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ROCHESTER

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 431 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ROCHESTER , a See also:

city and the See also:county-seat of See also:Monroe county, New See also:York, U.S.A., about 70 M. E.N.E. of See also:Buffalo and about 230 M. W. of See also:Albany, on the Genesee See also:river, 7 M. above where it empties into See also:Lake See also:Ontario. Pop. (188o), 89,366; (1890), 133,896; (1900), 162,608, of whom 40,748 were See also:foreign-See also:born (including 15,685 Germans; 7746 See also:English-Canadians; 5599 Irish; 3909 English; 1777 Russians; and 1278 Italians) and 6or were negroes; (1910, See also:census) 218,149. Rochester is served by the See also:Erie, the See also:Pennsylvania (two divisions), the Lehigh Valley, the See also:West See also:Shore, the Buffalo, Rochester & See also:Pittsburg (two divisions), and the New York Central & See also:Hudson River (five divisions) See also:railways. The Genesee river, which cuts through the centre of the city in a deep See also:gorge whose See also:banks vary in height from 50 to 200 ft., is navigable for lake See also:craft only for 22 M. from the mouth, to a point 41 M. below the city; the Erie See also:Canal runs through the See also:heart of the city and is carried across the river on a See also:stone viaduct of seven See also:arches, 85o ft. See also:long, and having a channel 45 ft. wide. Several lines of See also:freight and passenger steamboats connect with Buffalo, See also:Oswego and other lake ports, and there are daily passenger steamboats to See also:Toronto, See also:Canada, 70 M. distant across the lake. Electric railways connect with neighbouring cities and lake-See also:side resorts on Lake Ontario (Ontario See also:Beach) and Irondequoit See also:Bay, an irregular See also:arm of the lake.5 m. Iong 2 M. E. of the city limits. Rochester is on high plateaus on either side of the Genesee river at a See also:general See also:altitude of about 500 ft. above See also:sea-level.

It occupies an See also:

area of 20.3 sq. m. Within the city limits are the. famous Falls of the Genesee,' three cataracts of 96, 26 and 83 ft. respectively, the banks above the first fall, which is in the heart of the city, rising to a height of fully 200 ft. above the river. From the city limits the river falls 263 ft. in its 7 M. course to the lake. Ten See also:bridges, road and railway, connect the two sides of the river. Rochester is an attractive city, with many See also:fine avenues. See also:East See also:Avenue is perhaps the most beautiful See also:street in the city, and See also:Plymouth, West and Lake Avenues are other prominent residential streets. The See also:park See also:system of Rochester, planned by See also:Frederick See also:Law See also:Olmsted, was 1264 acres in extent in 1908. The largest park is Eastman-See also:Durand (512 acres), on the shore of Lake Ontario; Genesee Valley Park (443 acres) is on both sides of the river; See also:Seneca Park (212 acres) includes a zoological See also:garden; Highland Park (75 acres) and eleven other smaller parks. In See also:Washington Park there is a soldiers' See also:monument surmounted by a statue of See also:Lincoln, and a statue (1898) by S. W. See also:Edwards of Frederick See also:Douglass, the See also:negro orator and editor, who lived in Rochester in 1847-70, stands at the approach to the New York Central & Hudson River railway station. The See also:principal cemeteries are the See also:Mount See also:Hope, the See also:Holy See also:Sepulchre, and See also:Riverside.

The See also:

Powers See also:Building, a 7-See also:storey stone and See also:iron structure surmounted by a See also:tower 204 ft. high, was one of the first See also:office buildings in the See also:United States to be equipped with elevator service. The Monroe County See also:Court See also:House (of New See also:Hampshire See also:granite) on West See also:Main Street is in the See also:Renaissance See also:style, and contains a law library of about 25,000 volumes. The City See also:Hall (of See also:grey See also:sandstone) has a tower 175 ft. high. Among the other prominent buildings are the See also:Post Office, the Chamber of See also:Commerce, the See also:Lyceum See also:Theatre, the See also:Temple Theatre, the Masonic Building, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg office building, the Sibley building, the See also:Duffy-Mclnnerney building, and the See also:Young Men's See also:Christian Association building. The following churches are architecturally noteworthy: the Central, the First and the Third Presbyterian, the See also:Brick Presbyterian, St See also:Patrick's See also:Cathedral (See also:Roman See also:Catholic), the Cornhill and the See also:Asbury (Methodist Episcopal), the First Baptist, St See also:Paul's (See also:Protestant Episcopal), and the First Unitarian. Rochester is the see of a Roman Catholic See also:bishop. In Rochester are the Western New York Institution for See also:Deaf Mutes, the Monroe County See also:Penitentiary, a See also:State See also:Arsenal, a State See also:Hospital for the Insane, the Protestant Episcopal See also:Church See also:Home, Rochester City Hospital (1864), and others, including the Rochester Municipal Hospital (1903) for contagious diseases and See also:consumption. Rochester is an important educational centre. Its best-known institution is the University of Rochester (Baptist, 185o; co-educational since 1900), having in 1908-g 28 instructors, 352 students (231 men and 121 See also:women), and a library of 49,000 volumes. It occupies a See also:tract of 24 acres 1 From the See also:top of the upper falls (96 ft. high), in the centre of the city, Sam Patch (1807-1829) jumped and was killed in See also:November 1829; he had formerly made the same leap, had jumped See also:half the See also:depth of See also:Niagara, and was planning to go to See also:London and jump from London See also:Bridge—he was to go by sailing packet to See also:Liverpool and jump from the yard-arm every See also:fair See also:day. on University Avenue in the eastern See also:part of the city. With it is connected the See also:Ward Museum, containing the valuable See also:geological and zoological collections of See also:Henry See also:Augustus Ward (1834—1906), an See also:American naturalist, See also:professor of natural sciences here in r86o-75, who had in Rochester a laboratory for the manufacture of See also:plaster-casts of fossils, and who pre-pared natural, See also:history cabinets for many museums.

