GPS City GuideBuffaloBuffalo City Hall

Stop 15 of 42 · Buffalo audio walking tour

Buffalo City Hall

Joseph Ellicott Historic District · 1931 · 32-Story Art Deco Skyscraper

What you'll hear here: about a minute on Buffalo City Hall — the story behind what you're looking at, playing hands-free as you arrive.

Buffalo City Hall towers over you at 65 Niagara Square, 32 stories of Art Deco completed in 1931. Towering above you is the 32-story Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1931 by Dietel, Wade & Jones, a 398-foot, 121.3-meter edifice that ranks among the largest and tallest municipal buildings in the United States and one of the tallest in Western New York. Its design came from architects George J. Dietel and John Wade, and the facade rewards a slow, curious gaze: friezes sculpted by Albert Stewart and sculpture executed by Rene Paul Chambellan give the stonework a theatrical, civic dignity.

Step into the foyer and you would find a bronze tablet honoring Mayor Charles E. Roesch, created in 1937 by regional sculptor William Ehrich — a small, human touch inside a monumental building. The hall’s significance was recognized when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, and it stands within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District. Picture the friezes by Albert Stewart and the sculpture by Rene Paul Chambellan giving this civic giant its theatrical façade.

Where it is

Coordinates
42.88659, -78.8793
Area
Joseph Ellicott Historic District
Era
1931 · 32-Story Art Deco Skyscraper
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.