follows: 1810, 1,508; 1820, 2,095; 1830, 8,653; 1840, 18,213; 1850, 42,261; 1860, 81,129; 1870, 117,714. Of the total population in 1870, 71,477 were of native and 46,237 of foreign birth; of the latter, 22,249 were born in Germany, 11,264 in Ireland, 4,554 in England and Scotland, 4,174 in British America, 2,232 in France, and 612 in Switzerland.—Buffalo has many attractions as a place of residence. Its summer climate is delightful; an almost perpetual breeze from the west fans the eastern shore of Lake Erie. The average mean temperature of the three summer months for five years from 1867 to 1871 was 70.3° F. The average mean temperature of the year for the same period was 47.98°. According to a report on vital statistics for 1872, Buffalo was the healthiest city in the United States, the death rate being only 13.9 per 1,000. The streets are generally broad, lined with shade trees, and cross each other at right angles. The plan of the city introduces many squares and public places. The private residences are generally neat and tasteful. The business portion lies near the lake and river. A superb public park, or system of parks, has been designed and laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of the Central park in New York city. The land taken for park purposes embraces about 530 acres; it is divided into three plots situated in the western, northern, and eastern parts of the city, with broad boulevards connecting them, forming a continuous drive of nearly 10 miles. The construction of the park was begun in 1871. The prominent public buildings are: the United States custom house and post office, a large freestone edifice of plain style, at the corner of Washington and Eagle streets, in which also the United States district court is held; the state arsenal, a handsome turreted structure of stone, in Batavia street; the Erie county penitentiary, a capacious building of brick and stone; the state armory, in Virginia street, a large plain edifice of brick; and the general hospital, of which only one wing has yet been erected. The most notable church edifices are St. Paul's cathedral (Episcopal), fronting Pearl street, built of red sandstone in the early English style; and St. Joseph's cathedral (Roman Catholic), in Franklin street, of blue stone with white stone trimmings, in the ornamental Gothic style, and having a chime of 42 bells. Several of the bank buildings of the city are costly and imposing edifices, especially those of the Erie County, the Buffalo City, and the Western savings banks. A court house and city hall of granite, fronting Franklin street, is in process of construction, which will cost nearly $1,000,000. The state has undertaken the erection of an asylum for the insane at Buffalo, the corner stone of which was laid in 1872; it is designed to be the largest institution of its kind in the United States, if not in the world. The building will have a front of about 2,700 ft. The grounds attached to it embrace 203 acres, and are laid out in harmony with the plan of the Buffalo park, which they adjoin. The construction of a bridge across the Niagara river was completed in 1873. Four of the principal streets of the city, Main, Niagara, Genesee, and Batavia, have horse railroads, which are under the control of one company. The Main and Niagara street lines are each about 4 m. long and have double tracks. Buffalo is the western terminus of the Erie canal, and of the New York Central railroad and two of its branches to Niagara Falls and Lockport; it is the main western terminus of the Erie railway, with a branch road from West Corning and one to Niagara Falls. It is the eastern terminus of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway; of the Buffalo and Lake Huron branch of the Grand Trunk railway of Canada; and of the nearly completed Canada Southern railway, and “loop line” of the Great Western railway of Canada. The Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia, and Buffalo, Jamestown, and Titusville railroads will give the city direct connections with middle and western Pennsylvania; and the Midland and the New York and Chicago air-line railroads, now in progress, will both be added in a few years to the railroad system of which Buffalo is the focus.—The position of Buffalo at the foot of the great chain of lakes gives it a marked commercial importance. The board of trade was established in 1844 and incorporated in 1857. For many years the business of the city was almost wholly confined to shipping and forwarding. Since about 1862, however, its lake and canal commerce has declined in relative importance, owing to the increased traffic of the railroads; and manufacturing enterprise has taken the lead. The grain trade of Buffalo forms the most important item of its commerce. The facilities for handling and storing grain are unsurpassed. The first grain elevator built on the lakes was erected at Buffalo by Joseph Dart in 1843. In 1873 there were 32 elevators at the port, with an aggregate storage capacity of 7,415,000 bushels, and with a capacity for transferring 2,883,000 bushels per day. Many of these elevating warehouses are costly structures of stone, or of iron and brick, or of wood with corrugated iron sheathing. The following table shows the receipts of flour and grain for 1871:
| ARTICLES. | By Lake and G. T. Railway. |
By Lake Shore Railway. |
Total. |
| Flour, bbls. | 1,278,077 | 1,437,736 | 2,715,743 |
| Wheat, bush. | 22,606,217 | 1,379,000 | 23,985,217 |
| Corn, bush. | 26,110,769 | 10,256,600 | 36,367,369 |
| Oats, bush. | 9,006,409 | 5,674,850 | 14,681,259 |
| Barley, bush. | 1,946,923 | 204,200 | 2,151,123 |
| Rye, bush. | 1,095,039 | 98,200 | 1,193,239 |
| Total grain, bush. | 60,765,357 | 17,612,850 | 78,378,207 |
| Equivalent of flour | 6,390,035 | 7,188,680 | 13,578,715 |
| Grand total, bush. | 67,155,392 | 24,801,530 | 91,956,922 |
| Grand total, 1872 | 62,260,332 | 23,000,000 | 85,260,332 |
The aggregate receipts of grain (including flour) by lake at Buffalo in each decade, from 1836 to
