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Niagara Falls, New York, circa 1906. "Natural Food Conservatory. The whole wheat cleaned and ready for use." Incipient Shredded Wheat. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
As I recall from my school days in suburban Buffalo, it was milling that made Buffalo a "big" city. Grain could easily be transported on large ships from the upper Midwest to the Buffalo/Niagara area on large freighters, but to get to the Eastern Seaboard communities it had to go by Erie Canal barge. It made sense to mill it in Buffalo so it could be packed more efficiently on the barges.
Eventually railroads replaced the canal and the milling centers moved farther west.
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