Then: Erie Avenue

Erie Avenue. Autumn Moon Chinese Buffet.

In the Town of Clifton, Erie Avenue and Park Street were the two most important business streets. There was a market square, which included the town hall, the prison lockup, Binkley's Groceries, and E.S. Cole's Jewellery Store. Another notable business was Pat Duffy's Shamrock Saloon, reputed to be a local headquarters for Fenian rebels.

The Erie and Ontario railroad needed new rails between Stamford and Clifton, which were installed diagonally across the market square. You can still see the trajectory of the old railway tracks across the parking lot, on the west side of Erie Avenue. In exchange for the use of the land, the railway company donated property for a new town hall on Queen Street, with a city market behind it. A triangular bit of the old market was used to set up a bandstand for public concerts, which were occasionally interrupted by trains.

Now: Autumn Moon Chinese Buffet (closed 2015)

Clifton is now part of the City of Niagara Falls, and the railway tracks are long gone, but the area is still a municipal centre and business district. The building at 4626 Erie Avenue became Autumn Moon Chinese Buffet, but it closed sometime in 2015. The building is now vacant, as are many others in the surrounding area, awaiting the next wave of urban revitalization.

Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years.

[Erie Avenue/ Autumn Moon Chinese Buffet].

Niagara Falls Then and Now

A collaborative project

Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.

Original newspaper series by

Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.

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Copyright for all content remains with original creators.