When the Buffalo Palace, 140 Seneca Street, opened on September 2, 1889, the Buffalo Courier called it “one of the finest saloons in the city.” Albert Ey, one of the two men standing in the door, was the proprietor. The saloon sold ales, porters, wine, and cigars, and bowling alleys were located in the rear. Rooms were rented by the night in the upper two floors. The Buffalo Palace was among the saloons that defied the Prohibitionists’ Sunday closing movement, which succeeded around that time in getting laws adopted requiring their closure on the Sabbath.

An 1891 account in the Buffalo Morning Express indicates that the saloon was “lighted brilliantly with doors wide open” on Sundays, with “card-playing, dancing, bad music, and excessive beer drinking” taking place, with no intervention by the police. In 1890, Albert Ey died, and operations were continued by his wife until 1895. The building at 140 Seneca Street still stands, and has long been vacant.

Photo courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum.