Blessed Sacrament Church boasts a unique and storied history that began in the spring of 1887 with workers constructing the first foundation of this Gothic style building at 1025 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York.

[4] On October 2, 1887, the cornerstone of what was to be called the "Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament," was laid in a grand ceremony attended by several thousand Catholics.

[4] Accompanied by Bishop Ryan, the group marched more than two miles from St. Joseph’s Cathedral at 50 Franklin Street to the Chapel site at 1025 Delaware Avenue.

[5] When Blessed Sacrament Chapel opened on May 26, 1889, it had a seating capacity of 288, which was sufficient to cover the roughly 50 families in residence over a territory of two square miles from North Street to the Park and from Richmond to Michigan Avenues.

Post on an enlargement of Blessed Sacrament Chapel, accompanied by extensive interior alterations and improvements (Druiding was unavailable to support this effort, as he died in 1899).

[11] The edifice was split in two and the apse and sacristy were moved back 45 feet, with the intervening space filled in with a transept, giving the Chapel its distinct cruciform shape in keeping with the building’s Gothic style of architecture.

"[11] On April 4, 1908, Blessed Sacrament Chapel was dedicated anew by then-Bishop Charles H. Colton and officially earned the designation of "church," and thus, Rev.

[11] This re-dedication service was very widely attended by Blessed Sacrament's regular parishioners, who filled out the new 600-seat capacity of the sanctuary, along with a number of guests, including Monsignor Nelson H. Baker who is well known in Buffalo for his works of charity.

[11] In 1911, Bishop Colton directed the construction of a new, grand Gothic style cathedral designed by Roman architect Aristide Leonori at the northeast corner of Delaware Avenue and West Utica Street in Buffalo, New York.

[13] With its established and devoted congregation, razing Blessed Sacrament Church to make way for the new cathedral was not an option, and so the Bishop directed that the entire structure and his residence be relocated to new foundations on the adjacent parcel at 1035 Delaware Avenue, which the Diocese had acquired two years prior.

[15][16] Part of this effort included the erection of a utilitarian single-story boiler building immediately south of Blessed Sacrament Church.

[19] The Bishop’s previous residence, immediately south, was subsequently demolished, explaining why Blessed Sacrament is set back farther than any other primary building along Delaware Avenue in Buffalo.

"[17] Presumably to help reduce demolition costs, the Diocese of Buffalo “gifted” the decommissioned boiler building and associated smokestack to Blessed Sacrament Church.

[17] In 1993, the exterior of Blessed Sacrament Church was repointed with historically appropriate mortar—a project funded in part with a $35,000 grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

[17] In the late 1990s, the interior of the Church was again renovated to include the removal of the silver light ring over the altar and the replacement of the kneelers.

[18] When approaching the main entry, the eyes are drawn immediately to the large rose window dominating the rough-cut, large-scale Medina sandstone façade, whose stained glass presents a floral motif, and then down to the entrance, crowned with compound arches, flanked by Gothic-style granite columns with foliated Medina sandstone capitals, and with a quatrefoil pattern and alpha and omega symbolism in the tympanum.

[17] All other exterior walls are composed primarily of red brick with articulated detailing, and the foundation is rough stone topped with a Medina sandstone belt course.

[18] The cornerstone of Blessed Sacrament Church is made of Medina sandstone and features the “1887” date marked under the bas-relief initials, “DOM,” representing the ancient acclimation, Deo Optimo Maximo, meaning, “To God, the Greatest and Best.”[6] Within the “O” is an image of a pelican feeding its young, symbolizing the Eucharist.

[18] The front of the loft features natural wood paneling with original detailing to match the Church’s wooden pews.

[18] The floor beneath the main worship space has been furred up from the existing concrete slab using dimensional lumber with a layer of plywood sheathing.

[18] An exterior entry to the basement also exists at the south side of the Church, a glass pavilion constructed in 1991 that includes a staircase and wheelchair lift.

[21] This style was developed in Munich, Germany, in the early 19th Century and uses an abundance of landscaping and flowers, representing nature as the source of spiritual experience.

[21] After decades of weather exposure, the western rose window, above the Church’s main entrance, sustained irreparable damage and was replaced in 1984 with one designed by Images in Glass, Inc., of Hamburg, New York.

[21] Adjoined to Blessed Sacrament Church, at the southernmost wall of its transept, is the only remaining building from the New St. Joseph’s Cathedral (demolished in 1976).