Local

Looking Backward: 605 Oak Street

by / Jan. 3, 2018 7am EST

The Oak Street Redevelopment Project, started in 1965, resulted in the clearance of dozens of buildings over several square blocks in what had been called Brewers Hill, now the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Oak Street once continued straight north of Goodell Street to High Street, but was redirected around to Virginia Street as part of this project. This is likely 605 Oak Street, between Virginia and Carlton streets. A homeowner, in a seldom documented act of resistance, erected a sign reading, “We would rather fight than submit to legal robbery.” The robbery did take place. The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency wiped this home and the street itself off the map sometime around 1970. The New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences is now located at the site.

COMMENTS