Mount Hope Nurseries

Mount Hope Nursery (1840 - 1918)
(see also Highland Park, Ellwanger and Barry)

For over 167 years the Mount Hope/Highland area has been home to some of Rochester's best horticultural history and was most likely the main reason why we are today known as the Flower City (along with Flour City). It all started around 1840 when German immigrant George Ellwanger and Irish import Patrick Barry established a small 7-acre nursery near the southern border of the city. George stuck around tending to the business while Patrick traveled gathering information and specimens from around the globe.

Once Patrick was back in town the two worked to grow the business and by 1850 the nursery had grown to one hundred acres. Continuing to grow and focus on specific areas including fruit bearing plants in 1855 acreage quadrupled to 400 acres. By 1871 the nursery had grown to over six hundred and fifty acres making it the largest nursery in the world! In fact Mount Hope Nursery was so large and influential that it inspired the local industry to grow immensely thereby surpassing flour milling as Rochester's main industry.

Timeline:

• 1835 George Ellwanger, the son of a vineyardist, heads to Rochester from Germany
  

• 1837 Patrick Barry arrives in Rochester, NY at 21 years old
  

• 1839 (about) Ellwanger buys out a mulberry tree business
  

• 1840 Ellwanger and Barry come together to form Mount Hope Nursery
  

• 1850 Expands to 100 acres
  

• 1855 Expands to 400 acres
  

• 1871 Expands to 650 acres
  

• 1873 company catalogues & photographs put in the City Hall time capsule
  

• 1888 Mount Hope Nursery is now the world's largest nursery
  

• 1888 Twenty acres of land are donated to the City of Rochester (Highland Park)
  

• 1890 Patrick Barry dies June 23rd
  

• 1892 Horticulturist John Dunbar starts the park's lilac collection with 20 varieties
  

• 1898 The first Lilac Festival event attracted 3,000 visitors in May
  

• 1900 Nursery wins Gold Medal Diploma at the Paris Exhibition for 118 varieties of pears
  

• 1906 George Ellwanger dies on November 26th ( His Obituary )
  

• 1908 The Lilac Festival has grown to 25,000 visitors
  

• 1918 The Mount Hope Nursery closes in July
  

• 1999 Time capsule opened by the City of Rochester and the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Link

650 acres divided as follows:

• Fruit trees: 450 acres
  

• Ornamental trees, shrubs, plants: 120 acres
  

• Vineyard for testing grapes, and bearing small fruit plantation: 30 acres
  

• Specimen trees, fruit and ornamental: 25 acres
  

• Lawn and ornamental grounds around office, and Plant-Houses: 25 acres