Shown here in this view from 1964 is the Erie County Savings Bank building located at 16 Niagara Street in Shelton Square - a parcel of land bordered by Niagara, Pearl, Main and Church Streets. "As an important section of Buffalo's financial community, Erie County Savings Bank marked the lower section of the commercial district. The other structures surrounding Shelton Square included the Prudential Building, the Ellicott Square Building, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

The building was constructed between September 11, 1890, to June, 1893 and was designed by George B. Post - the winning architect in a competition among twenty-four architects. According to the HABS Report on the building, the "consulting engineer in charge of electrical installation was Thomas A. Edison."

"The main entrance facing northeast opened into a semi-circular lobby. Two banking rooms, one running north-south in the western portion, were reached from the lobby. A north-south corridor extended from the lobby to the southern entrance. The stairway and banks of elevators were located off this hallway. The seven stories of office space originally provided 145 offices. Some were joined to form suites and all had a street view."

As with most of Buffalo's great architectural masterpieces, the Erie County Savings Bank was demolished in 1968 to make way for a truly spectacular piece of architecture - the Main Place Mall. Judging by the current popularity of THAT mall, wasn't THAT a wise thing to do?

Images and portions of this text from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey or Historic American Engineering Record.