Completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought commerce, industry, wealth and growth to Buffalo. By 1900, this was the country's eighth-largest city. The 20th Century would not be so kind...Buffalo's population today is well below 1900 levels.

Still, this decline helped preserve things that would have been destroyed for "progress" in a more-vibrant place. The western canal terminus, Canalside, is today a park and recreation destination. Downtown is filled with circa-1900 buildings of brick, stone and terra cotta.

One thing has not changed: Buffalo's winters are still world-class, featuring lake-effect snows from two of the Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario.