Cargill/Canadian Pool Elevator (Buffalo, New York)

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Constructed between 1920-1925 by a cooperative of Canadian wheat farmers as a grain storage and transfer facility, the Canadian Pool Elevator entered service in the spring of 1925.

Ideally situated along the deep-water channels of Buffalo's Outer Harbor, the Canadian Pool Elevator offered steamship lines cheaper, easier and longer-season access when compared to its counterparts along the winding Buffalo River, which required tugboat assistance to navigate as well as icebreaker assistance during the winter months. Featuring two marine legs to feed its complex of 190 storage bins and connected directly to the Lehigh Valley Railroad by a four-track siding, the Canadian Pool Elevator quickly became a leading facility in the Buffalo grain transshipment industry.

Purchased in 1945 by the Pool Elevator Company, the elevator remained at peak operation into the 1950's, ably handling the steadily growing size of lake freighters and their cargoes. Changing hands in 1952 to the ownership of Pillsbury, the elevator continued its profitable operation until the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway all but destroyed the grain transshipment industry in Buffalo. Suddenly struggling to find customers, the elevator was idled for the first time in the early 1960's but was quickly purchased by the Cargill Company in 1964 which converted the elevator's capabilities from transshipment to storage.

Stripped of its obsolete marine legs, the elevator became a rail-dependant grain storage facility, finding a new lease on life which kept her operational even as the other elevators in Buffalo continued to languish in abandonment. Unfortunately, the cost of maintaining the aging facility became too much for Cargill to justify, leading to the elevators idling and eventual abandonment in the late 1980's. Presently owned by the South End Marina, the elevator remains in its abandoned state while its former berth is frequently used by vessels being placed into long-term lay-up.

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