Much of the success of the university was due to See also:

Martin See also:Brewer See also:Anderson (1815—1890), See also:president from 1853 to 1888, and See also:David Jayne See also:Hill (b. 185o), who was president from 1888 to 1896, and subsequently was assistant secretary of state in 1898—1903, and See also:minister to See also:Switzerland in 1903—5 and to the See also:Netherlands from 1905 to 1907, when he became See also:ambassador to See also:Germany. Rochester Theological See also:Seminary (185o) is also under the See also:control of the Baptist Church, but has no organic connexion with the university of Rochester. Its library of 36,500 volumes includes the valuable collection (6500 vols.) of the See also:German church historian, Johann See also:August Wilhelm See also:Neander. Other educational institutions include St See also:Bernard's Theological Seminary (Roman Catholic; 1893); See also:Wagner Memorial Lutheran See also:College (German); See also:Academy of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic), &c. One of Rochester's most noteworthy institutions is the See also:Athenaeum and See also:Mechanics' See also:Institute (an outgrowth of the Rochester Athenaeum, established in 1829); it was founded in 1885 by Henry Lomb, of the Bausch & Lomb See also:Optical Co., and has a large building, the See also:gift of See also:George Eastman (b. 1854), of the Eastman Kodak Co. It has an endowment of $65o,000, and more than 6o instructors, and in 1907—8 more than 5000 students were enrolled. Since 1907 public school buildings have been used as See also:club-houses for community civic clubs with See also:libraries and gymnasiums; and in 1909 a See also:League of Civic Clubs was organized. Besides the law library and the libraries of the educational institutions mentioned above, Rochester has the See also:Reynolds (Public) Library, containing more than 65,000 volumes in 1910. The Falls of the Genesee provide a valuable See also:water-See also:power, See also:early utilized by the See also:flour-milling See also:industry, of which, owing largely to the nearness of the fertile See also:wheat-See also:fields of the Genesee Valley and the transportation facilities furnished by the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario, as well as to the water-power, Rochester was for many years the most important centre in the See also:country. Flour-milling is no longer so important an industry here, but Rochester ranks high among the See also:great manufacturing cities of the country, holding third See also:rank in this as in See also:population in New York state, and is remark-able for the great See also:size and output of several of its manufacturing See also:plants, which are the largest of their sort in the United States or the See also:world.

In 1905 the value of the city's factory products was $82,747,370, an increase of 38.7% since 1900. In value of product and in number of wage-earners employed the manufacture of men's clothing stood first; the value of the product was $14,948,703, or more than 18 % of the See also:

total value of all the city's manufactures; and 20% of the factory wage-earners in the city were employed in this industry. The second industry in 1905 was the making of boots and shoes, of which the value was $8,620,011, an increase of 24.3% since 1900. In the value of clothing and in the value of boots and shoes manufactured Rochester ranked seventh among the cities of the United States in 1905. In the manufacture of photographic apparatus and materials and optical goods Rochester easily holds first See also:place in the world, and it has the largest See also:establishment for the manufacture of cameras (the Eastman Kodak Co. at Kodak Park) and the largest manufactory of lenses, telescopes, See also:opera and See also:field glasses (Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.). The total value of the photographic apparatus in 1905 was $2,886,071, which represented 82.9 % of the product value of photographic apparatus manufactured in the entire United States, and was 176.1 % more than in 1900. Photographic materials amounted in value to $4,528,582, 47'4% of the total value of the product of the country. The value of the output of this industry was 2100% more in 1905 than in 1900. Another remarkable increase was shown in the value of See also:electrical machinery and apparatus, which was only $15,000 in 1900, but in 1905 was $2,078,360. Flour and grist See also:mill products in 1905 were valued at $3,222,257. In Rochester is an immense refinery of lubricating oil, and the oil product more than doubled in value between 1900 and 1905. Other important manufactures, with the value of their product in 1905, are as follows: foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, $2,874,142; See also:furniture, $2,364,859; See also:tobacco, cigars, See also:snuff, &c., $2,234,531; See also:malt liquors, $2,173,707; See also:confectionery, $1,512,611; See also:lumber and planing mill products, $1,495,229 carriages and wagons, $1,229,570; and See also:stationery goods, $1,130,873.

