Smith McDonald Corp.

Reprint
Buffalo History: An Urban Battlefield?
By Chris Brown
Buffalo Rising, August 20, 2009 (online July 2017)

It’s hard to believe that this nondescript two-story brick industrial building located at 1270 Niagara Street (at the corner of Auburn Avenue), sits at one of Buffalo’s most historic sites. It is, and it perfectly represents the challenge that volunteers face as they plan the commemoration of the War of 1812 in Buffalo and Erie County.

It was on this site where Peter Buell Porter lived, one of Black Rock’s most famous residents. While most people know that the British burned Buffalo to the ground in December 1813, fewer know that the British invaded in July 1813, but were successfully repelled during what is referred to as the First Battle of Black Rock.
s
Peter Porter was an American lawyer, soldier and politician, who served as Congressman, member of the Erie Canal Commission, and was U.S. Secretary of War. When Porter’s house was located on this site, it was set back from the street and had two entrances. The back of the house had grounds that extended all the way to the Niagara River. The front of the house faced the Niagara Street side.

The British landed near Squaw Island and invaded the military outpost located along the Scajaquada Creek. They continued to march south towards Buffalo. The British entered Porter’s house from the back, but Porter was able to escape through the Niagara Street side, wearing only his linen nightshirt. Porter, who was 40 years old at the time, ran down Niagara Street to the home of Robert Franklin near Connecticut Street. Franklin, an African American, loaned his horse to Porter, who then rode to Buffalo and assembled a militia of Buffalo citizens and Seneca Native Americans who fought along with army regulars. It was the first time that the Senecas fought alongside the Americans.

The U.S. assembled defense met the British on Niagara Street near Albany Street and drove them back before they could get to Buffalo. Heavy fighting took place on what is now Mason Street, just west of Niagara Street between Breckenridge Street and Auburn Avenue. The British retreated after suffering heavy losses (between 100 and 300 men) and their commander, Col. Cecil Bishop, was killed.

Porter’s house was destroyed six months later, when the British returned to burn Buffalo and Black Rock. The house was rebuilt after the war (although not occupied by Porter) and occupied until it was demolished in 1912 in order to construct the building currently on the site.

Currently, the Erie County War of 1812 bicentennial commemoration planning group is working with planning groups from Canada and Niagara County (US). The Erie County group is determining how to re-create a sense of place for historic sites, such as 1270 Niagara Street, that were so extensively redeveloped during the late 19th and 20th centuries.