Celebrating a US Port City

Buffalo and its Niagara River Connections

Kimberly Monk

Port2Port - 2025

Now in its fourth year, the PortCities project shares student research from Brock University's HIST 2F00 Great Lakes Maritime and Coastal History. Students previously explored Toronto, Hamilton and the Niagara Region's port and maritime history, examining the wide-ranging themes that connect our waterways and shape coastal urban development. This year's release of the Buffalo PortCities project extends our coverage by exploring our first US port city, while providing connections to last year's Niagara PortCities research essays.

The Buffalo PortCities Project

The 15 research essays from the 2024-2025 project on the Port of Buffalo document its remarkable maritime legacy. Student projects have addressed a range of significant historical issues, exploring the people and places that shaped Buffalo's health, manufacturing, and leisure industries. Moreover, several essays highlight the Erie Canal's history and heritage - providing timely content as Buffalo celebrates its bicentennial this month. We congratulate these students on their effort and commitment to these projects, and I hope they will enjoy sharing their first "published" historical essay.

Buffalo's changing human landscape began over 12,000 years ago, with Indigenous Peoples engaged in hunting and seasonal fishing camps along the Niagara River, and its tributaries. Euro-American settlement began in the 1780s, with the early villagers engaging in farming and trade. The rapid growth in manufacturing and shipping coincided with the construction of the Erie Canal, placing Buffalo at the center of grain export for the next 70 plus years. In the early 20th century, Buffalonians secured significant contracts for shipbuilding, steel and other manufacturing to support global conflict; however, post-war, it was forced to redefine its industrial role and find new waterfront investment. Adaptation and revitalization opportunities have since renewed Buffalo Harbour as a place for tourism and leisure. At the same time, environmental stewardship of the Erie Canal and adjacent waterways supports communities living and working across Western New York today.

Alongside student research essays, the Port2Port blog provides additional, brief histories while examining a wider range of Great Lakes topics. The eight blogs published with this year's project explore the 19th century fur trade, Port Dalhousie and the First Welland Canal, the War of 1812, the bombing of Lock 24 on the Third Welland Canal, and the Niagara scow, which continues to teeter on the edge of Niagara Falls. More recent subject matter examines the legacy of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald and the 2024 structural failure aboard the S.S. Michipicoten.

The PortCities web map has also been updated with the new projects, providing the public with a geographic orientation to these topics, while connecting industries and themes across time and space. By visualizing the connections across Great Lakes ports and other maritime spaces, we can better appreciate how Great Lakes maritime history is part of a much broader tapestry of economic and social change. Importantly, it highlights geographically how impacts on a local scale can have serious consequences for the entire Great Lakes region.

Project Support

The 2024-2025 essays were reviewed by teaching assistant Mr. Jingxiong Lyu, who supported students with honing their writing and referencing. Ms. Emily Haus was essential to copy-editing student work, ensuring the figures and references were consistent. Mr. Guoyi Gao skillfully geo-visualized both the essay and blog content for the PortCities web map. Mr. Kartik Parekh expertly managed the additions to the website, incorporating the new content while ensuring it was formatted for accessibility. This project is a team effort, and I am grateful to the teaching and research assistants for their marvellous work.

PortCities, 2025-2026

This academic year is the final year for HIST 2F00 Great Lakes Maritime and Coastal History, which in turn signals the end of the PortCities project. As a result, I felt it was essential to explore two ports, thereby increasing the project's breadth while also expanding the coverage with another US Great Lakes port city. Our current HIST 2F00 students are researching the Ports of Kingston and Oswego - the first Great Lakes ports - on Lake Ontario. Various topics address how war and trade have shaped these locations, while several projects will connect the human stories and organizations that shaped the Great Lakes region.

Additionally, the student-authored public history blogs will cover a wide variety of topics. This year's students have submitted blogs which examine Alpena's Amberley Ridge, Indigenous knowledge and the fur trade, HMS Nancy and the War of 1812 on Georgian Bay, and a 19th century lightkeeper on Lake Michigan. More recent topics explore the Great Storm of 1913, the Port Arthur Grain Elevator Explosion, the 1949 fire aboard the S.S. Noronic at Toronto, and the Love Canal environmental disaster. We're excited to share these bite-sized histories in autumn 2026.

Although the 2026 project release will mark the end of the project, I am hopeful that we can ensure this website remains "live" for the foreseeable future. In choosing to deliver a course on Great Lakes maritime and coastal history, my goal was simple: to introduce students to this rarely discussed yet important subject area, while also educating the public about our region's remarkable "soggy" history. I hope these stories about our port history will inspire you to explore our coastal areas and reflect on both past and present connections with our inland seas.