Lafayette Square: Then and Now (June 2011 - January 2012)

Lafayette Square is a significant feature in the original 1804 design for Buffalo by Joseph Ellicott, when it was called the Village of New Amsterdam. At its earliest, the park was known as Court House Square until the Marquis de Lafayette visited in 1825 and it took on the revered General’s name. Lafayette Square began as a wooded park and changed many times over the years on its way to becoming the urban square and traffic thoroughfare that it is today.

The story of the many configurations of Lafayette Square, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and its surrounding buildings, both current and past, unfolds in this exhibit through photographs, postcards, menus and other interesting ephemera.