“The wisdom of reclaiming the Scajaquada Creek swamp between Genesee and Doat streets, a quarter of a mile east of Bailey Avenue, is now quite evident. Schiller Park, as it is known, will be ready for use next spring and will be one of Buffalo’s most beautiful recreation spots.” –Buffalo Courier Express, November 23, 1930

Schiller Park is the centerpiece of the East Side neighborhood of the same name. The neighborhood was rural farmland and fields, famous for celery growing, in 1900. In the decades to come the neighborhood rapidly urbanized, spurred by population growth and public investments including two public schools and Schiller Park itself. The city purchased this property in 1926 and work began on parks improvements in 1930. By 1938, the 25-acre park designed by landscape architect Roeder J. Kinkel contained a swimming pool, athletic fields, tennis courts, and baseball diamonds, as well as an elaborate formal landscape approach from Genesee Street. This section, near Doat Street across from School 11, was devoted to playgrounds for children.

The houses and garages of Sattler Avenue are visible in the background. Today, the formal gardens at Genesee Street are gone; the WPA-built swimming pool has been removed, though the natatorium has been restored; and the playground is disinvested and underused. School 11 closed in 2012. Could Scajaquada Creek, buried in the 1920s in culverts beneath the park, be day-lighted and restored as a natural park feature?

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