History of Times Beach

History of Times Beach. The Industrial Heritage Trail. Times Beach was, at one time, an actual sand beach. The beach formed as a result of the improvements to Buffalo's inner harbor. Prior to the harbor improvements the mouth of the Buffalo River was frequently clogged with sands that moved north along the shore of the lake. An entrance channel that was dredged in the early 1800s, and a pier was constructed (the south pier) to block the sand from entering the harbor. Sand that had previously moved across the mouth of the Buffalo River now collected behind the south pier and seawall, eventually forming the beach. , The beach and surrounding area along the seawall were popular with squatters during the early 1900s. These squatters were eventually displaced due to industrial development. , [photo] Times Beach, circa 1910. The inner harbor entrance channel and south pier are visible in the foreground. , In the early 1930s, the Buffalo Times newspaper proposed a free municipal bathing beach at the location of the former squatter community. The influence of the Buffalo Times resulted in the eventual opening of the beach, named after the newspaper. The municipal beach was short-lived, however, as growth of industry along the Lake Erie waterfront created a health hazard, and resulted in Times Beach closing in the 1940s. , The location of the now-closed Times Beach was ideal for storage of dredged materials. From 1971 to 1976, the Army Corps of Engineers used this site for disposal of over 550,000 cubic yards of dredged material from the Buffalo River, Buffalo Harbor, and the Black Rock Canal. , The confined disposal area was originally planned to be filled completely. However, the site began to support a significant diversity of wildlife, especially migratory birds. The Army Corps stopped using the site in 1976, and since then the area has been set aside as a wildlife preserve.