This Buffalo trivia quiz has 60 free questions with answers and covers the whole city: the Erie Canal terminus that made it the world's largest grain port, the 1901 Pan-American Exposition where President McKinley was shot and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in, two presidents who called it home, and the Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan landmarks that survived urban renewal. There is plenty of sports pain and glory too: four straight Super Bowls, The Comeback, Wide Right, the French Connection line and No Goal. And of course the food, from the Anchor Bar's first wings to beef on weck and sponge candy, plus the blizzards that give the city its reputation. The early questions are easy for anyone who has driven the 190; the later ones will test lifelong Western New Yorkers. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation, and every answer links to the source that confirms it.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Buffalo sits on the eastern shore of which body of water?
Lake Erie
The city lies at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border.
Q 02Buffalo is the seat of government for which New York county?
Erie
Buffalo was part of Niagara County until the two were separated by the legislature in 1861.
Q 03Which NFL team plays its home games just outside the city in Orchard Park?
Buffalo Bills
The Sabres play hockey, the Bandits play lacrosse and the Bisons play Triple-A baseball.
Q 04Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery and which dressing?
Blue cheese
Ranch is the other common dip; the sauce itself is cayenne hot sauce and melted butter.
Q 05Which Buffalo bar is usually credited with inventing Buffalo wings in 1964?
The Anchor Bar
Teressa Bellissimo, who owned the bar with her husband Frank, first prepared them there.
Q 06Buffalo was selected in 1825 as the western terminus of which waterway?
Erie Canal
The canal link led to the city's incorporation in 1832 and made it the primary inland port between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.
Q 07Which U.S. president was shot at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in 1901?
William McKinley
He was shot twice in the abdomen while shaking hands in the Temple of Music and died eight days later.
Q 08Buffalo's NHL team, founded in 1970, is known by what name?
Sabres
The franchise entered the league alongside the Vancouver Canucks when the NHL expanded to 14 teams.
Q 09Buffalo is the second-most populous city in which U.S. state?
New York
Its 2020 census population was 278,349, behind only New York City in the state.
Q 10The Peace Bridge links Buffalo with which Canadian town?
Fort Erie, Ontario
The bridge crosses the Niagara River just north of where the river leaves Lake Erie.
Q 11Roughly how much snow does Buffalo receive in an average year, according to Fox Weather?
95 inches
Fox Weather ranks it among the five snowiest large cities in the country.
Q 12Which sport do the Buffalo Bandits play?
Box lacrosse
The Bandits are the city's National Lacrosse League franchise and its most decorated pro team, with seven championships.
Q 13The Buffalo Bills lost how many consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993?
Four
The Bills won four straight AFC Championships and lost every Super Bowl that followed, an NFL record.
Which alternative rock band from Buffalo had the 1998 hit "Iris"?
Q 21Who shot President McKinley at the Temple of Music?
Leon Czolgosz
The anarchist bought his .32 Iver Johnson revolver at a hardware store on Buffalo's Main Street three days earlier.
Q 22What was the centerpiece structure of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition?
Electric Tower
It was lit by more than two million light bulbs powered by Niagara hydroelectricity.
Q 23Buffalo inventor Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar created which device in 1843?
Grain elevator
Dart's Elevator initially processed a thousand bushels an hour, making Buffalo the world's largest grain port.
Goo Goo Dolls
The band formed in 1985 around vocalist John Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac.
Q 15A beef on weck sandwich uses a roll topped with caraway seeds and what else?
Kosher salt
The kummelweck roll is topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds; the rare roast beef gets horseradish and a dip in jus.
Q 16Which Buffalo firm, founded in 1875, grew from a soap factory into a mail-order conglomerate?
Larkin Company
By 1920 it employed 2,000 people and had annual sales of $28.6 million.
Q 17Which Prairie-style residence in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood did Frank Lloyd Wright design?
Darwin D. Martin House
Wright called the design his "opus" for some 50 years; a $50 million restoration finished in 2019.
Q 18Which future president was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo on September 14, 1901?
Theodore Roosevelt
He took the oath after McKinley died of his wounds; the house on Delaware Avenue is now a National Historic Site.
Q 19Which 13th US president was a Buffalo attorney and first chancellor of its university?
Millard Fillmore
He was the last Whig president and held the chancellorship until 1874.
Q 20Which president served as mayor of Buffalo from 1882 to 1883?
Grover Cleveland
He went on to become the 22nd and 24th president and won the popular vote three times.
Q 24What was Buffalo's original name when Joseph Ellicott laid out the village?
New Amsterdam
Ellicott surveyed the land at the mouth of Buffalo Creek after the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree.
Q 25On December 31, 1813, most of Buffalo was burned by which army?
British
The War of 1812 attack was retaliation for the American destruction of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Q 26The 1993 playoff game in which the Bills erased a 35-3 deficit to beat Houston is known as what?
The Comeback
Backup Frank Reich led the 32-point rally, still the largest in NFL postseason history.
Q 27Which Bills kicker missed wide right at the end of Super Bowl XXV?
Scott Norwood
Tyler Bass's miss against the Chiefs in the 2023 playoffs revived memories of the play.
Q 28Buffalo's 1970s hockey line of Perreault, Martin and Robert was nicknamed after which movie?
The French Connection
Rick Martin broke Perreault's rookie goal record with 44 goals in his first season.
Q 29Whose triple-overtime goal ended the 1999 Stanley Cup Final in a game Buffalo fans still call "No Goal"?
Brett Hull
The dispute was over whether his skate was in the crease before the puck.
Q 30Which Buffalo-born funk star recorded "Super Freak", later sampled by MC Hammer?
Rick James
Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. in 1948, he formed his Stone City Band in the city.