About the Collection

Buffalo’s prosperity and affluence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries produced a wealth of high-style and vernacular architecture, including many of the city’s churches. Built by prominent architects of the period, these houses of worship feature beautiful masonry, woodwork, and stained glass windows, much of which was produced by artisans and craftsmen from Buffalo’s ethnically-diverse neighborhoods. This digital collection includes floor plans, details, sections, and elevations of three Buffalo churches: Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Emslie Street, St. Gerard’s Roman Catholic Church on East Delevan Avenue, and Holy Name of Jesus Church on Brinkman Avenue. Each was designed or renovated by Karl Schmill, one of Buffalo’s leading architects, whose firm, Schmill & Schmill, designed many churches, rectories, convents, and schools in Buffalo during the early 1900’s.