{"nrhp_refnum":"80002606","name":"Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society","other_names":["Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Building National"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25 Nottingham Ct.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buffalo","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.93539175600006,"lon":-78.87626595555304,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-23","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1987-02-27","areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Art","Entertainment/Recreation","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Neoclassical marble museum building in Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, overlooking Mirror Lake. Built in 1901 as the New York State Pavilion of the Pan-American Exposition, designed by George Cary, with wings added in 1929.","why_significant":"It is the only structure remaining in place from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition and the most important commission of architect George Cary. It was the only exposition building made of permanent materials and was planned from the start to become the home of the Buffalo Historical Society. It also carries sculpture by Niehaus, Perry and Amateis.","narrative":"Overlooking Mirror Lake in Buffalo's Delaware Park, this white Vermont marble building began as the New York State Pavilion of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. Architect George Cary gave it a Doric portico modeled on the Parthenon, a high basement, and a central court of black marble. Side wings for a library and auditorium were added in 1929, also by Cary. It was the only exposition building made of permanent materials and was intended from the outset to become the home of the Buffalo Historical Society, which dedicated it in January 1902. It is the only structure still standing in its original place from the fair. Sculpture by Charles Niehaus, Roland Hinton Perry and Edmond Amateis decorates the pediment, doors and exterior panels. Cary, the first Buffalo architect to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, considered this his most important commission. Today it serves as a museum and research center for western New York history.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"George Cary, architect","architectural_style":"Neoclassical","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a museum, library and educational institution of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.341839-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002606.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002606/9039e25cb9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002606/9039e25cb9-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Fortunate4now","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buffalo%26Erie_County_Historical_Society.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fortunate4now</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buffalo%26Erie_County_Historical_Society.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82005029","name":"Delaware Park-Front Park System","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/delaware-park-front-park-system-82005029/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317552","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_History_Museum","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4985761"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/buffalo-and-erie-county-historical-society-80002606/"}