About Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village
Local history in Amherst, New York, the Erie County town just northeast of Buffalo, is preserved by Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village, the organization the Town of Amherst established in 1972 as the Amherst Museum. The museum moved to its present site at 3755 Tonawanda Creek Road in 1975, and in 2011 it left town government to become an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit under its current name, which reflects a mission that reaches beyond the town line: to preserve, interpret, and exhibit the agricultural history and rural heritage of the entire Buffalo Niagara region. It is chartered by the State of New York as an educational institution. Visitors searching for the Amherst Museum or an Amherst historical society will find both at this address.
The 35-acre campus is best known for its village of ten historic 19th-century buildings, dating from roughly 1840 to 1888, that were relocated here for preservation. The Hoover House, the Bigelow House, and the Williamsville Schoolhouse arrived between 1972 and 1975; the Rubeck House and Sweet Home Schoolhouse followed in 1976, the Schmitt Log House in 1978, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1983, the Lavocat House in 1984, the Elliott House in 1994, and a combined doctor's office and barbershop in 1996. Together they recreate a crossroads community where visitors tour historic homes, gardens, churches, a one-room schoolhouse, and a working blacksmith shop for a firsthand look at life on the Niagara Frontier.
Indoors, the main museum building draws on a collection of more than 40,000 artifacts, from farm tools and textiles to household furnishings. Current galleries include the Amherst Gallery on the town's past and present; Land of Plenty, on farming and community building in the region; The Erie Canal: Corridor of Change; Vice & Virtue, on temperance and Prohibition in Western New York; Victory on the Menu, on World War II home-front food with a period kitchen; Crowning Glory, the Dolores Attea Sapienza hat gallery; and 9/11 Remembered, which includes glass and rock from the Twin Towers. Seasonal events, workshops, and school programs round out the year.
Collections and Research Services
The museum's Niederlander Research Library serves the public through the Amherst Library & Reading Room in the Susan Grelick Amherst Historical Wing, funded by grants from the Amherst Arts & Culture in Public Places Board. Holdings include the Amherst Bee on microfilm from 1879 to 2012, town tax rolls from 1854 to 1900, selected census and church records, directories and indexes, and subject files on local people, businesses, and places. Research is self-guided and there is no charge, but appointments are required and are booked in one-hour blocks (consecutive hours can be reserved) by emailing library@bnhv.org. The tax rolls and directories are especially useful for dating an Amherst house; our guides to finding out when a house was built and locating old photos of a house or neighborhood explain how to use them.
Planning Your Visit
Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village is at 3755 Tonawanda Creek Road, Amherst, NY 14228, a short drive from Buffalo. The 2026 season runs May 14 through October 10, with general admission Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed holidays); general admission is free for everyone in 2026 thanks to an anonymous donor. Guest services staff are available Tuesday through Saturday at (716) 689-1440 or guestservices@bnhv.org. Food and drink are not allowed in the exhibits, library, or historic buildings but are welcome in the outdoor pavilions, and pets other than service animals are not permitted. Parking and accessibility details are not posted online, so check the website or call before visiting; the event calendar and membership information are at bnhv.org.
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