New guidebook names UB sites as ‘can’t miss’ experiences

A new travel guidebook of Western New York has named three places at UB among its top spots that locals and visitors should explore.

The book, “111 Places in Buffalo That You Must Not Miss,” suggests readers visit the James Joyce Collection in Special Collections on the North Campus, and the Brain Museums on the South Campus and the Downtown Campus. “111 Places,” now in its second edition after an initial release last August, bills itself as the ultimate insiders’ guide to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Author Brian Hayden and photographer Jesse Pitzler have filled the book with dozens of off-the-beaten path travel ideas for both lifelong locals and first-time visitors to enjoy.

The James Joyce Collection, located on the fourth floor of Capen Hall, has become “a destination for self-professed ‘Joyceans’ from around the world,” Hayden writes. The library houses more than 10,000 pages of Joyce’s work, the largest such collection in the world. UB Professor Oscar Silverman first started collecting Joyce’s work several years after the author’s death in 1941 as part of the university’s broader effort to become a leading collector of rare and special books. The collection includes journals of Joyce’s notes, signed copies of some of his most iconic works and even the author’s cane, glasses and passport.

UB’s two Brain Museums might provide Buffalo with its most unusual claim to fame, Hayden wrote. They are the country’s only two museums dedicated exclusively to the study of the human brain. The late Harold Brody, professor and chair of the Department of Anatomy from 1971-92. created the first Brain Museum inside the Biomedical Education Building on the South Campus in 1994 after seeing a similar display in Denmark. Another display downtown at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences opened several years ago. Between the two museums, visitors can study more than 100 brains of Buffalonians who have donated them for research.

Cologne, Germany-based publisher Emons Verlag first created the “111 Places” travel guidebook series in 2008. Buffalo joins dozens of installments created for cities across North America and Europe over the past 16 years, including London, Stockholm, Paris, Seattle, Toronto and Miami. The series specializes in highlighting a wide variety of lesser-known spots not traditionally found in “top places to go” lists found online. Other places featured in Hayden’s book include the runs of the Schoellkopf Power Plant in Niagara Falls, Buffalo’s oldest tree, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s childhood home and the Mark Twain Room in the Central Library in downtown Buffalo.

Hayden first proposed a Buffalo book to the series’ North American editor in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. After Emons accepted the proposal in 2021, Hayden and Pitzler spent nearly two years personally visiting every place included in the book and interviewing sources whenever possible.

“Discovering such amazing and accessible cultural and scientific treasures at UB was truly unexpected and one of my favorite experiences that sprang from putting the book together,” Hayden says. “Both the Brain Museums and the Special Collections library embody the spirit of the book, which is meant to lead readers where they have never been before so they can explore our region in a deeper and more meaningful way.

“I’m proud that this book shines a light on some of the extraordinary experiences locals, visitors and students can discover at UB.”

“111 Places in Buffalo That You Must Not Miss” is available at Barnes and Noble, Talking Leaves and on Amazon.