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Historypin: Ebenezer Walden House

July 6, 2016

Ebenezer Walden House (Screenshot of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s channel on Historypin)

The second home of Judge Ebenezer Walden, pictured, was constructed in 1825. It was the one of the first brick buildings constructed in the City of Buffalo after the War of 1812 and was located on the southwest corner of Main and Edward Streets. 

Ebenezer Walden (1777–1857) was Buffalo’s first lawyer and the only lawyer practicing west of Batavia, New York, at the time. Walden would later become the first judge of Erie County Court in 1823. He was the eighth mayor of Buffalo, New York, serving from 1838 to 1839. Walden was instrumental in founding the City of Buffalo and the establishment of Erie County. He also reorganized the entire Buffalo school system during his tenure as mayor. 

Walden’s daughter and son-in-law, General Albert J. Meyers, lived in the home until his death in 1880. The house was torn down in 1882 for the construction of the First Music Hall in 1887. The Music Hall was remodeled into Shea’s Teck Theater, but, unfortunately, it was also torn down for the construction of the Main Street subway system in the 1980s. 

Walden’s first home, not pictured, was located at the northeast corner of Main and Eagle Streets. It was burned down by British troops in December 1813, during the War of 1812. Walden was one of the few residents who remained in the city and he saved as many lives as he could. 

For more historical information, visit the Albright-Knox’s channel on Historypin.