In 1958, Lower Main Street was a half-demolished vestige of Buffalo’s fabled Canal District. Here, at the corner of Main and Hanover streets, what remains of Benjamin Rathbun’s Webster Block hangs on, but not for much longer. Five of Rathbun’s original row of 17 commercial block buildings, erected in 1835, are visible in the foreground. They are still occupied, from left to right, by the Detroit Hotel, Memorial Restaurant, Supreme Divers Inc. (manufacturers of diving equipment), and Cuban Hotel.

In the distance, the Lehigh Valley freight house, Merchants Refrigerating Co., and Canadian Cartage & Warehouse Co. are visible. In the lower right, a series of four billboards on the west side of Main Street advertise Texaco (“Tower of Power”), Butterfinger, Eddy’s Bread (“All hands agree”), and Duquesne beer (“The winner gets Duquesne”). In 1969, the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency demolished this section of Lower Main Street for a parking lot.