Relocation Information

We’re so glad you’re making the move to Lancaster, Depew, Elma, NY, and hope the links below help you settle in! Welcome packets are available at our office or at any Hunt Real Estate office free of charge. If you would like to have one shipped to you, you may purchase one Here.

Utilities

Transportation

  • Amtrak : http://Amtrak.com
  • Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority : nfta.com
  • Buffalo Niagara International Airport : buffaloairport.com

Settling In

  • Buffalo Niagara Convention Center: buffaloconvention.com

About the AREA

Village of Lancaster

The Village of Lancaster, New York is located within the Town of Lancaster; both of which are suburbs of the city of Buffalo, NY. The Village of Lancaster is approximately 15 miles east of Buffalo and 6 miles from the Buffalo/ Niagara International Airport and the New York State Thruway. The NFTA Metro Bus system, services Lancaster to Buffalo and other suburbs. Lancaster is only a fifteen-minute drive away from Buffalo/Niagara’s largest shopping mall, the Walden Galleria. Western New York’s Amtrak station is located in the neighboring village of Depew.

The Village of Lancaster Historic District has one the richest concentrations of buildings, both commercial and residential, which have significant architectural value in Erie County, NY. To preserve this rich diversity, application was made to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to be recognized as a historic district and the Village of Lancaster Historic District was than sanctioned. Historic Preservation is a Powerful Economic Generator. The increase in the tax base and creation of new jobs in preservation districts are real and significant benefits of preservation activity. Build Community Pride and Preserve Values. Preservation activity results in the intangible benefit of linking the preservation of buildings with the preservation of community values. Pride is strengthened. Become Part of Community Planning.

Historic preservation can work with local government to strengthen a commercial core while retaining a community identity. In 1999, the Village of Lancaster commemorated its 150th Anniversary. This Sesquicentennial event was a yearlong celebration that included a “Lancaster Remembers When”that walked participants through 150years of memories.

This walking tour consisted of:

  • Historical Museum – which offered up a Golden Anniversary Tea reminiscent of the 1900-1929 era.
  • Lancaster Opera House – which showed silent movies from the 1940’s.
  • Moose Lodge – which held a Big Band Buffet.
  • Village Municipal Building – which hosted a Sock Hop Ice Cream Social and culminated an Up to Date party at the Elks.

The festivities continued throughout the year and area residents and visitors were encouraged to take a wander down memory lane with us.

Town of Lancaster

The Town of Lancaster is located in Erie County, in Western New York State, about eleven miles east of downtown Buffalo. The town measures approximately six miles north/south and six miles east/west for an area of roughly 37 square miles. About 40,000 inhabitants call the town home. Lancaster is part of the 26th U.S. Congressional District, the 59th New York State Senate District, the 143rd New York State Assembly and the 5th and 8th Erie County Legislative Districts.

A five member Town Board administers the town, presided over by the Town Supervisor. Lancaster is drained by seven streams flowing from east to west. The watersheds are from north to south: Cayuga Creek; Ellicott Creek; Scajaquada Creek; Spring Creek; Plumb Bottom Creek; Little Buffalo Creek; and various branches of Slate Bottom Creek. Ellicott and Cayuga Creeks carry the greatest volume as they originate in the hills of Genesee and Wyoming counties.

The area was first inhabited by nomadic hunters who followed wooly mammoths and other large animals along the fringes of melting glaciers about 10,000 years ago. Evidence of later camps and tool working sites have been found near both Cayuga and Ellicott Creeks. The area was later occupied by the Seneca Nation of Indians. One of the five original nations of the Iroquois, the Senecas tilled the soil, raised corn and other vegetables, and tended to fruit orchards. A log cabin, still standing about 600 feet southwest of the intersection of Wehrle Drive and Harris Hill Road, was built by the Indians about the time of the Revolutionary War. The formation of the Town of Lancaster was approved by state legislature on March 20, 1833.

In 1849, residents petitioned the state legislature to create the Village of Lancaster and in 1850, Roman Catholics erected a church of locally made brick on St. Mary’s Hill. In 1854, the Town of Elma was formed and in 1894, the Village of Depew was incorporated, thus reducing the Town of Lancaster to its current boundaries. Today, the town and its two villages, Lancaster and Depew, are among the safest communities in the nation. They provide a wide range of housing choices, social and cultural opportunities, with extensive services for the youth and elderly. Residents are employed in a diverse economy.

