Today, Buffalo consistently ranks in the top 100 most-populated cities in America. However, if it wasn't for a torrential rain storm and some courageous local citizens, the Village of Buffalo may never have blossomed into the modern city Americans now know it to be.

The story goes that local officials were having trouble attracting people, and therefore business and money, to their potentially budding hometown. The Erie Canal was under construction, but tides, competing towns and a treacherous and ever-changing sand bar made Buffalo a highly dangerous docking place for ships in the area.

A $12,000 loan and support from many private citizens set forth a plan to relocate the sand bar 60 rods south so a navigable harbor could be put in place. However, due to tides and other forces of nature, the sand bar was constantly rebuilding itself. The project was drawing to a close when a torrential storm threatened to undo everything. Project creator Samuel Wilkeson rallied the villagers, and in a tremendous community effort, they worked tirelessly to redirect the rushing waters of the swollen Buffalo Creek and use it to their advantage. The now misdirected water carried the pounds and pounds of sand and dirt from the earth into the lake, and Buffalo Harbor was born.

The village of Buffalo started to come into its own in the mid-1800s when it received compensation for damages done during the war of 1812 and when the Erie Canal was completed. The Canal brought traffic, and because of its new-found easy navigation, it became what many considered to be the watery gateway to the West. It was around this time that Buffalo became the largest grain trading port in the entire world. By 1832, Buffalo had banks, numerous businesses, newly built expansive housing and a growing brewery district which would flourish until the 1970s.

The city of Buffalo was officially chartered in 1832. The 1830s were an important time for Buffalo, with publication of the first daily newspaper, the running of the first rail line and the opening of the first public school and bank. The population from 1830 nearly doubled by the time 1840 rolled around. The end of the 1830s saw the Holland Land Company - the original investors in the area - take their profit and leave.

Even though Buffalo hit its stride in the 1930s, the economic struggle facing the rest of the country eventually caught up with the booming canal shipping town. Though this caused business to slow somewhat, the 1840s did bring many new facets to Buffalo, including the first railroad east, first university, first hospital, first automated grain elevator, first Roman Catholic Bishop, first influx of immigrants not of German or Irish descent and first mayoral election.

By 1845, a person could board a train from New York City to Buffalo and then take a boat to Chicago. The entire trip from the Eastern seaboard to the Windy City would end up lasting a mere five days. Between the ballroom dancing aboard the luxurious cruise liners and the new and improved travel time, the trip to Chicago was a holiday in and of itself. Just a decade later, however, the rapid expansion of the railroad system quickly slowed the popularity of canal boat travel.

Businesspeople recognized this cultural change from boat to train, and shifted their focus back to the shipping trade, which had originally put Buffalo on the map. The area's local officials began marketing the city as a tourist destination, centering in on Niagara Falls, and Buffalo's livestock trade, among other industries, continued its success on the canal.

The 20th century saw Buffalo through a series of changes and some hard times. There were two main factors, the first of which was the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which allowed shippers to bypass Buffalo on a faster route. The suburban migration trend during the mid-1900s was the second contributing factor to Buffalo's hard times, and Buffalo is one of the few cities in the United States that actually had a larger population in 1900 than it did in the year 2000.

The worst came in 2003 when Buffalo formed a "hard control board," which froze city employees' salaries, and was in charge of approving major city expenditures. Things began to look up in 2005, however, when the board's governing title was changed to a "soft approval board," now acting only in an advisory capacity. And from that point on, Buffalo has been a thriving metropolis that would serve an ideal location to receive a graduate education.

Buffalo History Facts at a Glance

• Much of city founder Joseph Ellicott's planning has lasted to this day. The main pattern of the streets radiating out from Niagara Square still makes up most of the city's main thoroughfares.
• Joseph Ellicott's 1804 survey is the oldest known map of what would become current-day Buffalo.
• During the war of 1812, all but two of the buildings in Buffalo were burned to the ground.
• At the start of the 1900s, the city of Buffalo was the eighth-most-populated city in America, according to a government census.
• Buffalo's nearest competitor for the Erie Canal's most westward terminus was the village of Black Rock. Had it not been for hard work and some luck, the city's NFL franchise might be known today as the Black Rock Bills. Buffalo has since absorbed the whole area into the city, however.
• In 1832, Buffalo began an expansive water works project to replace "Water John." "Water John" had become a local institution, having made a living toting potable water around town by horse and cart in the village's early years.
• The city's original charter from 1832 banned things ranging from "the operation of houses of ill-repute" to bowling. The bowling ban was later lifted.
• The area now known as Buffalo was originally developed by the Holland Land Company. They spent close to $600,000 investing over 45 years. By the end of the 1830s, the company packed up and left the area with close to $1.4 million dollars in profit.
• In September 1945, thousands of calls bombarded local officials and governmental organizations. The city had suffered a severe earthquake, yet citizens and scientists were baffled. Initially, panicked callers feared the city was being fire-bombed. Scientists later determined a freak phenomenon of underground developments had caused an unsettling earthquake.
• After harnessing the hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, Buffalo became the first U.S. city to have widespread electricity. This earned Buffalo the prestigious nickname the "City of Light."
• Buffalo was once known as the "Queen City," because of its place as the second largest city in New York State.
• Buffalo also went by the moniker the "Nickel City," because of the appearance of a bison on a Nickel in the 1920s. The city of Buffalo has also been known as "The city of good neighbors."
• Buffalo elected Byron Brown as mayor in 2005. He became the first African-American mayor in Buffalo's history.
• The NAACP was founded and held its first conference in Buffalo in 1905.
• The Anchor Bar is the legendary and supposed birthplace of the hot but oh so tasty Buffalo Wing.
• Jello was created in the Buffalo area.
• Buffalo was the first city to have a park system connected by parkways. It was designed by world-famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City.
• The Erie Basin Marina in Buffalo was designed and constructed in the shape of a Bison. The structure can be seen from the marina's observation tower.
• Buffalo's Kleinhans Music Hall is considered by many to be one of the few buildings in the world with perfect acoustics.
• Frank Lloyd Wright designed five magnificent homes in Buffalo - more than he did in any other city in the country.

Sources:

http://www.buffalonet.org/

http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0027/tab01.txt

http://www.buffalonian.com/history/index.html

http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/Home

http://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/media_kit_9.html

http://www.10best.com/Buffalo,NY/Annual_Events/Annual_Events/index.html