Check Out Buffalo's Emerald Channel Water Intake Building

Western New York has tons of great benefits that make this an awesome place to live, work, and play. One of the things that has to be at the top of that list is the architecture that we have all over the region.

There's just something beautiful about all the unique examples of great structures around town. All around the region, you can easily find buildings and streets created by people with names such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Louise Blanchard Bethune, H.H. Richardson, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Elbert Hubbard, and more.

Many of us drive around town and see these great buildings, and sometimes you happen to see one that really catches your attention. There is one building sitting in the middle of Lake Erie that we pass every day when driving up and down the 190. If you're like me, you may wonder what that little dome-looking building is doing out there.

Check Out Buffalo's Emerald Channel Water Intake Building

Local photographer Antonio Medina was down at the Erie Basin Marina one foggy morning and snapped this great pic of the building, which has sat quietly in Lake Erie at the mouth of the Niagara River for more than 100 years.

Built by Robert Wallace in 1907 and fully operational in 1913, this structure replaced Buffalo's original water intake, which still sits a few hundred feet north in the Niagara River.

Ed Nice Jackson / Townsquare Media

The Emerald Channel Water Intake Building is the primary water intake for the City of Buffalo. This engineering marvel uses gravity to pull in more than 120 million gallons of fresh Lake Erie water to serve the people of Buffalo. Thanks to a huge 12-foot by 60-foot diameter pipe to move water more than a mile under Lake Erie to the Colonel Francis G. Ward Pumping Station inside Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Park, that water is filtered and pumped to hundreds of thousands of Buffalonians.

Next time you are on the 190, take a second and marvel at this wonder that helps make sure we all have enough water to drink.

Buffalo's Wonders: Food, Art, History, Architecture, Entertainment, And Some Great Oddities!

The city of Buffalo remains one of the great cities in the East. A visit here is a wonder. So much has happened in the "Nickel City" over the years, and it is all on display here. From world class art museums, to one of the most magnificent cemeteries in New York, to great restaurants, massive and elegant architecture, and a whole lot of New York and United States history. All on display for you to explore!

This gallery gives you a 10 point primer to your first (or second) visit to this great city. As you will see, many of these places offer tours and they are all worth penciling in on your next Buffalo visit "bucket list."

This writer's favorite? Silo City. I am always amazed at how Buffalo saved the world's largest collection of grain elevators for today and the future. These bemouth sentinels to the past remind one of the energy and excitment of halcyon days of Buffalo when it was the busiest port in America, right after New York City. Amazing sight to see.

Gallery Credit: Chuck DImperio