Aerial View of the Project Site, 1994

Courtesy Western New York Heritage Institute — Niagara Mohawk Collection

A recent photo shows the project area as occupied by the Naval & Serviceman’s Park, before the beginning of the recent excavations. The two Naval ships are docked along the length of the former Central Wharf between the foot of Main Street and the Commercial Slip. The bow of the larger ship marks the point where the Commercial Slip (now Hamburg Drain) enters the Buffalo River. It is a “site” of inexhaustible national significance in the epic story of the Erie Canal and the peopling of North America.