This elevator was built by the Great Northern Railroad to receive shipments from its "S" elevator in Superior, WI.
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| Brian R. Wroblewski posted Buffalo's Great Northern elevator with 2 of it's original Marine Leg towers laying on the BR&P dock next door after a tornado came in off the lake & wiped them out. The towers were later replaced by the 2 that stand there today. ["At the time of its completion in 1897, the elevator was the world's largest. The mill was also one of the first to run on electricity." [Wikipedia]] |
A photo that shows it with the original three electrically powered marine towers.
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| Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted Image of Great Northern Grain Elevator in Buffalo, New York circa 1900 with three ships - the bulk freighters Andaste and I.W. Nicholas. and schooner B.L. Pennington (from left to right) - in the foreground (Image Source: Library of Congress - Detroit Publishing Co. Collection). [The description continues to provide a history of each of those freighters.] american-colossus The capacity of the elevator was 2.5 million bushels. The flour mill was built next to it in the 1920s. Pillsbury closed the elevator part in 1981. [This has more information on its firsts and its weaknesses.] Chris Chapline posted a cropped version of this photo with a different exposure bygonely, 13th photo, a better exposure |
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| Bartel Miller posted Along the Buffalo harbor in the 1800's! Joe Buscaglia: Water level is really high compared to now. Maybe this was a Spring thaw. Brian R. Wroblewski shared Really rare shot of the old West Shore ore dock & Great Northern when it still had 3 marine legs. |
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| Brian R. Wroblewski commented on Bartel's post I should also mention, that's a rare shot too because the Great Northern only had those 3 Marine Leg towers from when it was built in 1895 until the early 1920s when a tornado knocked two of them down & they were all replaced with 2 new ones. |
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| Ninth photo posted by Brian R. Wroblewski |
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| James Cavanaugh Photography posted From my Archive. A 2005 view of the now [Feb 19, 2023] mostly demolished Great Northern Elevator and the Archer Daniels Midland facility. Jim Cavanaugh shared |
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| James Cavanaugh Photography posted From my Archive. A 2013 view of the former Great Northern Grain Elevator and the associated Archer Daniels Midland facility. Jim Cavanaugh shared From my Archive. A 2013 view of the former Great Northern Grain Elevator and the associated Archer Daniels Midland facility. |
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| James Cavanaugh Photography posted From my Archive. A 2016 view of the, now demolished, historic Great Northern Grain Elevator. Jim Cavanaugh shared Brian R. Wroblewski: ADM started work on a new truck transfer facility on the site but it seems to be somewhat stalled out at this time. They prepped the site already for it but no construction has taken place yet. |
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| Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted CSX local job Y133 pulls a string of hopper cars as they work the yard outside of the General Mills plant in Buffalo, New York. This area along the Buffalo River is home to numerous grain elevators and industries, including the Great Northern Elevator seen in the background, which was the last brick enclosed steel bin grain elevator in North America before it was demolished over the last year. ====Info==== 5/23/2021 CSX Buffalo Terminal Subdivision Buffalo, NY CSX Y133-23 (Ohio Street Yard, Buffalo Local) CSX 2029 GP38-3 Ex. CSX 2713 GP38-2, SBD 6062, SCL 6062 Blt. 1980 |
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| The Buffalo History Gazette posted via Dennis DeBruler View of the Great Northern Elevator from the top of the east tower of Agway "A" of the adjacent elevator to the Wheeler. |
AMD now owns this facility. Since it also owns the Standard Elevator, it does has not used this elevator and has wanted to tear it down for over two decades. Since it was damaged in Dec 2021, AMD has been much more aggressive about getting rid of it. These photos show the steel bins on the inside and the fact that the brick walls are just "curtain" walls.
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| Brian R. Wroblewski posted Partial wall collapse last night [Dec 11, 2021] during wind storm, ADM Great Northern elevator, Buffalo, NY. Ken Draper: Is this one still used? Brian R. Wroblewski: Ken Draper nah, they stopped using it & switched to the nearby Standard elevator in 1980. The attached flour mill is still operating tho. They just truck the wheat over from the Standard. |
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| Antonio Medina posted Great Northern Elevator, Buffalo NY 1907 Brian R. Wroblewski: Quick note: this is the South end of the building, not the North end that collapsed in 2021. The engineering reports that Pillsbury had done back in the 1990s showed that historic records from the company archives had documented bowing in the brick walls that was present as early as the 1940s, 40 years after it was built. A similar elevator in Superior, WI was sheathed in steel to stop the problem soon after it was built but the Buffalo elevator wasn't. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Brian's post Dennis DeBruler |
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| safe_image for Union Interested in Purchase and Restortion of Great Northern Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers Local 36G have expressed interest in determining the feasibility of purchasing the endangered Great Northern Grain Elevator and re-purposing it as a Union Hall to serve their members as well as a public museum space. UPDATE: City Rewards Neglect, Allows Great Northern Demo |
Brian R. Wroblewski posted six photos with the comment: "Some better photos of the Great Northern in Buffalo after yesterday's wall collapse. Today is the 1st day these internal steel bins have seen the light of day since 1897..."
