Buffalo’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Buffalo. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Steamship captain Benjamin W. Clark settled the area of Buffalo in 1833. It was claimed following the 1833 Black Hawk Purchase which opened the region to non-native settlers. In 1836, Clark sold a 2/3 interest in 90 acres of land to Captain E.A. Mix and Dr. Pillsbury and collectively the three men platted the town of Buffalo after Buffalo, New York. This was the first town to be platted in Scott County. The town was hopeful for a county seat but found itself on the Western edge of Scott County after its districting in 1837. This made the town unsuitable for the county seat compared to the centrally located Davenport.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Buffalo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buffalo’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBuffalo, Iowa, Turner Hall, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Buffalo, decade by decade
1990s
1 historic place in Buffalo
1 place in Buffalo is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Buffalo, Iowa, Turner Hall (1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.