Old Post Office (1894-1901)

This location is part of Preservation Buffalo-Niagara’s Downtown SCVNGR Trek.  Play SCVNGR to learn about Buffalo’s rich architectural heritage, earn badges and win prizes at participating venues.  Download the SCVNGR app and start playing today!

Described in Buffalo Architecture:  A Guide as a progeny of H. H. Richardson’s Allegheny County Courthouse, this building reflects the importance of Richardson’s influence, which pervades many of Buffalo’s late 19^th century architecture, and which can be seen firsthand at his Buffalo State Hospital complex.  The building consists of numerous pavilions and galleries designed around a large, centrally lit courtyard, capped with an ornate glass ceiling, similar to that of the nearby Ellicott Square Building by Daniel Burnham, whose influence was perhaps equal to that of Richardson.  The building is an eclectic combination of several historical styles, including Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance, with Renaissance styling dominating the large interior courtyard, Gothic detailing evident on the exterior of the building, and Romanesque touches evident in the rounded arches of the exterior and in the toll Florentine Romanesque tower.

This building is also important for the way in which it was renovated and reused as a community college in its later history.

For more information:

http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home/OurCity/Buffalo_My_City/Buffalo_My_City_Watercolors/40A_Erie_Community_College_City_Campus