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History of Rochester, New York, USA
Journey back in time to Rochester, New York, USA
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Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA
Rochester is known as both the Flour City and the Flower City. The community is home to the first abolitionist group, bloomers, marshmallows, Jell-O, French's Mustard, baby shoes, gold teeth and the mail chute.
50states.com
There is MUCH more to discover about Rochester, New York, USA. Read on!
Old Photos, Pictures, Advertisements and Postcards from Rochester, New York, USA

Rochester, New York, USA
Advertisement

Mechanics' Hotel
M. Cumins, Proprietor
No. 10 Platt-st, bet. Mill & State
Rochester, N.Y.
The Irish Canadian, Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, March 30, 1870

Rochester, New York, USA
Artwork

Rochester from Mount Hope Cemetery
Picturesque America... Oliver Bell Bunce, William Cullen Bryant
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1872-1874.

Rochester, New York, USA
Postcard

Whitcomb House
The Whitcomb House was a six-story hotel erected in 1872 in the Romanesque Revival style. It was demolished in 1947.
The Whitcomb House, then one of Rochester's premier hotels, was a venue that served both suffrage conventions.
1890 Convention. The Whitcomb House hosted executive sessions of the Association's governing board on December 17 and December 18. At the December 17 executive session, nationally prominent suffrage leaders Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady... Read MORE...
Read more about Susan Brownell ANTHONY


Rochester, New York, USA
Advertisement

DON'T BE BALD
Don't be prematurely gray. Stop your hair falling. Use our HYGIENIC VACUUM CAP at home a few minutes each day. It forces circulation of blood through the hair roots. It means perfect health for the hair. Endorsed by the leading physicians. 30 days' free trial. Booklet Free.
HYGIENIC VACUUM CAP CO.
705 Sibley Bldg., Rochester, N.Y.

Rochester, New York, USA
Advertisement

The Folding Pocket Kodak
Loads in Daylight
Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.
Ladies' Home Journal
February 1898

Rochester, New York, USA
Advertisement

Curtice Brothers Blue Label Soups
Curtice Bothers Co., Rochester, N.Y.
The Ladies' Home Journal
April 1898
Curtice Brothers, founded in 1868, by Simeon and Edgar Curtice, was one of the pioneers in the canning and preserving of food products...
The Curtice Brothers copartnership continued until 1889, when the business was turned over to a corporation, organized for that purpose, under the name of Curtice Brothers Company, which continued until 1901, when it was consolidated with the... Read MORE...
Read more about Simeon Goodnow CURTICE

Rochester, New York, USA
Advertisement

Sen-Sen
Throat Ease
Breath Perfume
Sen-Sen Co., Rochester, N.Y.
The Ladies' Home Journal
May 1898

Rochester, New York, USA
Douglas County Historical Society Courthouse Museum, Genoa, Nevada

Ansco camera early model D
Wollensak Lens - Cyko Automatic, about 1901

Rochester, New York, USA
Postcard

Hahnemann Hospital, 1907
"...The origins of Hahnemann Hospital trace back to a debate that divided Rochester's medical community during the late 19th century. It pitted advocates of allopathy, the belief in using medicine to treat the symptoms of illnesses, versus adherents of homeopathy, the practice of treating the causes of disease through natural cures.
Complicating matters further, in the 1880s, Rochester's homeopathic community found itself torn from within. A subgroup of so-called... Read MORE...
Read more about Christian Friedrich Samuel HAHNEMANN


Rochester, New York, USA
Postcard

Powers Building, Hotel and Duffy-McInnerney Co.'s Store, built around 1907
Original Use: Duffy-McInnerney Company, retail and dry goods store
Subsequent Uses: Changed to Duffy-Powers in 1911 which then went bankrupt in1932. It then became the Civic Exhibits building in 1940. In 1943 the building was used by the Navy for wartime manufacturing purposes. In 1961, the property was acquired by Rochester Institute of Technology. libraryweb.org

Rochester, New York, USA
Postcard

Duffy-McInnerney Co., 1909
Businessmen James Duffy and Thomas Henry McInnerney built the 7 story structure to house their department store, the second largest in the state. The top 7th floor 800-seat restaurant was a
unique attraction to the original department store versus rival Sibley’s. It was also the first Rochester building to be electrified, using Edison light bulbs. rpastamps.org

Rochester, New York, USA
Postcard

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co.
"...Three young men ventured west from Boston to Rochester, New York in 1868, and founded the Sibley, Landsay & Curr Co. on March 30 of that year. That the store that bore their names grew into the largest department store between New York and Chicago can't help but be a testimonial to the hard work and management skills of its founders. All three of these men, one a native New Englander (Rufus A. Sibley [1841-1928]) and two originally from Scotland (Alexander M. ... Read MORE...

