Buffalo, New York · Creeks, canals & shoreline, 1800–today

The Water Under Buffalo

In 1800 Buffalo was a creek mouth choked by a sandbar. A century later it was a city laced with canals, slips and basins, with a creek running open across the East Side. Almost all of that water is gone: filled, paved, straightened or put in a tunnel. Much of it still lies under streets you can drive today.

Traced off the 1894 USGS survey of Buffalo, checked against the 1948 edition, and laid over today's streets.

3.5 mi

of Scajaquada Creek run through a concrete tunnel under the East Side, built 1923–28

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of today's city was open water in 1894, mostly the Outer Harbor, built up from slag and fill

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creeks, canals and basins on the 1894 survey have been filled, buried or cut off

2008

the Commercial Slip, where the Erie Canal ended, was dug out and filled with water again

The plate

Slide through two hundred years

Blue is water that existed in the year shown. Red dashes are water that has since disappeared. Today's streets and city line stay on top throughout, so you can find your own block. Click any creek or canal for its story. Scroll or pinch to zoom, and drag to pan.

1894

Scroll to zoom, drag to pan

The inventory

Everything on the map, and what became of it

In order of when each one was dug or first appears. Click one to see it on the plate, in a year when it still held water.