Factories: (Satellite, between Seneca & Exchange Streets and the tracks and Hydraulic Street.)
These are some of the factory buildings.
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| Street View, Sep 2017 |
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| Scott Porter posted 1924 aerial view of the Larkin Co Inc factory, Buffalo, NY. |
Larkin started by making soap products. Their marking approach of selling directly to the consumer was successful, and Larkin expanded their product line "into selling toiletries, furniture, lamps, home products and a myriad of other items. As the quantity and variety of the products produced by the company increased, the size and scale of the production factory also grew." As was tradition, the clerical workers were housed in the factories next to the production lines. Since the clerical workers were female, they decided that a better work environment would make it easier to attract and retain clerks. So, in 1904 they hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design an administration building, and it was completed in 1906. "By 1925 the company manufactured a majority of the over nine-hundred catalog items in its expansive factory complex which covered over sixteen-and-a-half acres on Seneca Street in the Hydraulics. In addition to their own soaps, cleansers, cosmetics, perfume, pharmaceuticals and food, they offered consumers everything from clothing and furniture to utensils and radios." [buffaloah_larkin]
This was Wright's design. Looking at the above aerial photo, it appears that the building had two courthouses to provide plenty of daylight to the offices.
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| buffaloah_admin |
The retaining wall that we see on the left side of the above diagram still exists.
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| Street View, Jun 2025 |
This parking lot was the location of the admin building. In addition to the white largest factory building, the powerhouse has been repurposed.
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| Street View, Jun 2025 |
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