What is today known as Lafayette Square was originally one of four park spaces in the Ellicott plan of Buffalo. First known as Court House Park because the first Erie County Court House fronted on it, its name was officially changed to Lafayette Square on 1 December 1879. A name change was overdue, as the courts had moved to the new City and County Hall in 1876. It was frequently, but informally, referred to as “Lafayette Park” during the intervening time. That usage was reflected in the name appearing on Frederick Law Olmsted’s landscape design for the space, which as tied to the repurposing of the ground as the final site for the city’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. The corner stone of the monument was laid on July 4, 1882 and the monument was dedicated on July 4, 1884.
Unfortunately, the foundation of the monument proved faulty, and it fell upon the Park Board in 1889 to dismantle the entire structure, correct and expand the foundation, and rebuild it. The present outer steps were added as part of the stabilization process. In 1897, Congress passed a law offering certain obsolete and demilitarized armaments to municipalities for public patriotic display. The Board of Park Commissioners made application for 23 cannon – naval Parrott rifles – and 100 large iron cannonballs. The request was honored, and 8 of the cannon were placed in Lafayette Square, a pair on either side of the park’s four walkways.
The square design of the park grounds was modified in 1913 when the alignment of Broadway was shifted to connect with Main street rather than end at Washington street. The grounds of the square were significantly reduced in size, the adjacent streets widened, and the park reduced to a small circular area with the monument centered in it. This was deemed necessary to accommodate the new traffic pattern and ease access to and from Broadway. An impact was that the square’s cannon were displaced, and they were moved to Front Park the following year. The street realignment project, however, completely eliminated this Olmsted landscape.
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