Rochester is also the nursery-gardening centre of the United States. The first nursery, that of Ellwanger & See also:

Barry, now one of the largest in the world, was established here in 184o. There are now more than a See also:score of large nurseries, representing an investment of several millions of dollars, and annually See also:shipping seeds, bulbs and plants having an approximate value of $2,000,000. Rochester is the See also:port of entry for the Genesee customs-See also:district, importing See also:Canadian lumber and wheat and exporting See also:dairy, garden, See also:farm and See also:orchard products. In 1909 its imports were valued at $1,809,746 and its exports at $1,360,367. The See also:government of Rochester is that of cities of the first class (the state census of 1905 showed that it had more than the 175,000 inhabitants necessary for a city of the first class under the New York state law). The city owns its water `See also:supply system, the supply being obtained largely from See also:Hemlock Lake, 3o m. S. of the city limits. The value of the plant is approximately $8,000,000. Rochester is famous for the purity of its See also:milk supply, which is regulated under a strict system of supervision and inspection. The region about Rochester, when first visited by Europeans, was the home of the Seneca See also:Indians. The See also:Jesuits, See also:Peter See also:Joseph See also:Marie Chaumonot (1611—1693) and Jacques Fremin (d.

1691), worked among the Indians in the neighbourhood. In 1687 the See also:

marquis de Denonville fought a See also:battle with the See also:Iroquois near the falls. In 1710 there was a See also:French post on Irondequoit Bay. The district was included in the See also:Phelps-Gorham See also:Purchase in 1788. It was not until Ebenezer See also:Allan (called " See also:Indian Allan ") built a saw and grist mill at the falls in 1790 that a small See also:settlement began to grow up. In 1802 a large tract of See also:land, which included the site of the See also:present city, passed into the hands of three See also:Maryland proprietors, See also:Charles See also:Carroll, See also:William Fitzhugh, and Nathaniel Rochester (1752-1831). Rochester, from whom the city took its name, was a native of See also:Virginia, had been a manufacturer at See also:Hagerstown, Maryland, and after settling in Rochester in 1818 was a member in 1822 of the New York See also:Assembly. He established a settlement, largely of New Englanders, at the falls in 1810-12, but its growth was slow as it was not on the See also:direct road between Albany and Buffalo, and the region was malarial. It was known at first as " The Falls " or " Falls See also:Town." In 1817 it was incorporated as the See also:village of Rochesterville, the name being shortened to its present See also:form two years later. In 182o it had only 1502 inhabitants. In 1821 Monroe county was erected with Rochester as the county-seat. The real growth of the place began with the completion of the Rochester and See also:Lock-port See also:section of the Erie Canal in 1823, and in two years the population had about doubled.

Rochester was first chartered as a city in 1834, with 12,000 inhabitants. Rochester's first newspaper, the See also:

Gazette, was established in 1816, the See also:Telegraph following in 1818. The first daily newspaper was the Daily Advertiser (1826). Between 1828 and 183o Rochester was the centre of the See also:anti-Masonic See also:political See also:movement, and here See also:Thurlow See also:Weed published his Anti-Masonic Enquirer. Subsequently it was a centre of the abolitionist movement in New York state; See also:Myron Holley (1779—1841) began here the publication of his See also:Freeman in 1839, and in 1847 Frederick Douglass established the See also:North See also:Star. For many years before the See also:Civil See also:War it was a busy station of the " Underground Railroad," by which fugitive slaves were assisted in escaping to Canada. In 1846 See also:Miss Susan B. See also:Anthony settled in Rochester, and the city has been a gathering-place for See also:advocates of women's rights. Here lived the See also:Fox sisters, See also:Margaret (1836-1893) and Katharine (b. 1839), whose spiritualistic demonstrations became notorious about 185o as the " Rochester Rappings," and the city has been a gathering-place for American spiritualists also. The narrowness of the gorge through which the Genesee river runs has always rendered the city liable to disastrous floods. Several of these in its early history practically destroyed the manufacturing See also:industries along the river, but the loss of See also:property in the more See also:recent ones has been relatively less; that of 1865 entailed a loss of more than $r,000,000, and in that of 1902 the. damage exceeded $1,500,000.

See William F. See also:

Peck, History of Rochester and Monroe County (2 vols., See also:Chicago, 1908).

End of Article: ROCHESTER

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