This attractive, unassuming and, slightly odd little house (pictured center) has an equally odd history to go with its architecture. It is not the site of a major event nor was it the home of an important person. As a matter of fact it was not originally built as a home at all. This building at 132 Cottage Street in Allentown was constructed in 1887 as the home of the Buffalo Bicycle Club. It was used for Club meetings, events and recreation. In the early days of biking bicycles were high tech machines that captured the imagination of many who formed clubs to promote events such as bike races, drills, and parades. Buffalo quickly became a popular biking spot in the late 1800's because it had more paved roads than almost anyplace in the world at the time. Many members of the club went on to be prominent in the auto and aviation industries and the Buffalo Bicycle Club was influential in the founding of the Buffalo Airport in the 1900's. The growth of Bicycling at the time was phenomenal. A Club souvenir booklet states that between 1879 to 1883 Buffalo went from having 4 bikes to having as many as 18,000 bikes. This perhaps foretold the coming popularity of personal transportation in the form of automobiles that would rock our cities in the 1900's.
The buffalo Bicycle Club continues to this day though in new quarters. The old club house sits in an attractive row of Allentown dwellings and is now an apartment building. Though most of its original architectural detail survives the original porch is gone, replaced by a much less imaginative substitute. (note to current owner ... put back the original porch). I love to learn the histories of these great old Buffalo buildings. Finding out about the lives and events of even the ordinary people that once lived between their walls adds so much meaning to the streets of the city. Thinking of how exciting biking must have been back in those early days you can just picture the bold young members of this club as they met and discussed plans for their events possibly imagining how the modern world would be transformed by the bicycle. Next time you walk by this building try to imagine several of those old time giant wheeled bikes parked out front. Wow what a vision!
If you would like to find out more about the Buffalo Bicycle Club clubhouse try to get a hold of the Spring 2004 issue of Western New York Heritage Magazine http://wnyheritagepress.org/. This issue, by the way was one of their best. In addition to a wonderful article about the Clubhouse it is packed with other great stories including one about the restoration of Shea's Theater parapet, an old photo album of Main Street's Italianate Mansions (including a great documentation of the recently restored Squire Mansion) and, a story about the Parkside neighborhood among many more.
By the way...isn't this an absolutely incredible row of houses?