The corner of Washington and North Division streets was, in the Roaring Twenties, as lively, diverse, and intense as dozens of such corners in downtown Buffalo. In this photograph taken by Hauser Bob in about 1925, the corner is seen looking south from North Division Street. The Ellicott Square Building is visible in the upper right, and, in the foreground, are about a dozen multi-story buildings that have since bit the dust. A man plays an unidentified musical instrument in the middle left, while others chat at the intersection. A streetcar and horse and carriage share Washington Street with automobiles. This block remained largely intact until 1966, when the New York State Department of Transportation demolished the three blocks between Main, Oak, North Division, and South Division streets for the Church Street Extension Mall, originally intended to connect the I-190 and a never built Elm-Oak Expressway.

Image courtesy of The Buffalo History Museum. Used by permission.