Some Things You May Not Know About Rochester NY
Posted 10/03/09
You may not know that Rochester NY was the first American boomtown.This tract was purchased in 1803 by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, for whom Rochester NY is named, Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh, Jr. largely because the cataracts of the Genesee River had the potential for generating a great deal of water power. The flour mills from which the city would earn its first nickname were eventually to take full advantage of this water power. This One Hundred Acre Tract was surveyed beginning in 1811, streets and roads were laid out, and in 1817 the original founders joined their holdings with that of other area landholders to form the Village of Rochesterville. Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County, New York by 1821 and was rechartered as a city under the shortened name of Rochester in 1834.The Erie Canal Aqueduct, at the site of the modern day Broad Street Bridge in downtown Rochester NY, was built in 1823 to direct the waters of the newly constructed Erie Canal over the Genesee River. The Erie Canal now connected Rochester to all points east and west. Originally dubbed The Young Lion of the West, Rochester NY became known as the Flour City, reflecting its status by 1838 as the largest flour producing city in the United States. Its population had also doubled by that time, making Rochester the first boomtown of the United States. As the wheat producing industry moved further west during the nineteenth century, Rochester NY soon was referred to as the Flower City in reference to the numerous nurseries that grew up around the city.The post Civil War years brought renewed industrial growth to the region. It was during this era that the Eastman Kodak Company and Bausch and Lomb were founded.The Gannett newspaper company and Western Union were also founded in Rochester NY. In response to the regional decline in manufacturing during the latter part of the twentieth century, imaging and optical science is now prominent among local universities and companies, giving Rochester its latest nickname as The Worlds Image Centre.
Rochester NY is poised to take on any economic challenge, given its rich history of entrepreneurship and adaption to change. Why not consider it as a place to hang your hat. Rochester NY will not disappoint.