History of Rochester, New York - Rochesterville and The Flour City

Rochesterville and The Flour City

Col. Rochester and his two partners allowed the millsite to lie undeveloped until 1811, when they finally completed paying for their purchase and received the deed. The population of the area was 15. They then had the tract surveyed and laid out with streets and lots. The first lot was sold to a Henry Skinner, at what is now the northwest corner of State and Main. In 1817, other land owners, mainly the Brown Brothers (of Brown's Race and Brown's Square), joined their lands north to the 100-acre (0.40 km2) Tract, to form the Village of Rochesterville, with a population of 700.

In 1821, Monroe County was formed out of parts of Ontario and Genesee counties, and Rochesterville was named the county seat. A two story brick courthouse in the Greek Revival style was built at a cost of $7,600. In 1823, property of Elisha Johnson on the east side of the Genesee across from the 100-acre (0.40 km2) Tract was annexed, bringing Rochesterville to 1,012 acres (4.1 km²) and the population to about 2,500. That year, "-ville" was dropped from the city's name. This was also the year that the first 800 foot (244 m) Erie Canal Aqueduct was finished over the Genesee, just south of the Main Street Bridge. It was built over 16 months by 30 convicts from Auburn State Prison. In 1822, the Rochester Female Charitable Society was founded. Members paid twenty-five cents per year to belong to the Society and also contributed provisions, clothing, and bedding which they collected from the community. Visitors distributed the goods and money to the poor of each district. By 1872, seventy-three districts had been established, each with a woman visitor. That organization was instrumental in founding the Rochester Orphan Asylum (now Hillside Children's Center), the Rochester City Hospital (now Rochester General Hospital), the first school, the workhouse, the Home for the Friendless (now The Friendly Home), the Industrial School, and The Visiting Nurse Service.

Soon after the Erie Canal east to the Hudson River was opened in 1825, the economy and population grew quickly. By 1830, the population reached 9,200, and the city became the original boomtown first known as "The Young Lion of the West." It quickly, however, became known as the Flour City, based on the numerous flour mills which were located along waterfalls on the Genesee in what is now the Brown's Race area of downtown Rochester. The first ten days the canal was open east to the Hudson, 40,000 barrels (3,600 tons) of Rochester flour were shipped to Albany and New York City. Local millers soon were grinding 25,000 bushels of wheat daily. In 1829, the Rochester Athenaeum was founded as a reading society. The Athenaeum charged members a five-dollar annual fee to hear lectures by some of America's best-known orators including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Horace Greeley and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Athenaeum was one of the forerunners of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

By 1834, some 20 flour mills were producing 500,000 barrels (44,000 t) annually, the population reached 13,500 and the city area expanded to 4,000 acres (16 km²). Rochester was then re-chartered as a city, and Jonathan Child, son-in-law of Col. Rochester, was elected its first mayor.

In 1837, the Rochester Orphan Asylum was founded by the Rochester Female Charitable Society. The Asylum was located on South Sophia Street (now South Plymouth Avenue) and later moved to Hubbell Park. After a tragic fire on January 8, 1901, the Asylum was moved to Pinnacle Hill, reconstructed as a series of cottages called the Hillside Home (now Hillside Children's Center, part of Hillside Family of Agencies). The Charitable Society also founded Rochester City Hospital on Buffalo Street (now West Main Street), where the old Buffalo Street Cemetery was located. Construction on the hospital began in 1845 but it was not occupied until 1863. By 1838 Rochester was the largest flour-producing city in the world.