Neighborhoods  /  Suburbs

The suburbs are expansive and include Kenmore, Cheektowaga, Getzville, Amherst, Snyder, Williamsville, and Clarence and all stops in between.

Overview

Since the 1950s, the main growth area of Jewish living in Greater Buffalo area has been the suburbs. Small developments occurred before this decade, but were specific developments rather than related to community expansion. When the cemeteries at Pine Ridge were first established in the nineteenth century, the city was much smaller. As the urban footprint expanded, Cheektowaga became a first ring suburb. Country Club building in the 1920s marked the next phase of Jewish organizational building in the rural tracts outside the city, but it was the 1940s postwar housing boom that spurred suburban growth aided by the GI Bill and lower cost mortgages. From the establishment of Temple Sinai in 1952 to the relocation of the administrative offices of the central agencies of Jewish Buffalo at 2640 North Forest in 2012, as well as the relocation and growth of several institutions since, the suburbs have experienced the greater part of Jewish institutional and residential growth since last century’s midpoint.

Contribute to this page

We are particularly interested in locating materials for the Willowdale Country Club, a forerunner to the Westwood, and the Westwood itself. We would also like to trace materials or memories about organizations without dedicated buildings. For example, we have limited materials relating to the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee, Buffalo Chapter and no records relating to the National Council of Jewish Women prior to the 1980s. We are still seeking materials relating to Pioneer Women, the Nashelkers and other landsmannshaftn that remained active in the suburbs. If you have information on these or other networks and organizations, and would like to loan materials for scanning please contact us. Alternatively you can also upload materials here.

Suburbs Location Map

Gallery

Leon Komm and Son Monuments

Young Israel at Maple Road

Young Israel at Maple Road

Ritualarium, Amherst, NY

Donald Barish leading the Memorial Day Commemoration

Members of Jewish War Veterans

Temple Sinai, Sanctuary Exterior

Temple Sinai, Celebrating Sukkot in the Sukkah, 1960s

L-R: David Busch, Cantor Alan Edwards, Ruth Goldman, Muriel House, Rabbi Gaynor, Edith Goldstein, Shale Freidman and Morris Sobel, 1960s.

Temple Sinai, Bar Mitzvah Year, 1965

L-R: Leonard Goodman, Harold Axelrod, Center: Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, Edith Goldstein, Martin Wolpin, and Leon Siegel.

Temple Sinai, Boy Scout troop, 1960s

Nate Finkelstein, standing on left (with a badge on his arm) was a troop leader during the 1960s

Temple Sinai, Cornerstone

Temple Sinai, 1954

L-R, Cantor Sternberg, Louis Bunis, Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, Rabbi Nathan Gaynor and Harold Axelrod.

Tom Nusbaum, Congregation Havurah: The First Twenty-Five Years 1972-1997

Tom Nusbaum, Congregation Havurah: The First Twenty-Five Years 1972-1997, courtesy of Congregation Havurah, with permission of Tom Nusbaum and Terri Katz Kasimov.

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Jerusalem of Gold by Irwin Mink

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Jerusalem of Gold by Irwin Mink

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Classroom

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Classroom

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Minyan Room

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Minyan Room

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Torah Scrolls

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Torah Scrolls

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Bimah

Temple Shaarey Zedek, Bimah

Chabad House on North Forest Road

Chabad House on North Forest Road

Dedication of New Synagogue, Remembering Our Heritage 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Remembering Our Heritage 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Remembering Our Heritage 2

Dedication of New Synagogue, Remembering Our Heritage 2

Dedication of New Synagogue, Inside the Sanctuary 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Inside the Sanctuary 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Glass Windows

Dedication of New Synagogue, Glass Windows

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 3

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 3

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 2

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 2

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Opening Ceremony 1

Dedication of New Synagogue, Bringing in the Torah’s

Dedication of New Synagogue, Bringing in the Torah’s

Temple Beth Tzedek, Ceremonial Dig

Temple Beth Tzedek, Ceremonial Dig

Finegold Alexander Architects Rendering Plans

Finegold Alexander Architects Rendering Plans

Former Shaarey Zedek Sanctuary and Synagogue Complex

Former Shaarey Zedek Sanctuary and Synagogue Complex

50th Anniversary Program

50th Anniversary Program

Jack Kemp Soviet Jewry, 1979

Jack Kemp Soviet Jewry, 1979

Congregation B’nai Shalom, Sanctuary Doors

Congregation B’nai Shalom, Sanctuary Doors

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