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Our Town: Amherst
Encore broadcast Monday, May 7 at 10 p.m. on WNED-TV!

 “This has really helped me learn about my town.  Amherst is a town rich in history and the Amherst Museum is actually one of those great things to come and see.”-–Joycelyn Bila (Topic: The Amherst Museum)

“There’s a lot of information in here and so much more to be examined and explored by the public, and I hope they’ll get out there.” ---Marilyn Ciancio (Topic: Visual and Performing Arts)

“There were a lot of things in Snyder that people don’t necessarily know have historical significance, and I wanted to make sure that everybody knew these buildings they drove past every day play an important role on where the village of Snyder came from and give them a little clue.”---Julianna Fiddler-Woite (Topic:  Snyder’s Hidden History)

With 122,366 residents Amherst is Buffalo’s most populous suburb.  At 53.5 square miles it’s slightly larger than the Queen City with just under half the population. Located in Erie County, the town of Amherst encompasses most of the Village of Williamsville and the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder, Swormville and East Amherst.

The national media has dubbed Amherst “One of the Best Places to Live” and “One of the Safest Cities in America” but that is not news to the people living in Amherst who are fond of their hometown for many reasons and agreed to share some of the area’s true charms with the WNED-TV audience. 

In October and November of 2011, 19 volunteers captured some of Amherst’s foremost “points of pride” for OUR TOWN: AMHERST, WNED’s 17th community “video scrapbook” production.

As these volunteer videographers show through their footage, Amherst has carefully preserved both its storied past and its natural beauty.

Discover what makes Amherst a special place to live or visit ― from the prolific visual and performing arts, to a restored church built in 1871 that now serves as a museum and gathering space, to a suburban house known as the Zonderosa where a flurry of volunteer efforts send donations from the people of Western New York to the people of Nicaragua and much, much more!

The Buffalo News highlights “Our Town: Amherst.”

 
 
Topics

Featured Topic— The Amherst Symphony Orchestra
Amherst Museum (Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village) • Visual and Performing Arts • Paw Dann Lake and Fetto Parks • Park School • The ‘Villes (Eggertsville, Getzville, Swormville & Snyder) • Williamsville Depot and Lehigh Memory Trail • Williamsville Meeting House • Northtown Center • Parks and Recreation • Zonderosa • Libraries • Ellicott Creek Trailway •  Main Street USA •
Amherst State Park • Serving Our Community (Families of Deployed Military) •
Snyder’s Hidden History
Community Participants

Joycelyn Bila • Marilyn Ciancio • Robert Collins • Caroline Connors • Dan Dolloff
• Chris Falbo • Ruth Falbo • Joan Fishburn • Kathy Flemming • Katie Flemming • Larry Hunter • Paul Iorio • Laura Petrocelli • Kennedy Schultz • David Sherman
• Lois Shriver • Michael Thompson • Julianna Fiddler-Woite • Mitchell Woite •

Special Thanks to the People of Amherst
Project Partners

 

Program Underwriting: Catholic Health
   
Promotional Support:

The Amherst Bee

   
Production Support:

Amherst Museum
Harlem Road Community Center
Erie Community College

 

  • With a population of 122,366, Amherst is the largest and most populous suburb of Buffalo.
  • In 1798 the Holland Land Company acquired most of the land in Western New York. Benjamin Ellicott and John Thompson, agents for the Holland Land Company, purchased all of what would become Amherst for $2.00 per acre.
  • On April 10, 1818, the Town of Amherst was officially created by the State of New York. 
  • Amherst was named for Sir Jeffrey Amherst, an English lord who was Commander-in-Chief of the British troops in America in 1758-1763, before the American Revolution. King George III rewarded Lord Amherst by giving him 20,000 acres in New York, but Lord Amherst never visited his new lands.
  • The Holland Land Company offered several lots, about ten miles apart along the road to Buffalo, to "any proper man who would build and keep open taverns" which could serve as inns and stopping points for the settlers who had to travel slowly overland with loaded wagons and ox-carts. Most of the earliest settlers came from New England and eastern New York State.
  • During the War of 1812, American troops were stationed in Williamsville in the area between Garrison Road and Ellicott Creek. American soldiers and British prisoners were treated in a field hospital and log barracks that lined Garrison Road.
  • General Winfield Scott used the Evans House as his headquarters in the spring of 1813 when his entire army of 5,000-6,000 men was stationed in Williamsville. In 1813, when the British burned Buffalo, people fled to the safety of Williamsville and nearby Harris Hill.
  • Main Street was originally known as Buffalo Road.  It was the main route between Batavia and Buffalo.  To help pay for the improvements, a toll booth was built on Main Street near Getzville Road in the 1830s and operated until 1899.
  • Part of Amherst was used to form the Town of Cheektowaga in 1839.
  • The first issue of the Amherst Bee appeared on March 27, 1879. This weekly newspaper is still being published today.
  • The town of Amherst encompasses most of the village of Williamsville and the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder and Swormville.
  • The Village of Williamsville is incorporated and has its own Mayor and board.
  • Snyder was named Snyderville as Michael Snyder was this hamlet's first postmaster and also operated a store at the corner of Harlem Road and Main Street.
  • Eggertsville was named for Christian Eggert, the first postmaster of this settlement.
  • Getzville, located in the northern part of the town, received its name from Joseph Getz, owner of a cooper shop, mill and postmaster.
  • Swormville commemorates Adam Schworm, a prominent landowner and businessman.
 
 
 
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