Buffalo, N.Y., city, port of entry, and capital of Erie co., stands at the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, near its outlet through the Niagara River, and at the mouth of a creek, called Buffalo Creek, which empties into the lake at this point. It is 327 miles W. from Albany, by railroad, and 363 miles by the Erie Canal. It Is distant W. from Rochester 73 miles; S.S. E. Niagara Falls, 22 miles; and S.W. from Montreal, 427 miles. Population, in 1810, 1508; 1820, 2095; 1830, 8653; 1840, 18,213; 1850, 42,261. Since the completion of the Erie Canal, and the chain of railroads connecting Buffalo with Albany, New York, and Boston, its position, at the eastern termination of the commerce through the great lakes, Erie, Huron, and Michigan, gives it a most commanding advantage for business. It is the gateway between the east and the west; and, although other channels for this commerce will be opened, yet, as the vast resources of the west have scarcely begun to be developed, the traffic which is destined to pour through this communication must be immensely increased beyond what it has ever yet been.
John Hayward, Gazetteer of the United States of America… (Philadelphia: James L. Gihon, 1854), 308.
