The Concrete-Central Elevator: Buffalo's largest grain elevator

Located on the Buffalo River in Erie County, New York, the Concrete-Central Elevator is a historic industrial structure. Built between 1915 and 1917 during World War I, it was the largest grain elevator in the world and the largest elevator ever built in the Buffalo area. Because it was the largest grain elevator in the world, the methods used to construct it were kept top secret due to concerns about German sabotage.

In its prime, the facility had the capacity to handle a total of 4.5 million US bushels of grain. The elevator was designed to allow crews to load and unload 20 railroad cars an hour, while three marine legs along the river side could load and unload three massive lake freighters at one time. The facility was utilized for grain storage until 1966.

Following its period of use, the building sat idle and was eventually abandoned as a derelict property in 1975. While machinery and furniture have been looted from the building, leaving it an unsecured empty shell, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons