Allentown Historic District

About this property

The Allentown district is a neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. The neighborhood is home to the Allentown Historic District. Allentown is named after Lewis F. Allen (1800–1890) who came to Buffalo in April 1827 to serve as Corporate Secretary and financial manager of an insurance company. Allen was also a farmer and when looking for space to let his cattle graze, purportedly his neighbor, Thomas Day, suggested some of his land, which sat between the cities of Buffalo and Black Rock. Allen's cattle path became known as Allen Street. Notably, Allen was one of the founders of the Buffalo Historical Society and Forest Lawn Cemetery, where he is buried. Allen was married to Margaret Cleveland Allen, who was the paternal aunt of future president Grover Cleveland. Allen introduced him to many influential people, including the partners in the law firm of Rogers, Bowen, and Rogers, where Cleveland later took a clerkship, which in turn led him to practice law and enter into politics. Allentown is the first neighborhood north of the Downtown Buffalo core. It borders the downtown theater and entertainment district to its south, and runs north to North Street at its northern edge, Normal Avenue on the west, and Main street on the east. The neighborhood is generally centered on Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue. Allentown is known for its community of artists, for its embrace of bohemian, hipster and gay culture, and for the civic commitment of residents to the historic and aesthetic sensibilities of the neighborhood. Allentown is one of Buffalo's premier areas for nightlife, dining, and antique shopping. The Allentown Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and expanded in 2012. It includes the Kleinhans Music Hall which is separately listed on the NRHP and is further designated as a National Historic Landmark. Also listed on the NRHP is the Birge-Horton House on Delaware Avenue. The original 1980 boundaries include approximately 733 buildings, not including secondary structures. Of these, 6 are Gothic Revival, 125 Italianate, 24 Second Empire, 92 Shingle style, 106 Queen Anne, 15 Stick, 5 Shingle, 56 Colonial and 196 are plain framed buildings. Three park areas are included in the area, two redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted and one circle, Symphony Circle, designed by him as part of his master plan for the city's park areas. After he completed the master plan, Olmsted returned to redesign and landscape Day's Park (named after Allen's neighbor Thomas Day who donated his land to the City of Buffalo) and Arlington Park; two existing city parks. In Day's Park he added a circular walkway in front of the school so the students would not trample the grass. The circular sandstone planting area that was in the center of the walkway is still in existence. Arlington Park was home to Frank Lloyd Wright while he worked in Buffalo.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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