Nottingham Terrace

By the time I finally decided to brave the cold and get out of the house it was close to noon. The thought of the congestion at Wegman's as the afternoon goes on does have a way of forcing me out the door. Anyway, after three store stops I was going to go by Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park and try out my new camera, something that I had penciled in for 7am daybreak that never happened.

Anyway, as I was driving down Elmwood I had a brain glitch and turned left on the street in front of the History Museum instead of the Art Gallery. Even though I had been planning on dropping off the groceries before doing some genealogy research at the museum, I decided to stop there before I moved that task to the "should have" list.

Nice picture taking opportunities are in the neighborhood too, and since kid1 is finally showing an appreciation for Buffalo architecture after years of studying the basic facts in high school, I thought I'd help out a bit with her latest project. Good excuse anyway.

Rather than do the research in which hours can fly by rather quickly, I opted to take a stroll down Nottingham Terrace first. I only made it down the street about 10 houses before a chill set in and I decided to go back, taking pictures the whole way until my fingers about froze off - no gloves for me, I'm from Buffalo!

Once as I was snapping away I thought I heard someone tapping on a window, but I looked around and didn't see anyone shaking their finger at me, so I figured it was a woodpecker or something and carried on. Hoped no one thought I was casing the joint.

Anyway, those who aren't familiar with the city of Buffalo may spend too much much time listening to or reading from those ignorant souls who dismiss the city as one tumble down ghetto. Please don't - they don't have a clue what they're talking about (and don't care either, I imagine). Gorgeous homes abound in every section of the city, and the ones around here are on the top of many "must see" lists.





Trees kept getting in the shots...


...and one had foliage all around it, but I managed - autofocus is good for things like sticking the camera over ones head and hoping for the best.



Notice how the main entrance to this one is on the side...



I think a lot of them are like that, but I didn't really check it out.


This one holds a special memory for me though - or at least I think it was this one. Made the biggest visual impression at any rate:



Way back when I was in girl scouts we had taken a trip to the History Museum. The drivers had just dropped us off and were supposed to pick us up later. Don't know if they got distracted or it was assumed the building was open later than it actually was, but we ended up booted from the museum at closing time with no ride in sight. No cell phones either, of course.

It was very, very cold. After freezing solid, a small band of us decided to knock on doors and see if someone would let us in to warm up. Being kids had more to do with this school of thought than being from a rural area. Heck, in the real way out there areas people just leave their doors open. Anyway, we trudged from house to house, knocking on doors and being ignored.

Finally some residents felt sorry for us sniffling kids and let us into the entryway for a few minutes as they scurried around putting on jewelry and cuff links for a night out. As we worked on warming up we soon forgot about the cold as we looked around, vaulted ceilings and everything. Wow. Soon we were back at the museum getting yelled at, but it I never forgot it.

Nowadays I live fairly close by, but a world apart. Close enough to mosey by on a whim however! So if the people in these beautiful homes see a woman taking pictures of their houses, maybe with a teenager or 2 along side, its just me.

I won't be knocking on any doors though :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This reminds me of the Nancy Drew book The Clue in the Crumbling Wall many many years ago...not that these walls are crumbling or anything...Just the first thing that came to mind when I was wandering around...the setting and all that...

Starting from scene left...(click photos to enlarge)...

Muted Monday - Mirror Lake

You may have seen "Wordless Wednesday" as a heading for a blog post with only photos, but I'm going for a Muted Monday. Its distinguishing features are minimum chit chat with pictures (aka too lazy to write this morning).

At the end of October I was behind the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Museum taking pictures around Mirror Lake. There were all kinds of people around photographing the leaves in full Fall color along with rocks and anything else that came into focus.



Then I went back last weekend after the book sale. Gloomy day, dreary pictures. Only other people I saw were walking a dog.



Maybe it looks better in the snow. Or maybe I'll wait until Spring...

Hungarian / Austin Street / Charity Baptist Church

One tends to think of older churches as large buildings built of stone or brick, or maybe of clapboard like a hallmark greeting card. Then there are what is known as storefront churches, which are usually located in buildings that started out with some other use.

In between there are small churches, which many times served as a starter building for a congregation back in the day. Many have changed hands numerous times. Some have not retained their religious purpose. To the untrained eye, such as mine, they may appear as a mere house with stained glass windows.



However many are being born again as a new congregation takes root within its walls. Until last week I had never been inside of one of these small churches, many of which are scattered throughout the City of Buffalo. One such treasure is at 350 Austin Street near Military Road.

Many times I passed by, never taking the time to learn about the building or the people inside. I had thought it to be a church moving on to another use years ago. I was mistaken. When I went over there to take pictures I noticed it was in the process of being renovated.

Then I met Pastor Pete Wigdor, who graciously invited me inside. I had never imagined that such a beautiful church would be inside those walls!


I learned that there has been a continuous active church at this location for the past 91 years. It started out as the First Hungarian Baptist Church, as an outreach to the new immigrants. From there its name changed to the Austin Street Baptist Church to better reflect its changing congregation. Eventually that group moved to Grand Island. The church would later be known as Maranatha, which suffered dwindling numbers as the years went by. Now it is being revived both physically and spiritually as the Charity Baptist Church.

At a time when many feel the need to flock to a mega-church, I have always preferred a smaller church. This fits the description and more. Very welcoming. Services begin at 10!



More historical info can be found on the site of Houses of Worship: A Guide to Religious Architecture.


UPDATE: As I was wandering around the Buffalo Historical Society this afternoon I came across 2 artifacts from the original First Hungarian Baptist Church. Both a drum and an organ were donated at some point in time.





What a coincidence!