Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company Churchill St. Plant (Site) (Buffalo, New York)

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Constructed by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in 1915 following a contract to build H-12 Flying Boats for the Royal Naval Air Service, the Churchill Street Plant quickly became the main aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing plant operated by Curtiss during the First World War. In addition to producing flying boats and biplane fighter and trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Service, the Churchill St. Plant received large contracts for its aircraft following the United States' entry into the war, and was kept operating on a 24/7/365 basis with the majority of Curtiss' 18,000-strong Buffalo-area workforce employed here.

Working in tandem with Curtiss' Hammondsport, NY factory, the Churchill St. Plant helped to produce over 100 aircraft per week for the Allies, totaling over 10,000 aircraft during the war, many of which were the famous JN-4D "Jenny" biplane trainer. Following the 1918 armistice, the Churchill St. Plant's output was significantly wound down and retooled for the production of aircraft engines and parts for the commercial markets.

Kept busy by the explosion of enthusiasm in flight and growth of the passenger airline trades, the Churchill Street Plant remained in operation through the 1920's and into the 1930's but was hard hit by the Great Depression. With Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company having merged with Wright Aeronautical in 1929 and built a fully modern aircraft engine factory in Tonawanda, the smaller and ageing Churchill Street Plant was shut down in 1930.

Seeing the majority of its original buildings reused for various purposes for the next sixty years, much of the original outbuildings were torn down in the 1980's after periods of neglect, however several of the larger and more stoutly constructed factory buildings remain and have been repurposed.

www.buffaloah.com/h/aero/curt/index.html