(WNY News Now) – FREDONIA – The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center kicks off the spring installment of its
Chautauqua County History Lecture Series on Thur., Mar. 14, at 7 p.m., with Dunkirk Then and Now: Three Critical Streets.

The program’s speaker, Dunkirk City Historian Diane Andrasik, will discuss a new book published by The Historical Society of Dunkirk that features her photography.  The book, also titled Dunkirk Then and Now: Three Critical Streets, explores three main North-South streets in Dunkirk: Central Ave., Main St., and Washington Ave. Once considered among the most important north-south thoroughfares in the city, the three came into being with different names: Center St., Buffalo St., and Lion St.

The book focuses on the changes Dunkirk has experienced over the decades, including the loss of critical
commercial, private and historic structures, often to be replaced with smaller more modern buildings or, in some
cases, nothing at all.

The book and this talk were inspired by a 2018 lecture and photo exhibit of historic photographs of important
locations juxtaposed against the same locations today.  Copies of the book will be available for sale at this
presentation with all proceeds benefitting The Historical Society of Dunkirk.