USA Guide
The Mid-Atlantic
Buffalo
The state's second largest city, Buffalo, looms up in a cluster of Art Deco spires and glass-box skyscrapers – Manhattan in miniature on Lake Erie. The city's early twentieth-century prosperity, which busted while many other American cities were booming, and thus exempted Buffalo's historic buildings from destruction and replacement, is reflected in such architecturally significant structures as the towering 1928 City Hall (the tallest in the country; free observation deck on the top floor) and the deep red terracotta relief of Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building on Church Street. The massive abandoned grain elevators, which rise proudly along the Erie waterfront like wonders of the industrial world, provide an interesting architectural counterpoint. Because of its proximity to the Canadian border, Buffalo also has numerous Underground Railroad sites.
As a traditionally blue-collar city, Buffalo loves its professional sports teams: football's Bills ( 
1-877/228-4257, 
www.buffalobills.com ), ice hockey's Sabres ( 1-888/467-2273, www.sabres.nhl.com ), and minor-league baseball's Bisons ( 1-888/223-6000, www.bisons.com ), who, as the top farm team for the New York Mets, attract huge crowds to downtown's pleasant ballpark.
Read more ▼
- Practical Information ▼
- Sight(s) ▼