When the Cincinnati Southern Railway built a railroad route to Chattanooga in the 1870s to open new markets to the South, Ludlow became the major railyard for operations and repairs, thanks to land given over by the Ludlow family.
Many German and Irish immigrants were drawn to the city with new jobs awaiting them. They brought their bar and tavern culture with them, and these establishments proliferated at many corners of the town.
Buffalo Bar at 201 Elm St. was the earliest bar in town and survives to this day.
The bar has been at its current site since 1906. In 1963, the old Victorian building was torn down for a more modern facility. Extensive renovations to the interior and exterior were completed last summer, bringing it up to 21st-Century standards, complete with numerous TVS, pool room with darts, and a first rate bar.
The Ludlow Historic Society and the local Heritage Museum are sponsoring an evening of storytelling about life in Ludlow’s bars during the heyday of the railyard Tuesday, February 13 from 7-9 p.m. at Buffalo Bar.
Event tickets are $10 and include free non-alcoholic drinks, as well as discounted alcoholic drinks. All proceeds benefit the restoration of the Railyard Storehouse, the only remaining brick building In the railyard.
The program will feature a diorama of the restored Storehouse, constructed by students at the Ignite Institute under the direction of Andy Wartman, owner of a company in Ludlow that builds miniature railroads. Mary Daugherty, local resident and owner of the Beekeeper Shop in Ludlow, will do a reading about rail workers’ stories at the old Buffalo, followed by stories from the audience.
This event promises to give those who attend a unique slice of Ludlow history, originally a sleepy suburb that was transformed to a booming railroad town, and now preserving the best of the old with its 21st century renaissance.
Ludlow Historic Society