City Hall
Learn all about this Art Deco masterpiece—inside & out.

Weekdays year ‘round (except holidays)
12:00 Noon – 1:00 p.m. (location/directions)
Meet in the City Hall lobby
FREE

1. The Buffalo Story
Our beautiful downtown landmarks provide a stunning backdrop for many of Buffalo’s important stories including that of the Erie Canal Terminus, three 19th century presidents and Theodore Roosevelt; the influence of Chicago architecture, the Underground Railroad, and the “Best Designed City” designation by Frederick Law Olmsted. See these stories come alive.

Tuesdays year ‘round (except July & August)
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.(location/directions)
Meet at Market Arcade, 617 Main Street
$10

2. Landmark Cruises on the Miss Buffalo
You’ll cruise the mighty Niagara River, pass through the Tonawanda Locks, and onto the Black Rock Canal and the Buffalo River. Enjoy a cruise that’s both leisurely and educational.

Wednesdays, July & Aug.
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. (location/directions)
Meet at the Miss Buffalo Cruise Boats, 79 Marine Drive, at the Erie Basin Marina. Call Miss Buffalo for reservations at 716-856-6696.
$14: Adults
$9: Ages 6 – 12

3. Downtown Revealed
You don’t know Buffalo if you don’t know the landmarks by master architects Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, Richard Upjohn, and E. B. Green. The Guaranty Building, St. Paul’s, and the Ellicott Square Building are as magnificent on the inside as on the outside. The tour also includes City Hall, Old Post Office, Old County Hall, and lower Pearl Street.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
(May 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31, June 7 & 21; July 5 & 26;
Aug. 16; Sept. 6 & 27)

Sundays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
(July 13; Aug. 3 & 24)

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays July & August,
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

Friday, Nov. 28; Friday, Dec. 26; Monday, Dec. 29; Tuesday, Dec. 30; Wednesday, Dec. 31
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon

Special "Inside Downtown" tour on Saturday, October 11 at 1:00pm

(location/directions)
Meet at Market Arcade, 617 Main Street
$10

4. New Digs Downtown (offered for the first time)
Delaware Avenue’s downtown landscape is being dramatically altered by a building boom that includes new office towers, condos, and adaptive reuse. Get a firsthand view of all the “new digs,” while learning about the Avenue’s rich historical past. This tour brings the old and the new together and offers a sneak peak into Buffalo’s future.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
(June 28, July 12, Aug. 2 & 23, Sept. 20)

Thursdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon (July & Aug.)

Sundays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
(July 20, Aug. 10 & 31)

(location/directions)
Meet at Delaware Avenue & W. Mohawk Street
$10

5. Theatre District
From the recently renovated Electric Building, this tour proceeds up Main Street past new construction to an extraordinary collection of buildings that reflect the typical American “Main Street” of the 1930s. We’ll check on the results of various restoration efforts, including that of the Market Arcade itself, a beautifully detailed 1892 retail mall.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
( June 14, July 19, Aug. 9 & 30, Sept. 13)

Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon:
(July & Aug.)

Sundays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.:
(July 6 & 27, Aug. 17)

(location/directions)
Meet at Market Arcade, 617 Main Street
$10

6. Grand Mansions, Inside & Out (offered for the first time)
Join us for this rare glimpse inside the magnificent homes of Buffalo's Golden Age on Delaware Avenue & Oakland Place. See how the rich and famous of the early 20th Century lived during Buffalo’s heyday.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.
(Sept. 20)

(location/directions)
Attendance is limited; reservations required
Meet at the corner of Summer Street & Oakland Place.
$25

7. Crime & Scandal 2.0 (offered for the first time)
Revisit old Buffalo scandals, such as Grover Cleveland's fathering a son out of wedlock and William McKinley's assassination, as well as new ones, including which Buffalo nightclub kick-started the Goth scene in the 1980s!

Sundays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
(June 29, July 27)

(location/directions)
Meet at Spot Coffee, on Delaware Avenue & Chippewa Street
$10

8. Millionaires’ Row
In Buffalo’s glory days, Delaware Avenue’s mansions stretched from Niagara Square to Gates Circle and constituted a tightly knit neighborhood where everyone knew each other and many were related. A number of the surviving mansions have been adapted for corporate, educational, and nonprofit uses. Millionaire’s Row today is a National Historic District. As we stroll the Avenue, we’ll discuss these architectural treasures and the business barons who built them.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
( May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9)

(location/directions)
Meet at Delaware Avenue & North Street
$10

9. Discover the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
See the new Hauptman-Woodward Institute building, as well as UB’s bioinformatics building, standing adjacent to the nation’s first cancer center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, on the 120 acre medical campus. Learn more about the research being conducted, the sites slated for business development, and the plans for Ellicott Street and the Allen Street extension.

Fridays, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
(June 20, July 18, Aug. 15)

(location/directions)
Meet in the lobby of the Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics, 701 Ellicott at Virginia
$10

10. Gold Medal Grain Elevator Tour
Join us for an update on the Cobblestone District and Commercial Slip developments. Walk over the Michigan Avenue lift bridge for a close-up view of General Mills and other majestic grain elevators. While on tour, munch on General Mills product samples.

