Merchants Despatch Transportation Company

Photo July 2008 by BradMandell

Location

Despatch Drive, East Rochester, NY 14445

The Merchants Despatch Transportation Company was formed in by American Express and had offices in Rochester and moved to a newly constructed plant in a town created for it called Despatch in 1887; Despatch was incorporated in 1897 and later became East Rochester. The massive plant along the New York Central Railroad lines were the reason for the town's existence.

MDT hired 900 workers and embarked on an aggressive car building program. ... The East Rochester plant would grow in time to encompass some 64 acres (with an adjacent rail yard of equal size), and would produce on the order of 36 cars per day. The installation became the main car plant within the New York Central system. ... The car shop was closed down in 1970.¹

In the picture at the right you will see the Despatch Building in the background and a sign which describes a tunnel that once ran under the railroad tracks so the workers in the new town could reach the factory and other businesses on the other side of the tracks.

Much of the old plant and buildings still stand in East Rochester and are home to businesses and organizations.

References

• Photo Collection on PopArtMachine.com
  

• Library Industry Entry with photo and linked inforamation.
  

• Despatch Entry on library site.

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