The Story Of Humboldt Parkway
Buffalo’s Park and Parkway system
Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, it was a magnificent park-and-parkway system. It formed an “emerald necklace” of parkland around the city’s core.
The crown jewel was Humboldt Parkway.
Creation of the “Best-Designed City in The World:” “A City in a Park”
1868-1949
Original Layout of Buffalo’s Fully-Connected Park-And-Parkway System
The United States’ first fully connected and city-wide park and parkway system was started to be designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
1868
Humboldt Parkway, circa early 1900s
The major components of the Olmsted parks and parkway system are completed and are opened to the public.
1873
Buffaloians enjoying the the wading pool at the then-named Parade Park (Now MLK Park)
Humboldt Parkway is beloved as the crown jewel of the park system in Buffalo. The neighborhood around the parkway is considered “elite” and very desirable place to live.
1900s-1950s
This 1978 issue of the Courier Express describes the local businesses that once populated the area, and the ultimate fate of them.
Many small local businesses sprout up around it, which supports the local economy, and the sense of community.
1900s-1950s
The Kensington Expressway, or route 33, is proposed to prioritize suburbanization. Route 33 is conceptualized as an expression of the Robert Moses mindset of the era, whose tenants are in direct opposition to the Frederick Law Olmsted mindset.
1947
Main & Humboldt Overpass Construction, 1952
At a 1949 public meeting, Main-Humboldt Taxpayers Association president Robert M. Hitchcock called the project “the dumping of a mass of concrete into a beautiful neighborhood.” Backing residents, Council President Peter Crotty said that the underpass would serve only “to sound the death knell of Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park.” History proves the then-Council President was right.
1949
Destruction and Division in the Name of Progress 1950s-1970s →