Unemployment in Lancaster is among the lowest in the Buffalo Metropolitan area, reflecting both the strength of local companies, and the access to a growing diversity of employers within easy traveling distance. History provided by Stanley J. Keysa, Esq.

Village of Depew

The Village of Depew is a 4.78 square mile municipality of Erie County. The village was incorporated in 1894 and is located partly within the Town of Lancaster, to the east, and the Town of Cheektowaga, to the west, with Transit Road the dividing line between the two towns.

Depew was named for Chauncey M. Depew (1834-1928), a Yale graduate, attorney, and once republican Secretary of State. He served the New York Central Railroad as general counsel. Vice president, and then president, and in 1899 became a US Senator. It was his dream to create a great industrial city in Depew, where five railroads crossed the village within a span of a quarter mile. During his New York Central Railroad term as president, the railroad purchased 6 acres of Depew farmland for railroad shops. This move heralded a tremendous real estate boom, which within a few years changed the rural farmlands into an industrial center to which competent workmen flocked for jobs. Many came to Depew from Buffalo on the New York Central railroad, for some time on a free work train. Early village settlers came from England, Poland, Germany and other Eastern European nations seeking railroad related employment.

Early Depew was home to New York Central Locomotive erecting shops, the Gould Coupler Company, Gould Storage Battery Company, Union Car Co., National Car Wheel Works, American Car and Foundry and the Pullman Company. Many smaller rail related industries flourished in and around the larger foundries and erecting shops. Residential development continued unabated until the closing of the New York Central facility in 1930. With the steady decline in the fortunes of thermal related employers, the village sought to diversify the employment base by exploiting its location and proximity to the Buffalo Airport and Amtrak station.

A second residential boom took place in the early 1960’s as the village actively sought to attract new industry and the resulting economic stability. Depew is currently home to Quebecor Printing, Harlequin Books, Leica Industries, Elmar Industries and PCB Piezotronics. These and other smaller but equally important industrial and technical employers have helped Depew stem the economic decline so prevalent to the Northeast.

Being one of New York’s largest villages in area and population, Depew has long prided itself on its self-sufficient nature in service to its residents. The village maintains a 35-member police force, 6 volunteer fire companies, and a 35-employee Department of Public Works. If Chauncey M. Depew were only here to see his dream become a reality!

Town of Elma

Elma is the youngest town in Erie County. It is six square miles and has five small communities; Blossom, East Elma, Elma Center, Elma Village and Springbrook. The Seneca Nation of Indians had possession of the land in Elma for two hundred years. The Holland Land Company contracted the land in the early 1800’s.

When white men moved west in New York State, they started to settle among the Seneca and Iroquois Indians. That was in Blossom, Elma Village called “Big Flats” and East Elma on the banks of Buffalo Creek, near the Marilla line from 1825-1842. In 1856 the Erie County Board of Supervisors determined there was a need for another town between Lancaster and East Aurora. The people in this area had requested a Post Office, so they could have an address.

In 1858, at a meeting at the local and active resident C.W. Hurd’s home, now the Elma Town Museum, the Town of Elma was organized and named. Originally the name Elm was suggested due to the number of Elm trees in the area, however, the addition to the “a” to the word Elm was suggested and adapted. A Post Office was established and the residents received their mail twice a week from Lancaster and East Aurora. In 1873, the first fire company was created in Blossom, with others soon to follow. When the roads were created, they were named after Elma’s original residents.

The oldest home in Elma is the Hatch House. Located on Hemstreet, it was built in 1825 by Zina Hemstreet and is now a landmark. The oldest business in Elma is the North Star Tavern. Located on Seneca Street and North Road, it was built by Martin Taber and is also a local landmark. Currently it is owned and operated by Marie Young O’Brien. The oldest farm in Elma is the Jacob Davis farm on Wilshire Road. Settled in 1831, five generations of the Davis family have worked this land. Charles Davis is the fifth generation and is currently running the family farm. The first of now 13 churches in Elma was St. Vincent’s of Springbrook, establishes in 1850. District Schools were formed in 1857. (Submitted by the Elma Town Historian)