The Eagle Hotel, Buffalo, 1825 Benjamin Rathbun (shown here scowling) bought this three-story building in 1825, doubled it in size, and turned it into the finest hotel west of New York City. The Eagle became the meeting place for all civic and professional groups in early Buffalo. The marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, stayed at the Eagle in 1825 on his U.S. tour.

Hotel: Courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum, used by permission. Rathbun: Courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum, used by permission.