History

The History page provides a chronology of the rich and wonderful history of Rochester, NY.

A broad overview of the greater Rochester area may be found on the Genesee River Valley page. Also consult our Landmark Society page for more information on touring or learning more about Rochester landmarks.

Rochester 1812 - see note Other history resources include:

• Rochester's history by year tabled in Past Events
  

• Rochester History - Central Library extensive resources on Rochester's history
  

• History Timeline on VintageViews.org - extensive historical information
  

• Rochester Sketchbook by Arch Merrill
  

• "On-line Books of Monroe County, NY" - large array of Rochester-focused historical writing/records
  

• Founding and early History Of Rochester, NY on Wikipedia
  

• History_of_Rochester,_New_York
  

• A photographic catalog of historic sites (in progress) on NYHistoric.com
  

• Google Books Rochester History Search
  

• A Shopkeeper's Millennium - Once a standard of sociological reading, was written about Rochester in the early 1800's.
  

• Smugtown, USA

Below is a time-line of significant events with summaries and links to further reading on RocWiki.

Prior to Rochester Settlers

As described in the Vingage Views Timeline


• 1716 Fort de Sables built by the French at Sea Breeze on Irondequoit Bay. French attacks on the Seneca do not destroy them, but binds them closer to the English. Fort de Sables eventually becomes trading post.
  

• 1741 - King George II buys land surrounding Irondequoit Bay for 100 pounds from three Seneca sachems.
  

• 1751 - Francois Pioquet canoes up stream and discovers all three falls. He compares the beauty of the upper falls to Niagara. He reports that the five indians with him kill 42 rattlesnakes without being bitten.
  

• 1752 - Nathaniel Rochester born on February 21
  

• 1758 - Mary Jemison captured
  

• 1759 - English General John Prideaux, on his way to capture Fort Niagara during the French and Indian War, camps at Braddock Bay, he names it Prideaux Bay.
  

• 1761 - Views of Upper and Lower Genesee Falls' is published in London. Upper Falls, Lower Cataract

1803-1838 Early Settlers

1838 Book Etching. Pg 255

As described and depicted (picture right) in 1838 publication and from other referenced sources.

• November 8, 1803, "a 100 acre (ca. 40 ha) tract in Western New York along the Genesee River was purchased by Col. Nathaniel Rochester, Maj. Charles Carroll, and Col. William Fitzhugh, Jr. (1761-1839), all of Hagerstown, Maryland."¹

1817

• Village of Rochesterville formed by the Brown brothers (for whom Brown's Race is named).

1821

• Rochesterville becomes county seat of newly formed Monroe County

1823

• Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was finished.

1825

• Western New York considered to be the Burned-Over District

1832

• Cholera epidemic tears through the city, taking with it roughly 2,500 lives or 1% of the population over just six short weeks.

1837

• October - William Lyman is murdered by Octavius Barren on North Clinton. This is noteworthy for being the city's first murder.

1838

"Settlement in the West: Sketches of Rochester" By Henry O'Reilly in 1838. This 300+ page book is filled with important details of the early days of Rochester. ²

1847

• Frederick Douglass publishes "The North Star" in Rochester.

1849

• The Western House of Refuge opened with room for 50 juveniles. It was the first authorized state-supported institution for the confinement and reform of juvenile delinquents in the United States.

1850

• University of Rochester founded.

1865

• Worst flood in the city's history, with water as deep as 6' at Four Corners. All but 10% of the streets in 1st ward are submerged. Total damages in western New York exceed $1 million.

1871

• The Rochester Mirage occurs.

1887

• Naphtha fuel from the Vacuum Oil Works seeps into the sewer causing three successive explosions The alarm following the first explosion brought residents to the streets to be caught in the succeeding blasts.

1888

• Lantern Works fire cremates 35 trapped workers and injures countless more who jump to safety.

1889

• Rochester Homeopathic Hospital School of Nursing opened.

1893

• Rochester's Naval Militia criticized for unprofessionalism

1900

• The Erie Canal is rerouted to bypass downtown.

1901

• January 8th - Fire at Rochester Orphan Asylum kills twenty-eight children and three adults. (external link)

1905

• The first of the fires during The Arson Years is set.

1912

• 121st Cavalry mustered into service.

1918

• Spanish Flu epidemic takes 1100 lives within four months.

1919

• The Rochester Subway is set up.

1956

• June 30th - The Rochester Subway is abandoned as they stopped passenger service, primarily due to the prevalence of the automobile.

1964

• 1964 Race Riot

1965

• March 21st - $2 million worth of damage caused by fire on Main Street of nearby Hilton. It took 500 fire fighters to contain the blaze. (external link)

1970

• September 22nd - Flower City Conspiracy break-in at Selective Service, etc - arrests by FBI
  

• October 12th - Columbus Day Bombings.

1974

• A break in the Barge Canal floods the Bushnell's Basin area of Perinton in southeastern Monroe County, destroying 41 homes and damaging many others.

1978

• November 16th - Fire at the Greece Holiday Inn on West Ridge Road kills 10 guests, mostly Canadians in town to shop.

1984

• July - The burials in Highland Cemetery are discovered when a bulldozer disinterred six skeletons.

1988

• August 1 - The east side is rocked as a house on Jersey St explodes.

1991

• March 3rd-4th - An overnight ice storm closed down much of Greater Rochester for a week, cutting off power to 325,000 residents and substantially damaging or destroying more than 100,000 trees. It was possibly the most expensive natural disaster in state history.

1999

• Pro wrestler Gorilla Monsoon dies.
  

• First annual HighEdWebDev (Higher Education Web Developers) conference.

2000

• The skull of Civil War General Elisha G. Marshall is stolen.

2002

• 30 Years of Rochester Music History arrive in Australia Fine Recording Studio

2003

• April 4th - Ice Storm, 65,000 without power for days. RIT closed for half a day.
  

• April 29th - Gas tanker overturns and explodes near the corner of West Ridge Road and Lake Avenue.

2004

• April 27th - Fast Ferry arrives.

2006

• Fast Ferry stops getting support from the city.
  

• RIT Students engage in Free Culture Coalition based on talks of Lawrence Lessig

2009

• RochesterSubway.com is set up, "to help spark public dialogue around how we can better connect the neighborhoods of Rochester NY, surrounding communities, and their cultural offerings." The website documents the history of Rochester and promotes activism and social media-based discussion on how to bring Rochester into better times.

---

See Wikipedia or info Needed [http://www.geocities.com/powerofz7/NEWTLINE.HTML Rochester Timeline] for more reading.