Address
348 Williams Street Buffalo, NY 14203
Establishment Type(s)
Restaurant
Physical Status
Extant
Description
A two-story brick building on the corner of William and Hickory Street, facing south onto William Street. The front of the building is three bays across. The floor was concrete and there were fire walls installed 18’ above the composition roof. Originally designed with three garage doors across the front, those to either side have been closed off and fitted with smaller openings. The second-floor front window to the east has been fitted with three replacement sash; all other windows are boarded or bricked over.
The building utilizes a stretcher bond, with a single row of headers above the front doorways. A band of soldier bricks is found below the stone sills on the second floor. Additionally, stone diamonds, rectangles, and trapezoids decorate the topmost row of bricks. Discoloration of bricks, both from replacement and weathering, is visible.
In the rear, there is an extension matching in materials and style. The interior of this extension contained an open elevator with a single standard fire door. No other information about the interior of the building is known at this time.
Detailed History
The building at 346-348 William Street was constructed between 1920 and 1926. The 1947 edition of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book listed 348 William Street as the location of Arnold’s Restaurant. However, it is unlikely that a business by that name operated out of 348 William Street in that year. Multiple advertisements and directories place either an auto repair shop or a beauty parlor at this location. From the early 1900s, the site has functioned as a bottling operation, a garage, a grocer of dry goods, a beauty parlor, and a car wash over the years. The only reference to a restaurant was in 1975 when the take-out restaurant Thelma's Pig Pen was there. The only evidence of Arnold’s Restaurant at this address in Buffalo is the 1947 edition of The Green Book. It is highly likely its inclusion was an error due to a user’s submission.
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