Saturdays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.:
(July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 13)

(location/directions)
Meet in front of the HSBC Arena at Washington Street & South Park Avenue
$10

11. Waterfront Revival: From Lighthouse to Commercial Slip (offered for the first time)
Can the thriving waterfront of the early 20th century come to life once more? Walk from the mouth of the Buffalo River toward the newly-reconstructed and re-watered Commercial Slip. Learn about the once barren and flooded “flats” that became a thriving neighborhood of homes and shops during the heyday of the Erie Canal. What’s next?

Sundays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
(June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7)

(location/directions)
Meet at The Hatch (Erie Basin Marina)
$10

12. Legendary Lincoln Parkway
One of the most beautiful avenues in Olmsted’s park system, Lincoln Parkway was a magnet for lavish homes built by many prominent Buffalonians. John Larkin, founder of the Larkin Soap Company, even bought an entire square block as an estate called “Larkland” for himself and his children. Join us as we explore this storied neighborhood.

Fridays, 5:30 – 6:45 p.m.
(June 20 to Aug. 15)

Sundays, 4:30 – 5:45 p.m.:
(June 22 to Aug. 17)

Saturday, Dec. 27; Sunday, Dec. 28:
10:00 – 11:15 a.m.

(location/directions)
Meet at the Lincoln Statue by the Rose Garden in Delaware Park.
$10

13. E.B. Green: The Greening of Buffalo (offered for the first time)
In his seven-decade career, E. B. Green built a nationally-renowned architectural firm whose work ranged stylistically and included many major residential, commercial, industrial, civic, religious, and campus commissions. Beginning at First Presbyterian Church, this tour takes in the residential areas of Richmond, Summer, Oakland, Bryant, Delaware, and North, and features the Goodyear Mansion, Mayfair Lane, and the Birge Townhouse on the Midway.

Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
(June 28, July 26)

(location/directions)
Meet in front of the First Presbyterian Church, Symphony Circle
$10

14. Doorway to Dorchester: E.B. Green’s Middle Class Buffalo (offered for the first time)
Although known for the Goodyear Mansion, the Dun Building, and the classical Albright-Knox, members of Buffalo’s upper-middle class also commissioned E. B. Green to build more modest structures. Discover a unique collection of diverse styles by Buffalo’s most prolific and long-lived architect, all in a single neighborhood, and all deserving the same appreciation and preservation garnered by his designs for the wealthy.

Sundays, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
(June 22, July 27)

(location/directions)
Meet at the corner of Dorchester Avenue & Bidwell Parkway
$10

15. Black Rock Neighborhood
In 1817, the Village of Black Rock lost to the then-smaller Village of Buffalo, the historic competition to become the western terminus of the Erie Canal. As time passed, little Black Rock, annexed to the City of Buffalo in 1853, became a thriving enclave in the burgeoning city. Discover and learn about the historic, little-known community that is the Black Rock neighborhood.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
(June 21, July 19)

Sunday, October 26 from 1:00 -3:00 p.m.

(location/directions)
Meet at Amherst & Niagara Streets.
$10

16. Walking the Pan-Am (offered for the first time)
Imagine that fine time when, from May to November 1901, more than 8 million people from all over the world traveled to Buffalo to witness the marvels of electric lights and distant cultures! Midway Curiosities! Fountains and Pavilions! -- all were showcased at the Pan-American Exposition. Today, the Exposition grounds encompass one of the city's most popular residential neighborhoods. Walk with us through this special area, where triumph and tragedy marked Buffalo's greatest and saddest moments.

Co-sponsored by the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society

Sundays, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.:
( May 4, June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7, Oct. 5)

(location/directions)
Meet at Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue
$10

17. Museum District Revealed (offered for the first time)
Explore the relationship between Frederick Law Olmsted’s renowned landscape and the museums bordering it. Start at the only permanent structure left from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition – the Historical Society – pass through the serene ambiance of the Japanese Garden into Delaware Park toward the classical Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and check out the newly-constructed Burchfield-Penney Art Museum building. Even regular visitors to the district are bound to see something new!

Saturdays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
( Aug. 2, Sept. 6, Oct. 4)

(location/directions)
Meet at Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue
$10

18. Who Was Who on the Avenue? Part II (offered for the first time)
Enjoy an interior tour of Gilda’s Club and learn about the infamous William Fingy Conners, who once lived there. Step back in time with us as we talk about wealthy Delaware Avenue families and local events that impacted U. S. history. At Gates Circle, we’ll encounter the future in the fate of Millard Fillmore Hospital and the proposed condominium project slated for the site of the former Park Lane Restaurant.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
(Aug. 23, Sept. 27)

(location/directions)
Meet at Gilda’s Club, Delaware Avenue & W. Ferry Street
$10

19. Larkin, Wright, & a Forgotten Neighborhood
Explore the legacy of soap entrepreneur John D. Larkin and architect Frank Lloyd Wright with an interior tour of the restored Larkin at Exchange Building. View the vestiges of a once thriving neighborhood and the interior of St. Stephen’s R. C. Church, and hear about plans for revitalization.

Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.:

May 24 -- Optional lunch at McCarthy's Pub in the Old First Ward as well as a trivia quiz and a short lecture on “The Old First Ward”
June 28 -- Optional lunch at Sharkey's

Sunday, October 5 at 1:00 p.m.

(location/directions)
Meet at St. Clare’s Church, 193 Elk Street
$10 (lunch not included)

20. H. H. Richardson Complex
On this tour, we’ll walk the perimeter of one of H. H. Richardson’s greatest designs, the Buffalo State Hospital (interior tours have been unavailable since 2003). Surrounded by an Olmsted landscape, this largest of Richardson’s creations influenced a much-emulated architectural style named for the architect, Richardsonian Romanesque.

Sundays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
(May 25, June 22, July 27, Aug. 24, Sept. 28)

Meet at the Forest Avenue Gate, Forest & Richmond Avenues.
$10

21. West Side Stories
Join the fight against blight. Hear how a group of determined citizens -- called the West Side Community Collaborative (WSCC) -- has successfully prevented almost a dozen demolitions and helped turn formerly vacant properties into thriving homes. Hear the proud tale of the WSCC and efforts to revitalize a neighborhood, one block at a time.

Sundays, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
(June 15, July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 21)

(location/directions)
Meet at the corner of Chenango & Rhode Island streets, in front of the Left Bank
$10

22. Inside the Central Terminal
The Art Deco Central Terminal evokes poignant memories of departure and reunion … and dismay over its deterioration under various owners. Since 1997, the nonprofit Central Terminal Restoration Corporation has arrested deterioration, restored the tower clock, conducted regular clean-ups and sponsored well-attended events in this magnificent structure. See the results and hear about future plans.

Co-sponsored by the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation

Sundays, 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.:
(May 11, June 1, July 13, Aug. 17, Oct. 5)

(location/directions)
Meet at the Central Terminal on Memorial Drive off Broadway and Paderewski Drive
$10

23. Jefferson Avenue, Old & New (offered for the first time)
Jefferson Avenue is dotted by small, underappreciated shops and services, some of which have been owned and operated by the same Buffalo entrepreneurs and families for decades. From its origins as a German-American neighborhood in the 19th century through its evolution into an African-American neighborhood in the 20th century, discover how Jefferson Avenue has both lost and gained, and how new investment and in-fill architecture are strengthening this neighborhood.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
(June 14, Aug. 9)

Meet at the Utica Metro Rail Station, and end at the Delavan College Station
$10

24. In the Shadow of the Peace Bridge
Parts of the Columbus Park-Prospect Hill residential neighborhood adjacent to the Peace Bridge faces demolition to make way for the “preferred” new bridge plaza design. Named this year to the NYS Preservation League’s annual “Seven to Save” list of most threatened historic places, Prospect Hill is unique as Buffalo’s only historic lakefront community. While you still can, see this intact neighborhood of many century-spanning, architecturally significant buildings and learn first-hand about the irreplaceable urban fabric we might be about to lose, as well as community efforts to save it.

Sundays, 1 – 3 p.m.:
(May 4, June 1, July 6, Aug. 3)

(location/directions)
Meet at the corner of Columbus Parkway (Seventh Street) & Columbus Park West
(Connecticut Street.)
$10

25. Parkside Neighborhood Tour
Once an encampment during the War of 1812, then a stop along the Beltline Railway, the Parkside nnnHistoric District tour includes a showroom for the fabled Pierce Arrow motorcar, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, and Central Presbyterian Church. See how the history of this Frederick Law Olmsted-inspired neighborhood underscores its present-day status as one of Buffalo's finest communities.

Co-sponsored by the Parkside Community Association

Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon:
(May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 13, Oct. 11)

(location/directions)
Meet at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 96 Jewett Parkway
$10

26. Heart of Polonia
Dominated by its massive Catholic churches, interspersed with business and residential designs of the highest order, the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood was the heart of Western New York’s Polish-American community for generations. It was one of the largest Polish neighborhoods in the country. Learn more about this neighborhood’s past and how that heritage continues to shape the present.

Saturday, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
(Aug. 16)

(location/directions)
Meet at the main entrance of St. Stanislaus Church, 123 Townsend Street
$10

27. Williamsville Ramble
Williamsville owes its existence to the falls of Ellicott Creek, where founder Jonas Williams, among others, constructed water-powered grist mills. One of the mills, built in 1811, is still operational. Learn about the many village stone houses, schools, and churches dating from the 1830s, and a restaurant that began as a stagecoach stop and inn on the Buffalo–Batavia road.

Saturdays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.:
(June 7, July 5, Aug. 2)

(location/directions)
Meet in front of Williamsville Village Hall, 5565 Main Street (park in the municipal lot behind the Village Hall off South Cayuga)
$10