wouldn't want your mom to join her friends for lunch down there.
Fascinating though-- hope we can restore as much as possible, sans the local characters of the time.
and people that we we try to save too much and therefore impede progress. I say we have allowed progress to destroy our once beautiul city, not just in Buffalo but in all American cities.
If this makes you sad please don't look at old images of Lafayette Square, the German Insurance building, the old police station, federal bank, German breweries or the library because it almost makes me think it's not worth it anymore. We already lost the war against our city.
But in th end I get over it and go for a walk.
we havent lost the war....in some ways our lackluster economy has preserved much of what remains..and allowed us time to rebuild the street grid, wharf and waterfront without big city developers creating these megaprojects.
which is a huge reason why rebuilding our wharf, canal districts, south buffalo canal districts, harbor, street grids, etc....is so much more important than Bass Pro
This is a really cool map of Buffalo from 1902 that you can zoom in on different sections and see a lot of detail.
www.buffaloresearch.com/maps.html
After going to this page, click on the link for "Map of Buffalo c.1902"
Thanks for all the kind words - I'm glad you enjoy the painting. It's important that we remember what we had and realize that there can be even better things ahead if we DO it and do'nt just sigh and pine...The painting was done with an eye for the future as well as the past! FYI - about 20% of the 100's of buildings in the painting are still standing..it's not really too late...Averill Gallery still exists, as well - we're now in Lewiston, New York
Hello Averills! We miss you. Hope all is well for you and your wonderful gallery.
We had a choice: we could have a dense, lively, pedestrian realm, or we could have ample, cheap parking. We chose wrong.
I think bz makes a good point; It is easy to get absorbed in sentimental visions of what used to be when the reality was quite something else. I have read that the Buffalo waterfront was actually more dangerous and worse than the Barbary Coast. Also, don't forget that all heating was done by coal at that time. The dirt, the soot and the odor in the air would be completely unacceptable to modern people. I lived in NYC (Chelsea) forty years ago when there actually was still a fair amount of soot in the air. The effort to keep an apartment clean was a daily fight.