716 History
The storms, the stadiums, and the people who built the 716 — 16 so far
Western New York keeps its history close. The Rockpile on Dodge Street. The Aud. A schoolteacher in a barrel over the Falls. Two feet of snow in October while the leaves were still on the trees.
These are the stories of how the 716 got to be the way it is: the storms, the stadiums, the bootleggers on the river, and the people whose names ended up on the street signs. Most of it happened within a few miles of wherever you are reading this.
Know a piece of local history that deserves telling? Let us know.
October 13, 2026
Twenty Years Ago, Two Feet of Snow Fell on Buffalo Before the Leaves Even Dropped. We Still Call It the October Surprise.
Twenty years ago this week, a freak storm dumped two feet of snow on Buffalo while the leaves were still on the trees. Here's the night we'll never forget.
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Niagara Falls
October 17, 2026
125 Years Ago, a 63-Year-Old Schoolteacher Climbed Into a Barrel Above the Falls and Came Out Alive
She tested the barrel with a cat, wore a blue skirt for the ride, and went over the Horseshoe Falls on her 63rd birthday.
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Buffalo
October 17, 2026
Eighty-Nine Years Ago, 32,524 People Filled a Brand-New Stadium on Dodge Street. Buffalo Would Come to Call It the Rockpile.
The Rockpile's biggest crowd ever didn't come for the Bills or the Bisons, it came for two Buffalo high schools.
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Buffalo
October 15, 2026
Eighty-Six Years Ago, Buffalo Threw a Parade for a Building. The Aud Earned Every Bit of It.
Eighty-six years ago this week, Buffalo threw a parade for a building, and if you ever climbed up to the oranges, you already know why.
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Grand Island
September 17, 2026
How a Grand Island Halloween Market Turned Witches, Floral Crowns, and 4,000 Neighbors Into a Tradition
Grand Island's Haunted Market went from a first-year gamble to a Town Commons takeover in a single year, and now it's back for round three at Veterans Park. Wait till you hear why the witches dance. 🎃
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Buffalo
September 6, 2026
125 Years Ago on Monday, a President Died in Buffalo and a Younger One Was Sworn In on Delaware Avenue
Monday marks 125 years since McKinley died on Delaware Avenue and a 42-year-old Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in a mile down the same street, in a house you can still walk through.
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Grand Island
August 16, 2026
Radiation Testing Is Coming to Grand Island. Here's What You Need to Know.
Veterans Park on Bedell Road has been flagged for radiation testing and a public meeting is happening Monday August 17th at the WNY Welcome Center on Grand Island. Here is everything you need to know.
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Lockport
March 16, 2026
Commander Tom: The Man in the Red Jacket
Tom Jolls spent 34 years on Channel 7 as Commander Tom and the weatherman on the legendary Irv, Rick and Tom team. If you grew up in Western New York between 1965 and 1991, he was part of your family.
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Tonawanda
March 14, 2026
Four Brothers From Tonawanda, One of Hollywood's Greatest War Films
Saving Private Ryan is based on a true story. The family it's based on grew up right here in Tonawanda. Tom Hanks sent a letter. The family has photos with Spielberg. And the part the movie left out is the best part of all.
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Grand Island
March 14, 2026
He Grew Up on Fix Road. He Died on a Road in Normandy. Grand Island Has Never Forgotten Him.
Three days after D-Day, a 22-year-old kid from Grand Island stood up in the middle of a road in Normandy and drew every German gun onto himself so his platoon could escape. His name was Charles DeGlopper, and he never made it home.
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Niagara Falls
March 12, 2026
The Night Niagara Fell Silent. Thirty Hours of Eerie Quiet That Terrified the Whole Frontier.
On the night of March 29, 1848, a farmer walked to the Niagara River at midnight and heard nothing — the Falls had gone completely silent, and it terrified the whole frontier.
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North Tonawanda
March 7, 2026
How a Barrel Organ Factory on Niagara Falls Boulevard Became the Sound of America
The building on Niagara Falls Boulevard that made the sound of America — jukeboxes, theater organs, and 3,000 workers at its peak. This one's wild. 👇
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Grand Island
March 4, 2026
In 1984, a Bunch of Grand Island Seniors may have stolen a Giant Viking and put him on the roof of their school.
The Class of '84 may have stolen a Viking from a carpet store in Niagara Falls, hauled him over the North Grand Island Bridge, and put him on the roof of their school — this story is wild 👇
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Grand Island
March 2, 2026
The Man Who Raided His Own Club: How Buffalo's Wild Bill Donovan Went to War with Grand Island's Bootleggers
The man who founded the CIA grew up in Buffalo and once raided his own private club. But out on Grand Island, the Fix brothers had a system he couldn't crack.
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Grand Island
March 2, 2026
The Island That Ran on Whiskey: How Two Grand Island Brothers Built a Bootlegging Empire on the Niagara River
In the 1920s, Frank and Charles Fix turned Grand Island into one of the Niagara Frontier's most active bootlegging hubs — running whiskey across the river with forty boats, a submarine chaser, and a bar called Stumble Inn.
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Tonawanda
December 18, 2025
Remembering Fun-N-Games Park: Tonawanda's Beloved 1970s Gem
A look back at Fun-N-Games Park in Tonawanda — the small 1970s amusement park near the iconic Whale Car Wash that still lives in 716 memories.
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