(horn blares) (horn blares) - [Narrator] Buffalo, New York in the late 1800s was the world's largest grain port.

As the easternmost city along Lake Erie and located at the western terminus of the Erie Canal, Buffalo was perfectly situated for commercial success.

Ships carrying grain from the Midwest unloaded at the many grain elevators that dominated stretches of Buffalo's expansive waterfront.

These wooden giants stored the grain until it could be shipped elsewhere, either by rail, by wagon, or by boats and barges along the Erie Canal.

It took a small army of hardy workers to perform all of the tasks necessary for success.

In the early days, grain was unloaded manually by teams of workers, many of them Irish immigrants.

By the late 1800s, steam-powered bucket conveyors lifted the grain from the holds of the lake boats.

Loading and unloading grain was a dangerous job.

Early grain elevators were constructed from wood and were prone to fire and explosions caused by the volatile grain dust.

In 1897, the Great Northern Railroad Company built a revolutionary fireproof grain elevator, the Great Northern, along Buffalo's waterfront.

According to the "Scientific American" issue of December 25th, 1897, the Great Northern was the largest grain elevator in the world when it was completed, measuring 120 feet wide by nearly 400 feet long and nearly 165 feet from the ground to the top of its cupola.

The Great Northern loomed large over Buffalo's waterfront.

The Great Northern Elevator was designed to be fireproof, as it was built with steel, bricks, and stone with no wooden parts.

The grain bins were supported internally by a network of steel beams.

The main function of the elevator's brick exterior was to serve as a weather barrier against the Buffalo waterfront's famously harsh elements.

The entire Great Northern Elevator was completed in just six months.

The elevator's movable marine legs were a prominent exterior feature.

These legs allow the elevator to simultaneously unload grain at multiple points.

One of the Great Northern's marine legs perched on standard-gauge railroad tracks moves over the ship's hatch and drops down into the ship's hold.

There, a crew of workers called scoopers manipulate a system of ropes and pulleys.

The scoopers guide the grain-laden shovels toward the marine leg's buckets.

The buckets transport the grain up into the elevator.

Each of the three marine legs is capable of transporting 20,000 bushels of grain per hour, for a total of 60,000 bushels per hour.

When receiving grain, the Great Northern's marine leg transports the grain to the elevator, where it's weighed, cleaned, dried, and stored in the massive steel bins.

Inside the belly of the beast, there are motors, and conveyors, and weighing tanks, and spouts, and chutes, and dryers, and dust collectors.

These elements work in concert to ensure a safe work environment and a healthy product.

The Great Northern was the first elevator to use electric-powered machinery.

The elevator's giant motors ran on electricity generated by Niagara Falls, a distance of 23 miles away.

According to the "Scientific American," when completed, the Great Northern had the largest capacity of any grain elevator in the world, with a holding capacity of three million bushels.

Grain to be shipped is spouted from the bottom of the storage bins to the basement level and then conveyed by the lifting leg to the cupola, where it is weighed, and then spouted down to waiting rail cars, canal boats, or wagons.

In 1907, a winter storm collapsed a large portion of the brick south wall of the Great Northern.

It was repaired and the elevator operated without further damage for another 75 years, until it ceased operations in 1982.

In December 2021, a fierce wind knocked a hole in the Great Northern's north wall.

The 1907 damage is about the same size and scope as the 2021 damage.

On learning of the 2021 collapse of the Great Northern's brickwork, James Comerford, commissioner of the City of Buffalo's Department of Permits and Inspection Services ordered his team to conduct an inspection to determine if the Great Northern was in danger of further collapse.

Using drone footage to survey the damage, Buffalo's fire commissioner, along with a structural engineer hired by the Great Northern's owner, ADM, recommended that the building be torn down.

Commissioner Comerford subsequently issued an emergency demolition permit.

Members of Buffalo's preservation community objected to the demolition and filed a lawsuit.

The preservationists claimed the building could be and should be saved.

The engineers hired by the owners said it should be demolished.

The judge in the case did not rule on whether the Great Northern could be or should be saved.

The judge ruled on the narrow issue of whether Buffalo's commissioner of permits and inspections acted rationally and within the scope of his duties in issuing the demolition permit.

After months of back and forth, the judge ruled that the commissioner acted rationally in issuing the permit and allowed demolition to proceed.

It took longer to tear down the Great Northern than the six months it took to construct.

The Great Northern's contributions to the development of Buffalo and the surrounding area deserve one last look.

As the demolition progressed and layers of steel, stone, and brick tumbled, the imagination of the Great Northern's designers, the craftsmanship involved in its construction, and the competence of its builders resurfaced.

The stories of the many thousands of workers that labored in its confines over the last century no longer have a physical reference point on the Buffalo waterfront.

(rubble clatters) (rubble continues clattering) (machines beep) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery creaks) (rubble continues clattering) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (rubble continues clattering) (machines beep) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery creaks) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery squeals) (rubble continues clattering) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machines beep) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery creaks) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machines beep) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery creaks) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery beeps) (rubble continues clattering) (machinery squeals) (rubble continues clattering) The site of the last surviving brick box grain elevator in North America may someday make a fine parking lot.

(solemn trumpet music)