The Connecting Terminal Elevator

The Connecting Terminal Elevator stands on the west side of the City Ship Canal immediately upstream of its confluence with the Buffalo River. The existing facility is actually the second elevator built on the site. The first Connecting Terminal Elevator, built in 1882, was destroyed by fire in 1914. At the time, it was one of the largest wooden elevators on the waterfront, with a storage capacity of nearly one million bushels. , [photo] The original Connecting Terminal Elevator, circa 1900. , With the wooden Connecting Terminal Elevator gone, there were not enough grain elevators in the city to handle the massive grain loads bound for Buffalo. The owner of the elevator, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, immediately set forth to build a concrete elevator to replace the wooden structure. Concrete provided the surest forn of fireproofing for elevators, was effective at keeping the grain dry, and provided protection from rodents. , The elevator was designed by Harry R. Wait, who designed many of Buffalo's concrete elevators, including the Concrete Central. The slip form construction method, in which the form was raised by jacking rods as the tower was poured, allowed for quick construction. The Connecting Terminal received its first shipment of grain in February, 1915. , The elevator had a capacity of just over one million bushels. In 1954, an annex was built slightly south of the existing structure, adding over 600,000 bushels of storage. This addition was the last concrete elevator built in Buffalo. , [photo] The Connecting Terminal Elevator, 1994. Historic American Engineering Record, HAER NY, 15-BUF.29-1. Jet Lowe, photographer.