Revisiting the "Tunnel of Tears."
By Michael Pliszka

     It has been called the "tunnel of tears." An underground tunnel constructed in 1880, connecting the Erie County Jail to the courthouse located across Delaware Avenue in the City of Buffalo, New York. The tunnel was intended to limit the opportunity for the escape of a dangerous criminal, and also provide safer access to the courthouse for the accused in limiting their exposure to an angry mob. The tunnel experienced a limited usage in its early years. However, a defendant made one of the earliest passages to the court in a famous case in 1901. The tunnel was used to protect the defendant from the potential wrath of the angry citizens.

     Standing in the entrance to the Erie County Holding Center, we see the passage as a statement to a time that has past, as well as an unfortunate necessity of the future. On a daily basis, the Erie County Sheriff's Office continues to use this historic passageway to transport several prisoners to proceedings held in Erie County and New York State State Supreme Court.

     Preparations were made to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Pan American Exposition, which took place in Buffalo in September 1901. Buffalo was a major metropolitan city of that era. However, that magnificent event was forever darkened on September 6, 1901 when assassin Leon Czolgosz shot President William McKinley while they were in the exposition's Temple of Music. You can relive the emotion of that time by reading the daily newspaper articles discussing the incident and the President's condition, as they are located in the special collections section of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.

     There was shock, an initial hope for the President's recovery, and a calling to lynch the acknowledged anarchist assassin Czolgosz. While initial reports spoke of his prospects for recovery, President McKinley's condition worsened. He ultimately expired in the Milburn House on September 13, 1901. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt then took the oath of office in the Wilcox residence located on Delaware Ave., in Buffalo. The Wilcox mansion stands as a site designated as a historic landmark of that presidential inauguration.

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