BLACK ROCK/RIVERSIDE: Selected Sources in the Grosvenor Room Peter Porter House, Niagara Street, Black Rock Built 1816, Demolished 1911 [Niagara St. near Ferry] Key * = Oversized book Grosvenor Room Buffalo = In Buffalo collection in Grosvenor Room Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Folio = On GRO Folio shelf 1 Lafayette Square GRO = In Grosvenor Room Buffalo, NY 14203-1887 NON-FICTION = In the Central Non-Fiction Collection (716) 858-8900 RBR = In Rare Book Room www.buffalolib.org Ref. = On GRO Reference Shelf, cannot be borrowed Revised Feb 2020 STACKS = In Closed Stacks, ask staff to retrieve 1 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Books ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Censuses ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Church History & Research ................................................................................................................ 5 Church Records on Microfilm ............................................................................................................. 6 City Directories ................................................................................................................................... 6 Funeral Home Records ...................................................................................................................... 6 Local History File ................................................................................................................................ 7 Maps .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Newspapers and Periodicals .............................................................................................................. 7 Rare Book Room (RBR) ..................................................................................................................... 8 Scrapbooks ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Websites ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Vertical File ........................................................................................................................................ 9 The Online Catalog of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library ......................................................... 9 Where Else Can I Research Black Rock? .......................................................................................... 9 Introduction This guide lists research resources on Black Rock in the Grosvenor Room (GRO) of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. No one has (yet) published a book-length history of the town or the Buffalo neighborhood it became. Instead, this guide features many sources that mention various aspects of Black Rock and Riverside history. Black Rock’s first settlers arrived after 1792, and the village was incorporated on April 24, 1837. It took its name from a large, flat, black limestone rock that rose four to five feet out of the Niagara River, forming a natural harbor and ideal ferry crossing point. The rock was removed with dynamite in the 1820s as part of the construction of the Erie Canal. Black Rock was Buffalo’s rival for the county seat and the terminus of the Erie Canal, and was annexed by the City of Buffalo on April 13, 1853. Prior to the Civil War, it served as a location from which fugitive slaves could cross the Niagara River into Canada. Black Rock is now one of Buffalo’s west side neighborhoods. 2 Books Notes GRO Buffalo E302.6 .P87 G7 1971 Grande, Joseph A. The Political Career of Peter Buell Porter, 1797-1829 Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, August, 1971 Buffalo F116 .A45 v. 27 Brief historical pamphlet with images, Grande, Joseph A. maps. Peter B. Porter and the Buffalo-Black Rock Rivalry Buffalo, NY: Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, 1982 GRO Ref. F117 .G7 See pp. 440-441 for a description of Gordon, Thomas. Black Rock in 1813 Gazetteer of the State of New York… Philadelphia, PA: Thomas Gordon, 1836 GRO Buffalo F127.N6 G5, pp. 92-102 Chapter VIII is devoted to Black Rock Gibbons, Emma Someone Has Been Here Before You [Buffalo, NY: ©1938] GRO Ref. F127 .N6 W74 v. 1 See pp. 158-160, 244-246; includes a Wilner, Merton description of the Battle of Black Rock, Niagara Frontier: A Narrative and Documentary History 1813 Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1931 GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 B88 v. 16 Includes late 19th and early 20th Buffalo Historical Society century photos of Black Rock. Online Picture Book of Earlier Buffalo for free at: Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Historical Society, 1912 http://tinyurl.com/rap35 GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 B88 v. 29 Buffalo Historical Society War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Historical Society, 1927 GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 C758 Published by a land company to Niagara City Association promote Black Rock to investors and A Concise View of Black Rock… settlers. Buffalo, NY: Steele's Press, 1836 GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 G63 1973 Goldman, Mark Buffalo's Black Rock: Neighborhood Identity and the Metropolitan Relationship MA Thesis--SUNY at Buffalo, 1973 GRO Buffalo *F129 .B8 I58 International Institute of Buffalo Survey of Black Rock Educational and Recreational Facilities Buffalo, NY: The Institute, [1941?] GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 N6 Norton, Charles Davis Old Black Rock Ferry Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Historical Society, 1879 GRO Buffalo F129 .B8 O8 Illustrated with photographs Our Community, Black Rock/Riverside: 1979 Calendar [Buffalo, NY:] H.O.P.E./Northwest Community Center, Inc., ©1978 3 Books Notes GRO Buffalo F129.B86 B51 2014 History of district, maps, images. Black Rock Canal - Belt Line - Niagara Street industrial heritage historic district, City of Buffalo… Buffalo, N.Y. : kta preservation specialists, 2014. GRO Buffalo F129.B86 B512 2015 History of district, maps, images. Upper Black Rock historic district, City of Buffalo, Erie County Buffalo, N.Y.: kta preservation specialists, 2015. GRO Buffalo F129 .B86 B524 2018 Photographs of people, recreation, A Pictorial history of Black Rock industry, buildings, streets, and Grant Amherst Business Association, 2018. waterways. GRO Buffalo HF5430.5.B9 R5 A short directory of businesses, shops Riverside and Black Rock Directory and services [Buffalo, NY]: The Riverside Businessmen's Association, 1982 & 1983 GRO Buffalo HN80.B8 S33 Focuses on the Riverside Buffalo (N.Y.). Dept. of Community Development neighborhood Development Plan, CAC District #12, Buffalo, New York Buffalo, NY: Saratoga Associates, 1976 GRO Buffalo LC1046.5 .B8 A2 B5 Buffalo, N.Y. Board of Education Black Rock Vocational School Buffalo, NY: The Board, 1920 GRO Buffalo LD7501 .B9 S5 Yearbook of Riverside High School. Riverside High School We currently own most years 1935- Skipper 1980. Please check the Yearbooks [Buffalo, NY]: Riverside High School guide for up-to-date additions to the collection. GRO Buffalo NA9127.B9 A24 A city planning study Buffalo (N.Y.). Division of Planning Military Neighborhood of Riverside Community Buffalo, NY: City of Buffalo, 1961 GRO Buffalo TC225 .B9 U6 U.S. Engineer Dept. Buffalo Harbor and Black Rock Harbor, NY… Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1913 GRO Buffalo TC225 .T65 A3 1954 U.S. Engineer Dept. Black Rock Channel and Tonawanda Harbor…A Review of Reports of Black Rock Channel Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954 GRO Buffalo *TC225 .B9 F5 1993 An environmental study Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment: Buffalo Harbor, Black Rock Channel, Tonawanda Harbor Buffalo, NY: Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, 1993 Buffalo *Z733 .B93 H28b History of a former public library and Harp, F. Marshall its neighborhood History of Jubilee Library Founded on Water, 1826-1936 Niagara Street, Buffalo, N.Y. [Buffalo, NY: 1936] 4 Censuses Notes GRO Ref. *HA547 .B55 Z5 1993 This is the last census taken of Black Rock Zintz, June P. before it was annexed by Buffalo. Online for Index to the 1850 Census of Black Rock, Erie County, New York free at: [Hamburg, NY?]: Western New York Genealogical Society, 1993 www.wnygs.org/BlackRock1850.html Church History & Research Notes GRO Buffalo BR560 .B85 R48 Black Rock Riverside Church and Community Study Buffalo, NY: Regional Church Planning, 1969 GRO Buffalo BX8949 .B8 W3 1831-1870: known as First Presbyterian Church Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of West Avenue of Black Rock. 1870-1889: known as Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, New York: October 11-13, 1931 Breckenridge Street Presbyterian Church of [Buffalo, NY: s.n., 1931] Buffalo. 1889 to present: West Avenue Presbyterian Church of Buffalo. GRO Buffalo BX9211.B9 R5 A history of the congregation Riverside United Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, N.Y. Buffalo, NY: The Church, 1932 RBR F129 .B8 .R58 1889 Financial records of the church's Sunday Account Book of the Sunday School of the Riverside Methodist school, including collections and Episcopal Church of Buffalo, N.Y., 1868-1889 disbursements. Includes a directory of the 1 item, [39] p. church membership, 1892