Two hundred years ago, American and British soldiers traipsed back and forth through what is now Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood, as they clashed in historic battles over the future of a new nation and its frontier.
Sunday, Americans and Canadians celebrated two centuries of peace and prosperity between the United States and Canada, dedicating a historic marker in a “peace garden” in Black Rock, just a block away from Niagara Street and the river over which the pitched battles were fought.
“This is a very, very special occasion,” said Arlene White, the Canadian executive director of the Binational Alliance, which is working to create a network or “trail” of more than 60 such peace gardens along the southern shores of the Great Lakes – the site of many battles during the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.
“This was our very, very first peace garden. ... We are going to continue to create peace gardens to commemorate U.S.-Canadian peace along the border,” she said.
White spoke before about a dozen people, as she and Black Rock community leaders unveiled a black rectangular interpretive sign that will be installed in the corner garden park at Hamilton and Dearborn streets.
The square park, known as the Black Rock Peace Garden, features patches of flowers and vegetables, including tall corn stalks, sunflowers, bright orange and yellow flowers, and other vegetables. The park, which is accessible at any time, is punctuated by four or five decorative granite slabs.
By early next year, four more gardens will be created in the area, for a total of two in Black Rock, two in Riverside and one in the Grant-Amherst neighborhood.
“This is truly a community garden,” said Beverly Eagen, past president of the Dearborn Street Community Association, now called Believe in Black Rock. “Anybody can come and get vegetables from here. Anybody can come and get flowers. I don’t think there’s anything in this neighborhood I’m more proud of.”
It’s also part of a growing historic district in the Black Rock-Riverside area, which now has 19 historic markers and will have more exhibits next year for a new Black Rock Heritage Trail. The community will also host the family of one of the War of 1812 generals, who will be coming to visit from Australia.
The historic marker features three photos; the rose emblem of the 1812 commemorations; three paragraphs about the neighborhood, the garden and the history; and a print of a 2011 painting by Russell A. Mott, titled “Perry’s Ships Leaving the Scajaquada Naval Yard.” According to the text, the Black Rock area was the site of many troop movements, battles and skirmishes, and ship building was conducted nearby.
The garden park, which is maintained by the local community and is open to anyone, was created in 2010 on the site of a decrepit home and business. It was the first step of an initiative launched in 2008 at the behest of arts councils on both sides of the border that wanted a role in celebrating the area’s history, heritage and enduring peace.
“They knew the museums and forts would focus on the war,” White said. “They wanted to do something to focus on the peace.”
Twenty-three gardens will have been established and dedicated by the end of the year on both sides of the border in the Buffalo, Detroit and Watertown areas. Twenty-four more are slated to be built in 2013, and more than 60 are planned by the beginning of 2015. The Black Rock site is the 13th to be dedicated.

email: jepstein@buffnews.com