Buffalo history – Preferred Services of WNY

204 High Street again sits in the shadow of the wrecking ball as the City of Buffalo plans demolition of the long neglected Civil War era property

“We will try one last time to see if we can find somebody to save the property,” said Lou Petrucci, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Permit and Inspection Services, speaking of 204 High Street.

Known as the Meidenbauer House, the 1865 Italianate home in Buffalo’s Fruit Belt will fall to the wrecking ball in September if a new owner cannot be found to save the historic property that the city repossessed in 2005 and has neglected since with the intention to demolish.

Standing on the edge of the ever-expanding Medical Campus, the value of deteriorating properties has risen as developers seek to profit on the long neglected Fruit Belt neighborhood where 140 demolition permits have been issued over the last twelve years.

“If anybody’s out there,” Petrucci said, “we need them to come forward.”

Buffalo Rising featured 204 High Street in 2014 and again in 2016 when the city called for proposals to redevelop the property. You can see more photos of the property from around that time here.

Further reading on the history of 204 High Street’s brush with demolition:

Buffalo New, “Civil War-era home in Fruit Belt gets one last chance to avoid demolition”, 2019

Preservation Buffalo Niagara Instagram regarding 204 High Street

Buffalo Rising, “City Issues RFP for Redevelopment of 204 High Street”, 2016

Mike Puma’s photos of 204 High Street from 2012

Buffalo Rising, “Save 204 High Street”, 2014

Buffalo News article on Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus overtaking the Fruit Belt

You can’t go far in Buffalo without tripping over something historically significant, or randomly meeting the guy who’s grandfather built your house. Or something like that.

It’s always interesting to open up these old porches and see for ourselves why there are now so many building codes and regulations. One reason we have to get our foundations inspected and plans drawn up and approved before getting a permit is because back in the day people would just throw a 2×4 on top of an I-beam that was anchored in nothing but heavy clay and maybe some rocks and call it a day. If you need any more convincing that this is nowhere near enough to support that porch roof, take a look at how that 2×4 is bowing under the weight.

During our Greenfield porch project last year our on-site inspector made us swap out the 4×4 posts the permit inspector had approved with 6x6s because of concerns that the porch roof would be too much for them to carry.The framing around those posts that the shingles were nailed to was all tied in and carried some of the load, but that’s probably the only reason this porch wasn’t in worse shape. And by worse, I mean it hadn’t started to collapse and take the porch roof and part of the second story with it.

That’s even more surprising when we learned a little about the house and its neighborhood. It turns out that Matt, who rented us the dump trailer to haul away the old porch, had some history with the house. His grandfather had actually helped build the house we were working on back in the 1920s, as well as many more on the street. It was a company neighborhood, with the houses being built first for the executives of the Pierce Arrow Company and later, as the neighborhood expanded, for the rest of the workers.

The Pierce Arrow complex at Elmwood and Great Arrow, which is undergoing massive renovations, was designed in 1906 and operated until 1938 and during that time produced some of the most powerful and efficient automobiles in the country. President Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrows and two White Model M Tourers to serve as the first official cars of the White House, in addition to many Hollywood stars and tycoons of the day owning one of luxury cars.

One interesting feature of these executive homes that Matt learned from his mother was that apparently the porches sported a steel I-beam as the header. This explains why there is absolutely no sag to the front of the porch but makes it even more baffling that with a steel beam running along the top there would be only a 2×4 at either end supporting all that weight. But who knows, those columns could have been rebuilt later by someone who didn’t realize what was hidden above. Either way, I’m glad that I’m some cases they don’t make them they used to.

Visit us at PreferredServicesWNY on Instagram to see more photos of our projects!

Tag: Buffalo history

Demolition Looms Once Again for Historic Fruit Belt Property

204 High Street again sits in the shadow of the wrecking ball as the City of Buffalo plans demolition of the long neglected Civil War era property

Uncovering History One Porch Project At a Time

You can’t go far in Buffalo without tripping over something historically significant, or randomly meeting the guy who’s grandfather built your house. Or something like that.