History and genealogical material from Erie County, NY --

Below is a typical page from the alphabetic list of residents of Erie County as it appears in the Directory.  Click on the image below to see the full-sized page (and click the left arrow in your browser to return to this page):

We thought that a list of the localities (cities, towns, villages, hamlets, what have you) in the alphabetic section of the directory might be helpful -- so here it is.)

This directory is available for download in PDF form for $8.50, a substantial savings from the price when, years ago, we offered it as a CD-ROM.

The 1954 Gateway, yearbook of the Frontier Central Schools.  80 pages.  Here is some interesting history of the mid 20th century.   There's a list of the surnames contained in the Frontier Central Schools class of 1954 in the table below for your convenience.  Meantime, you can take a look at what Frontier Central Schools look like today, in 2005, some 51 years after this class graduated.  Click here to visit the website of today's Frontier Central (located in Hamburg, NY, and one of a rather small number, sadly, of school systems in the nation recognized by Parents Magazine as currently having a true music program.  We always liked music in school, and it's a shame that it's become history most places today.).  At the time of the 1954 yearbook, the schools in the Frontier CSD consisted of Blasdell and Woodlawn High Schools (which share this yearbook), and eight elementary schools (Athol Springs, Big Tree, Blasdell, Wanakah, Woodlawn, Amsdell, Lake View, and Shaleton).  The yearbook notes that January 1954 marked the groundbreaking for a new Frontier Central Junior/Senior High School.  The district currently consists of four K-5 elementary schools (Big Tree, Blasdell, Cloverbank, and Pinehurst); a middle school; and a high school. 

Download the 1954 Gateway in PDF format now for $4.00

We located the website of the Clarence Central School District.  Be sure to check it out, and check the Clarence Soccer Club  website as well.  Clarence Central appears to offer first-rate opportunities in athletics, and, like Gateway, in music too.  In fact, Clarence has been ranked among the "Best 100 communities for Music Education" by the American Music Conference. 

The 1957 yearbook doesn't tell us what the schools were that made up the Central School District at that time, but the website (2005) advises us that their 5100 students attend four elementary schools (Clarence Center, Harris Hill, Ledgeview, and Sheridan Hill), one Middle School, and one high school, Clarence High.

This particular yearbook was evidently the property of one Margaret M. Babich, a Phys Ed teacher at the school who also coached the Water Ballet (not many schools have ever had one of these!).  It contains many touching and lively inscriptions to her from her students.

Now available as a download in PDF format for $4.00

The Erie County chapter of French's Gazetteer of the State of New York (1860).  This download includes the sub-chapter on the City of Buffalo and a woodcut of the Buffalo Harbor.  French's Gazetteer was for many years the "go-to" source for capsule -- yet complete -- information about the counties and towns of New York State on the eve of the Civil War.  The following Erie County localities that do not appear in the Erie County Directory are mentioned in this chapter:  Wende, Eggertsville, Westwood, Willink, Griffins Mills, Mill Branch, Saw Mill Station,  Chictawauga, Four Mile Creek, Harris Hill, North Clarence, Collins Center,  Mortons Corners, Woodwards Hollow, Ellicott, Eden Valley, Clarksburgh, East Eden, Spring Brook, Upper Ebenezer, East Evans, Pontiac, Whites Corners, Water Valley, Abbotts Corners, Big Tree Corners, Hamburgh-on-the-Lake, Winspear, Looneyville, Falkirk, Langford, New Oregon, Marshfield, Middle Ebenezer, Lower Ebenezer, New Ebenezer, and Reserve.   18+ pages, PDF format, $1.75

History of Kenmore

We were very happy to locate a copy of Frederick S. Parkhurst's scarce 1926 History of Kenmore.  Since the community actually began only in 1888, it may seem a bit ambitious to publish a history of it only 38 years later, but, as the author points out, virtually no one in 1926 remembered the community's beginnings.  In addition to its 96 pages of text there are several photos.  If Erie County, or the growth of American suburbs, is an interest of yours, you will probably want this in your collection.  96++ pages, PDF format, $4.00

Erie County in Mather & Brockett's Geographical History of the State of New York (1848)

Only a dozen years before French's Gazetteer, but a world of difference!  We think that six pages is a bit skimpy for both Erie County and the City (then the town) of Buffalo, but it is still generous for these authors dealing with an upstate county.  Regardless of its brevity, this is an important part of the historical record.   We also include the two page summary of New York State land grants for background in this download.  6++ pages, PDF format, download now for $2.25.

Some Erie County postcards. 

We originally included these scans of some antique Erie County postcards from our collection in the (discontinued) Erie County for 1924 Directory CD-ROM.  Now that we've converted the rest of the former CD into download files (you'll find them on this page), it seemed to us that possibly people might want to see the postcard images as well.  Only around a dozen images, but they include inportant buildings in Buffalo as well as places in Erie County, such as Roycroft, the important figure in the Arts and Crafts movement in American furnishings.  Available as a download file in PDF form for just a dollar.

Erie County Charities in 1906

We are in the process of republishing sections of volume II of the Annual Report of the State Board of Charities for the year 1906.  The material will be of interest to local historians who want a better picture of charitable institutions in their locale a century ago, to genealogists and family historians interested in the people who administered charity back then as well as how any unfortunates housed in these facilities may have lived, and to those who have questions about the now-politicized "safety net" for the unfortunates in our society back in those years.  This section addresses the public and private charities in Erie County (including the City of Buffalo) in 1906 that were registered with the State Board of Charities.  (The one state charity in Erie County at the time, the Thomas Indian School, is in a separate chapter -- see below for information on that institution.) 43+ pages, in PDF format, download now for $3.00.

Charity in New York State in 1906: State Institutions.  This chapter from volume II of the Annual Report of the State Board of Charities for the year 1906 contains a section about the New York State government's Thomas Indian School, located in Iroquois, Erie County.   See our New York State Miscellany page for more information about this chapter.

The 1968 Wildcat, the yearbook of the East Seneca Junior High School. We've published quite a few high school yearbooks, but this is the first junior high yearbook we've done. 56 pages (plus covers), lots of names and photos of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, lots of autographs as well. Even if you have no connection to this community, you'll appreciate it as a period piece of a time when everything seemed to be changing.  Middle school kids, however, seem to have remained middle school kids.   59+ pages, in PDF format, download now for $3.00.

Erie County was separated from Niagara County in 1821.  You may also want to consult our Niagara County page for locations that may have been affected by this transaction.

See also:  relevant material in the NYS Canal Commissioners Report for 1878 available for download on our New York State Miscellany page.