Main Street was built on what was once a trail that curved down a slight hill, forded
Clear Creek, and then angled up the grade to the other side. The first freight
wagons, with their teams of oxen, horses and buggies made this trail where the first
buildings of Buffalo were erected.
Fact or
fiction…was the town named after the buffalo that roamed the area or after the town
of Buffalo, New York? The bridge in the heart of Buffalo, which bisects Main Street,
was written up in "Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not" as the only bridge in the
world where a U-turn was legal. The law has now been changed.
There
are many shops on Main Street. You can also see the Occidental Hotel, made famous by Owen
Wister in his novel "THE VIRGINIAN." This hotel is where the "Virginian got
his man." The hotel, the Johnson County Court House, and the Carnegie Wing of
the Museum are all listed in the National Register of Historic Places. All of
downtown Buffalo is now listed by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a part of their
National Register of Historic Districts.
Below is a photo of what
downtown Buffalo looks like today.
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