The Concrete Central Elevator

The Concrete Central Elevator stands between the Buffalo River and the track of the former New York Central Railroad as the furthest upstream elevator along the Buffalo River. Financed by Eastern Grain Mill & Elevating Company and designed by Harry Wait, engineer of the Monarch Engineering Company of Buffalo, it was built in five sections from 1915 to 1917 and stretched a quarter of a mile long. Upon completion, it was the largest transfer elevator in the world. Its 268 bins could store 4.5 million bushels of grain, and it was the only elevator able to simultaneously unload three lake freighters, load four canal boats, and load up to 85 rail cars. Sold to the Continental Grain Corporation in 1944, it remained a functioning transfer elevator until 1969, was then used to store surplus grain, and closed in 1973.

Buffalo, New York · United States