The American Hotel, foot of Ferry Street, was popular for fresh-caught fish frys. It was a center of life at the Towpath, the now vanished neighborhood of shanties, boat liveries, bait and tackle shops, fishing clubs, and restaurants occupying the narrow strip of land between the Erie Canal and Niagara River. Grover Cleveland was reportedly a frequent visitor of the American during the days he served as Erie County Sheriff. Cleveland lived about a block away at the time, on Niagara Street between Ferry and Breckenridge. The American Hotel, and what remained of the Towpath, was razed in 1957 to make way for the Niagara Thruway.