The Larkinville area is a former industrial neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. Located just a mile east of Buffalo’s Main Street, the neighborhood is a growing and vibrant part of Buffalo’s downtown. In 1827, the Buffalo Hydraulic Association built the Hydraulic Canal here—the city’s first source of industrial waterpower—sparking the area’s early growth with mills, factories, and businesses that helped Buffalo expand as a manufacturing hub.
The neighborhood’s identity became closely tied to the Larkin Soap Company, a soap and mail-order pioneer founded by John D. Larkin in 1875. Starting from a small factory on Seneca Street, the company grew into a national innovator in direct-to-consumer sales and catalog marketing, supporting dozens of shops and warehouses by the early 1900s. Iconic buildings such as the Larkin Terminal Warehouse (now the Larkin at Exchange Building) grew out of this prosperity.
Beginning in the early 2000s and lead by the Larkin Development Group, most of the historic warehouses and buildings have been restored and repurposed for office space, residential and a wide variety of retail options, including eateries, bars, breweries, shops and much more.
Larkin Square at its heart as a vibrant public gathering place that hosts community events, food trucks, and live music.
We hope this website inspires you to visit Larkinville and enjoy all its offerings to Live, Work and Play.