Buffalo is located on the western side of New York and was burned twice in its past- once in 1759, by the British, and again in 1813, also by the British. It sounds like the British didn’t want Buffalo to succeed. It was during those tumultuous years that Buffalo was a trading post, which was abandoned once it was burned and later served as military headquarters. After being burned a second time, it simply became a village. It wasn’t until 1825 that trading with the west and the completion of the Erie Canal brought a boost to the economy and the population. In the controversial time of the Civil War that railroads were being built in a hurry as Buffalo was developed with shipyards, iron, and steel mills, meat-packing plants, flour mills and railroad cars, just to name a few. The economy grew even bigger with the harnessing of the incredible Niagara water. It was said that Buffalo was home to two United States Presidents- Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland. In 1901, when President William McKinley was visiting Buffalo to view the Pan-American Expo, he was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt took an oath to become the next President. This oath took place in what has become known as the Ansley Wilcox Mansion, which is now a museum and a must-see. In today’s contemporary times, trade and government employees make up a large share of Buffalo's economy. However, it is also known for its chief manufacturing plants: auto parts, chemicals, plastics, medical supplies, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and wood products. You can see that Buffalo is an epic and thriving city, and also includes several colleges and universities and a center for medical research, too. When you hear the word Buffalo, you tend to picture Niagara Falls, but that is not only what Buffalo is known for. It is the Niagara River that serves not only as a drainage outlet for the four upper Great Lakes, but as a partial boundary between New York and Canada. The river also serves as one of North America’s best hydroelectric power plants. No one knows for sure how Buffalo got its name. Some say it was because the animal buffalo drank out of the creek but early settlers wouldn’t have known about them. The closest that can be surmised is that the Indians named as the Indians were famous for naming themselves after animals. There is a story about a Captain Daniel Dobbins, who told the amazing tale in which the Indian who named the river resembled a large buffalo, with a large square frame, stooped shoulders and a large bushy head. Yet again, it was surmised that the French named the creek and the translation left something to be desired. However Buffalo River got its name, it is a breathtaking place.

Buffalo offers a lot of different things to do for everyone on your list. First up, for those who are into history and casual palates comes the Anchor Bar, where in 1964 the buffalo wings were invented. Chicken wings had been used only for making stock or simply trashed. The Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village is up next with guided tours offering a look into the agricultural and rural history where it can be a hands-on experience or demonstrations. Homeschool Days allows homeschool groups a day just for them to experience what it might have been like to be a pioneer.
There is a lot to experience, explore, and taste when it comes to things to do in Buffalo. A sampling of what you might find is the Buffalo River History Tour, the Martin House, one of the most important works of Frank Lloyd Wright, built between 1903-1905.
If science is your thing or on the list of a family member, the Buffalo Museum of Science is the place to visit. And if military is something you enjoy, you can visit the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.
When it comes to experiencing and enjoying food, you should visit the Anchor Bar, home of the original and popular buffalo and great pizza. Of course there are too many places to visit, experience and taste to list. You will have to come for a visit and buy land before it is all snatched up.