Rochester Area
Historic New York
Seneca Indians often camped along the lower Genesee River where Rochester eventually developed. During the 17th century, French soldiers and missionaries visited the area. In 1803, Nathaniel Rochester, William Fitzhugh and Charles Carroll of Maryland purchased the 100-acre tract at the upper falls. Permanent settlement began there in 1812.
A boom town during the construction of the Erie Canal in the early 1820s, Rochester was incorporated as a city in 1834. Three falls of the Genesee provided waterpower for lumber and grist mills. Genesee Valley farmers shipped grain to the mills in such quantities that Rochester became known as the "Flour City." Competition from other sections ended its dominance as a milling center, but shoe and clothing manufacturing, stimulated by the Civil War, and nurserymen and food processors became important in the city's economy.
Religious ferment, spiritualism, abolitionism and Susan B. Anthony's campaigns for women's rights agitated mid-19th century Rochester. Later, George Eastman made Rochester famous for producing photographic equipment. Optical goods and other instruments, electrical machinery and men's clothing also make Rochester industrially renowned. Now the state's third largest city, Rochester, with its many attractive parks, retains the nickname, "Flower City," won for it by commercial nurseries a century ago.
Marker is on NYS Thruway - Seneca Rest Area.
Courtesy hmdb.org
