BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Preliminary work is soon to begin on building new Marine Drive apartments in downtown Buffalo near Canalside. However, before construction can commence, archaeologists from the University at Buffalo are conducting an important and historic dig.
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley went to the site to learn about some unique Queen City history that has literally been ‘unearthed right in a parking lot right across from the current Marine Drive apartments.
WATCH: ‘This is Buffalo history’: Archaeologists digging in Downtown Buffalo near Canalside
I found UB archaeologists digging and shifting through several feet of earth in Downtown Buffalo at what is known as the Davenport Alley Historic Site, formally the Old Canal Street.
@UBuffalo Archaeological Survey conducting a dig in downtown Buffalo in a parking lot in front of Marine Drive apartments tracing some history of Buffalo’s historic old canal side past. @WKBW pic.twitter.com/yEpxcWx7IP
— Eileen Buckley (@eileenwkbw) August 15, 2025
UB is subcontracted with a preservation company to retrieve as much data about people who once lived in this neighborhood, an area that was once filled with homes and businesses in the late 1800s to mid-1900s.
"And we're looking for the back yards of all the houses — businesses that once fronted these streets,” explained Ryan Austin, project director, UB Archaeological Survey. “We're looking for evidence of the people who lived here."
Austin is the project director with UB’s Archaeological Survey.
“On either side of the block, where dance halls and saloons, and then between that were shops – maybe another saloon or two and tenements,” noted Austin. “You said you even found some evidence of Native American items here?” Buckley asked. “Yes, not a lot. We did find evidence very, very deep that there was manufacturing of stone tools,” Austin replied.
Animal bones from food residents were once prepared, including those from pigs and cows. Even shoes from a former shoe shop owner were discovered at the site.
“I think it's most of the shoe – there’s the sole,” described Austin as he showed leather shoes. “The shoe store owner lived there with his wife and several apprentices. and he manufactured shoes in that shop, and he threw all the garbage, including shoes, into a pit behind his house."
The UB crew also dug up some glass bottles and found a jug still buried deep in the dirt, where Austin says a building once stood.
“One of the things we are looking for is evidence of a 1853 fire that destroyed the majority of the northern end of this block, and all the old buildings were wood. Everything burned to the ground, and afterwards, everything was rebuilt in brick. One of the things that we are finding is a collapsed shelf that had fallen over during the fire when the building around it collapsed, and there's still a jug that was on the shelf,” Austin noted.
This archaeology dig will wrap up by the end of next week.
“This used to be the living, beating heart of the City of Buffalo. This is Buffalo history down here,” declared Austin.
