The Terrace, a parkway planned in 1804 and redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1887, once framed the edges of the central business district. It was originally a sand bluff, likely an ancient beach, perched some 25 feet above lake level, before being incorporated into the city plan by Joseph Ellicott. Here, in a photograph taken from City Hall in about 1958, the Terrace intersects with West Genesee Street, which cuts across the image from the lower center to the upper right. The termini of Eagle Street and South Elmwood Avenue are on the lower left. Church Street in the upper left leads to the Niagara Thruway, barely out of frame.

From left to right along the Terrace is School No. 2 (built in 1900 to serve principally children of Italian immigrants), Lomeo’s Delicatessen, Andy’s Grill & Restaurant, and Swan Marine Sales (in the original location of the Buffalo Meter Company). The Iroquois Gas Corporation and Waldorf Bakery & Commissary are visible on opposite sides of Genesee Street. Automobiles take up any space not occupied by buildings. The park grounds, too, vanished at the hands of the automobile with the extension, a few years after this photograph was taken, of the ramps to the Skyway. Only scant evidence remains of the Terrace parkway today.