Aqui-Line
"Buffalo Courier Newspaper" ad for Aqui-Line Liquor Store at 141 Broadway at Michigan.
July 12, 1946.
Known Name(s)
Aqui-Line
Address
141 Broadway Buffalo, NY (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)132 Broadway Buffalo, NY (1955)
Establishment Type(s)
Liquor Store
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
141 Broadway: A two-and-a-half story building located on Broadway between Elm and Michigan. The 1925 Sanborn map labeled the structure a store. Its exterior walls were 12 inches think and the facade rose 26 feet from the street level. Multiple two-story extensions projected to the rear of the lot.
132 Broadway: A two-story commercial building located on the north side of Broadway between Elm and Michigan, which was also labeled a store on the 1925 Sanborn map. Located across the street from the Colored Musicians Club. Presently there is a more contemporary building at this location.
Detailed History
In 1907 the location was a 24-hour southern restaurant. The Aqui-Line Liquor store was at this address from at least 1945 to 1946, although it was listed in the Green Book until 1954. It was owned by Charles C. and Angelo A. Aquiline. There was a liquor license for the location in 1945, and several newspaper advertisements for this location in 1946. Other newspaper articles indicate that the business moved to or added another location at 132 Broadway by at least 1950, with Charles C. and Angelo A. Aquiline also as owners. One source indicates that the building that currently sits on the site at 141 Broadway was built in 1958. This location is notably next to the Colored Musicians Club, and the current address is in the same building as WUFO, Western New York's first radio station with programming for the African American community, which began in 1961. All these sites are a part of the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
