GPS City GuideBuffaloRand Building

Stop 21 of 42 · Buffalo audio walking tour

Rand Building

Lafayette Square · 1929 · Built as Buffalo's tallest

What you'll hear here: about 90 seconds on Rand Building — the story behind what you're looking at, playing hands-free as you arrive.

Buffalo's second tallest building, the Rand Building, climbs 405 feet above you, the city's tallest when built in 1929. At the time it was built in 1929 it was the tallest in the city, rising to 405 feet (123 m). It occupies the site of the 1903 Olympic Theatre, and some have even suggested the Rand was an inspiration for the Empire State Building.

The tower bears the Rand name for George F. Rand Sr. (1864–1919), the former president and chairman of the board of Marine Midland Bank, who was killed in a plane crash near Caterham in Surrey, England. In its early years the Buffalo Broadcasting Company moved stations WGR and WKBW into the building; those stations had moved out by 1959. Today the Townsquare Media cluster — WTSS, WBLK, WBUF and WYRK — broadcast from studios here, with their transmitting antennas mounted atop its beacon.

George F. Rand Jr. kept a private dining room on the top floor for business lunches, and when the building opened it featured an elaborate lighting system that showed off its art deco stepped-back style. Picture Townsquare Media's stations broadcasting from studios here, antennas mounted atop the beacon beside 10 Lafayette Square.

Where it is

Coordinates
42.88619, -78.87344
Area
Lafayette Square
Era
1929 · Built as Buffalo's tallest
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.