In this article, Buffalo's now defunct flagship department store Adam, Meldrum & Anderson is discussed as a synecdoche for broader concerns facing the Rust Belt region, including gentrification, deindustrialization, urban renewal, and systemic inequality. Through an intersection of archival theory and the discourses of American exceptionalism, it is argued that the Rust Belt's economic downfalls have been recreated as capitalist opportunities, a process that obfuscates economic inequality. To demonstrate the disruptive potential of the archive, an archived photograph is analysed alongside Dennis Maher's reimagining of Buffalo's cityscape. Ultimately, these alternative imaginings work toward a more equitable Rust Belt landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]