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is a city in Erie County, New York, U.S., located just south of the city of Buffalo in the western part of New York state. The population was 19,064 at the 2000 census. The name derives from the Lackawanna River. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Originally part of the Buffalo Creek Reservation, the area was not open to settlement until 1842 when the land was sold by the Seneca Indians. In 1851 the town of Seneca was formed (changed to West Seneca in 1852) with the area now known as Lackawanna being called West Seneca or Limestone Hill. The Lackawanna Steel Company moved to the area in 1902, and in 1909 the residents of the area voted to split off from West Seneca and the City of Lackawanna was formed.
Lackawanna was a center of steel manufacture throughout most of the 20th century. In 1899 all the land along the West Seneca shore of Lake Erie was purchased by the Lackawanna Steel Company. Construction was started in 1900 and the plant began operation in 1903. The Lackawanna Steel Company was acquired by the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1922. With the 20th century growth of the Bethlehem Steel plant, at one time the fourth largest in the world, came the continued growth of the city and its institutions. At its peak the plant employed 20,000 people. It attracted people from many lands to settle here and make their homes. However, the latter half of the 20th century saw the decline of the steel plant and finally its closure.
In recent years, efforts have been made to convert the former steel plant brownfields to other uses. The site does have a diversity of tenants, some occupy buildings remaining from the former steel plant and a few in newer buildings. These efforts have been opposed by many sectors, as the alleged contamination of the field has been said by some to have caused cancer and other medical issues. United States Environmental Protection Agency? reports are still ongoing and contested. Wind turbines were built on the former Bethlehem Steel property in 2007. These initial eight turbines will provide power for up to 7,000 households.