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| safe_image for Demolition of Great Northern grain elevator stayed; Douglas Jemal wants to buy and save structure |
I'm saving another satellite image since the last I read Buffalo ignored requests by at least two organizations to stop the AMD's demolition of the elevator because they wanted to purchase and preserve this milestone elevator.
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| 3D Satellite |
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| safe_image for MEDIATION: Ganson St. Grain Elevator heading to bargaining table, talks already underway "Both sides will have a week - until Monday, January 3rd [2022], to reach an agreement, or the court will decide." [The article also has a timeline since the Dec 11 wind damage.] |
Jan 5, 2022: Brian R. Wroblewski posted seven photos of the elevator before the damage with the announcement: "The state judge ruled in favor of emergency demolition today. Work is to begin ASAP." https://www.audacy.com/.../judge-approves-great-northern...
Jan 5, 2022:
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| safe_image for Grain elevator cleared for demolition after judge vacates restraining order; owner says they’ll begin ‘without delay’ |
Jan 26, 2023: ether there some delay or the demolition is going very slowly.
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| 1 of 3 photos posted by Brian R. Wroblewski I tossed in 3 of the demolition of the old 1895 Great Northern elevator. Brian also posted John Kachelmeyer: Brian R. Wroblewski why didn’t they fix it decades ago then before it was too far gone? Why wait til it almost falls on someone? Brian R. Wroblewski: John Kachelmeyer they had an assessment done back in the 80s. The building needed the equivalent of $60 million worth of work to repair it & be able to use it. They asked & were refused permission to demo it & replace it instead. They decided to buy another one up the street & have been transferring the grain over ever since. |
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| Ellen Foy Mruk posted 3/17. Happy St. PATRICKS DAY. no action today. Apparently some paperwork has to be straightened out. |
The problem wasn't paper work. It was avoiding collateral damage to the shed next to the old elevator.
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| 1 of 4 photos posted by Ellen Foy Mruk 3/23. Finally a decision is made. Tires are being lifted to the roof of the shed and spread to act as shock absorbers. Electric wires are being cut going to the shed. Plywood is being lifted and spread on top of the tires. Heard this was one alternative, it's happening. Maybe some action tomorrow. Larry |
Ellen Foy Mruk posted 12 photos with the comment:
4/21. Just a little progress of the demo. Picture: 1- today, picture 2- 9/17/22, picture 3- 10/18/22, picture 4- 12/20/22, picture 5- 2/1/23, picture 6- 2/23/23, picture 7- 3/17/23, picture 8- 3/30/23, picture 9- 4/3/23, picture 10- 4/6/23, picture 11- 4/11/23, picture 12- 4/14/23
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| Brian R. Wroblewski posted Here's my final thoughts on the Great Northern... I know a lot of people were mad to see it torn down but at the end of the day, it had to go. If it was a free standing elevator without the attached flour mill, rail yard, & truck yards then, yeah, there would have been a better chance at it but it sat right in the middle of an active industry & there was no way to realistically make that work with ADM from a practicality & from a liability standpoint. No company in their right mind would even consider allowing access to a decrepit building that's falling apart that stands inside their property line. They wouldn't want people parking there & walking around while trains & trucks are moving all over the place right next to it. And that's not to mention the danger to employees & the public from the building itself slowly falling apart. If they sold it to someone, they'd still have it sitting there being a problem that someone else would now control & not them. I likened it to someone trying to buy your living room while you still live there & being allowed access to do whatever they wanted to with it. That's just not realistic. Beyond that, once they tore it open, it was obvious to me that it wasn't as much a building as it was a giant machine. When I saw how the bins held up the roof & head house & how the brick walls were just for weather protection, I knew there was no way to "adaptively reuse" it at all. The only chance it could have had would have been to repair it "as is" & keep it like a museum in place, without any internal use except for *maybe* the ground level floor. That concept just doesn't really work in the real world because of the cost to repair & maintain the whole thing (and it was HUGE) without any source of major revenue is unreasonable. Beyond all that- yesterday when I stood there & looked at it, all I could think of are the possibilities. Now that it's gone, ADM could potentially build a new storage facility there. It doesn't have to be another elevator, it could be steel bins, or even a modern domed structure. They could use the dock again, or lay up ships there for winter storage like they used to. They could eliminate the double handling they do now with the Standard elevator & the trucks. They could get larger ships in there than they can at the Standard. They might even be able to save money on shipping because they wouldn't need to include the price of a tug in their contracts. IDK what the company's intentions are, but it does make a statement that they fought the legal battle & spent the $ to tear it down. I hope that's an indication that the Buffalo plant was worth the investment & that they intend to keep it here. At any rate, nothing new could happen with the site until it was gone. My ultimate wish was that either Pillsbury or ADM had found that rebuilding it for grain storage again would have been worth it, but they chose the cheaper (at the time) route of buying the Standard elevator instead. Even if they had to re-sheath over the brick with metal, at least it would still be in use. The $65 million (then) price is probably what scared them away from that idea. In the end- Maybe we get nothing out of this & it's gone & out of their hair & that's that. Or, maybe they really do want to streamline operations here & some day we hear an announcement that they want to build a new one. We'll see. |
There were several posting of the energetic felling of the marine leg on Apr 26, 2023: Pietrzak video, Gillebaard, Gillebaard (has some videos) and Baker video.
