Broadside advertising a Real Estate Auction in the Village of Niagara Falls [New York], July, 1836.

Benjamin Rathburn (1790-1873) was a builder, banker and hotel-keeper who was well-known for his work in the development and expansion of Buffalo in the 1830s. He also conducted business in the Village of Niagara Falls. He purchased large tracts of land (largely on credit) with the intent to sell the land at a profit. However, the sales did not meet his expectations and Rathburn found himself over-extended on credit, ultimately leading to his financial ruin.Jesse P. Haines (1793-1877) was an American cartographer who is credited with mapping the Villages of Lockport and Niagara Falls, New York.

A broadside advertising an “Extensive sale of Real Estate at Public Auction, in the Village of Niagara Falls”, [New York]. It is dated at Niagara Falls, July, 1836. The text reads “The proprietors offer for sale the whole of their Real Estate at Auction. Probably there is not in our country a more desirable location for most kinds of business. Sale to take place on the 2d of August, and continue from day to day, until the whole is disposed of”. A map of the property involved is also included, “made for the proprietor by J.P. Haines, Surveyor”. The proprietor is likely Benjamin Rathburn, a builder, banker and businessman who speculated in land in the Village of Niagara Falls in 1836.