Cori Wilson posted ten photos with the comment:
Remembering the Great Northern Giant of BuffaloThe Great Northern Grain Elevator, a monumental "brick box" structure in Buffalo, New York, stood as a testament to the ambitions of railroad magnate James J. Hill and the transformative era of industrial expansion in the late 19th century. Its story is one of innovation, strategic maneuvering, financial complexities, and ultimately, a shift in ownership that reflected the changing landscape of the grain industry.Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad, envisioned a fireproof and efficient grain elevator to connect his steamships on the Great Lakes with his expanding rail network. Completed in 1897, the Great Northern was a pioneering achievement, the world's largest grain elevator at the time, and among the first to utilize steel bins for storage and electric power for its operations. Designed in collaboration between D.A. Robinson, a noted elevator builder, and Max Toltz, bridge engineer for the Great Northern Railroad, the elevator's distinctive "brick box" exterior concealed a complex system of steel bins and cutting-edge machinery. Robinson, despite his prior experience primarily being in timber construction, took on the role of "Engineer and Superintendent of Construction" while Toltz, as "Consulting Engineer," translated Robinson's general designs into detailed working plans. Their collaboration resulted in several joint patents for innovations like the annular ring girder supporting the bins and the hemispherical bin bottoms.The construction of the Great Northern was a feat of engineering and logistics. Excavation, hampered by frozen ground, required dynamite. Thousands of hemlock piles were driven to support the massive foundation, upon which rose the "brick box" housing the steel bins. Major steel components were prefabricated in Pennsylvania by the Ritter Conley Company and shipped to the site. The bins themselves, constructed from steel plates of varying thicknesses, were designed to withstand full fluid pressures, reflecting the cautious approach of the engineers given the still-developing understanding of grain behavior in deep bins. The rapid construction, completed in just seven months, underscored the urgency of the project.The elevator's internal workings were equally impressive. Grain was unloaded from ships using massive marine towers, each equipped with a leg capable of elevating thousands of bushels per hour. These towers moved along the dock on rails, allowing for simultaneous unloading from multiple hatches. While the marine towers were highly efficient, the initial rail receiving capacity was surprisingly modest, perhaps reflecting Hill's initial focus on lake transport. Grain was elevated to the cupola by a system of ten internal lofter legs, each driven by its own 50hp motor—a distinctive feature of the Great Northern. The cupola housed garner-scale sets for weighing the grain, and a sophisticated dust control system, another pioneering feature, minimized the risks associated with grain dust. From the cupola, grain could be directed to storage bins or to shipping bins for loading onto rail cars, canal boats, or wagons.The Great Northern was more than just a storage facility; it was a crucial link in Hill's vast transportation network. His strategic vision extended beyond the rails, encompassing steamships on the Great Lakes and grain elevators like the one in Buffalo. This integrated approach allowed him to control the flow of grain from the prairies of the West to the markets of the East. However, the high cost of land and construction in Buffalo, coupled with the challenges of coordinating rail and water transport in the congested waterfront area, ultimately made the Great Northern less profitable than Hill had anticipated.The ownership of the Great Northern changed hands several times after Hill sold it in 1903. The initial buyers, a consortium of eastern railroads organized as the Mutual Elevator Company, used the elevator as a source of revenue, neglecting investment and ultimately selling to a local group, Island Warehouse Corporation, in 1921. Island Warehouse, in turn, established a complex relationship with the growing milling giant, Pillsbury Flour Mills. Pillsbury leased the elevator from Island Warehouse and eventually purchased it outright in 1935.Pillsbury's tenure at the Great Northern spanned decades, but the company eventually abandoned the aging structure in 1981, citing structural concerns. The Great Northern stood idle, a silent giant on the Buffalo waterfront. While preservation efforts have sought to find a new purpose for this historic landmark, its future remains uncertain. The demolition of the Great Northern in 2022 marked the end of an era, erasing a physical link to Buffalo's past as a crucial hub in the nation's grain trade and a reminder of the industrial ingenuity that once defined the city.
Jim Myers shared
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| Brian R. Wroblewski commented on Cori's post When it closed in '81, Pillsbury bought the Standard up the river that they still use today to feed their flour mill with grain. |
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