Rochester, New York, USA

Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester Herald, Rochester, N.Y., Friday, December 3, 1926.
Read more about Wilhelm Albert "William" THEINERT

History, News and Stories of Rochester, New York, USA

1812 - June 1 - Snow whitened the ground in Rochester NY
WeatherForYou.com
June 1, 1812
1836 - Greatest Flour Manufactory
Rochester, New York, is said to be the greatest flour manufactory in the world. There are 21 mills, which require 20,000 bushels of wheat daily to keep them in operation. They can manufacture and put up ready for market, 5000 barrels a day.
genealogybank.com
New-Hampshire Patriot
New Hampshire
October 31, 1836
1846 - DESTRUCTIVE CONFLAGRATION AT ROCHESTER.
A fire broke out at Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday morning in the billiard room of Geo. W. Hall, adjoining the office of the Democrat, and in a short time the whole block, from the Arcade on Buffalo Street, to Hamilton's book store on State Street, was enveloped in flames.
The third story of the... Read MORE...
1847 - VIOLENT THUNDER STORM - THREE PERSONS KILLED BY LIGHTNING.
This city was visited soon after midnight, Tuesday morning, with a thunder storm of unusual violence.
Several of the shocks were so heavy as to shake the houses like an earthquake. One bolt descended with fatal effect upon the house of MR. WM. MATHEWS, No. 28, Wilder Street, killing three... Read MORE...
1848 - Arose from the Dead
At Rochester, New York, on Thursday, a man was taken from the canal who was thought to be drowned. The coroner was sent for, who proceeded to call a jury and ascertain the facts in the case; but, before the inquest was fairly commenced, the person supposed to be deceased arose upon his feet and... Read MORE...
1851 - Musings
Certain ingenious and enterprising physicians in Rochester, New York, have discovered that the succubes, or female spirits, that have caused the famous spirited knockings, are all 'knock-kneed!' Marrying men must look sharp before they commit themselves. - Boston Post.
genealogybank.com
New-Hampshire Patriot
New Hampshire
April 17, 1851
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1852 - July 5 – Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" in Rochester, New York.
wikipedia.org
July 5, 1852
Read more about Frederick Augustus Washington (BAILEY) DOUGLASS -
1854 - Rochester
Rochester, a city, capital of Monroe county, New York, is situated on both sides of Genesee river. 7 miles from its entrance into Lake Ontario, 230 miles by railroad W. by N. from Albany, and 68 miles E. N. E. from Buffalo. Lat. 43° 8' N., Lon. 77° 51' W. Rochester is the largest town on the great... Read MORE...
1858 - Breakfast Divorce
A suit for divorce is pending in Rochester, New York, which originated in a dispute between Mr. B. and his wife as to whether they should have beefsteak broiled or some oysters fried for breakfast - the lady, whose tastes are excellent, contended for the latter.
genealogybank.com
Daily Globe
California
May 26, 1858
1869 - A Mrs. Knight, of Rochester, N.Y., a few days ago, procured a boat and went to the rescue of a man who was struggling in the water about three hundred yards from the shore.
She grasped him by the hair of the head and managed with one hand to paddle the boat ashore. Mrs. Knight is a woman of a slight frame, and the man she saved from drowning weighs nearly 200 pounds.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
May 29, 1869
1871 - November 18 - American suffragette Susan B Anthony arrested after voting on the 5th November in Rochester NY
historyorb.com
November 18, 1871
Read more about Susan Brownell ANTHONY-
1895 - Rochester
Rochester, a city, capital of Monroe co, N.Y., and a port of entry, is situated on both sides of the Genesee River, 7 miles above its mouth in Lake Ontario (where is Charlotte, its lake-port), 360 miles by rail N.W. of New York and 76 miles E. of Suspension Bridge. Lat: 45° 8' 17" N.; lon. 77° 51"... Read MORE...
1899 - HORSES ELECTROCUTED. Team Attached to Sprinkling Cart Killed by Lightning Bolt.
As one of the results of yesterday's severe storm. Charles W. Hartung, a liveryman, with stables at No. 70 Ontario street, is minus two valuable horses. They were attached to a sprinkling cart and stood under a tree on Portland avenue, formerly North avenue, for shelter. The driver, Valentine Wahl. ... Read MORE...
February 28, 1900 - A massive storm spreads record snows from Kansas to New York State. Snowfall totals ranged up to 43 inches at Rochester NY.
WeatherForYou.com
February 28, 1900
1901 - ROCHESTER'S HORROR. TOTAL DEATHS IN THE ORPHAN ASYLUM DISASTER NUMBER TWENTY-EIGHT.
TWENTY-SIX OF THEM CHILDREN.
FRIGHTFUL SCENE WHEN THE FIREMEN ARRIVED - WINDOWS FULL OF SHRIEKING LITTLE ONES - DEATH ROLL.
Rochester, N. Y., Jan. 9. - Twenty-eight dead bodies lie at the morgue, and twelve others more or less injured lie at the different hospitals in the city as a result of... Read MORE...
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Old Photos of Rochester (N.Y.) - 1903-1915
Sibley Fire of 1904
Disaster, in the form of a faulty 5-cent fuse, struck in the bitterly-cold early-morning hours of February 26, 1904.
It was said that the Sibley Fire of 1904, started by the aforementioned fuse, and fueled by yard after yard of drapery fabric and other dry goods merchandise, was the most spotted ... Read MORE...
1904 - COSTLY FIRE.
ROCHESTER, N. Y., July 6 - Fire started in the picture frame gallery of H. E. Hugus at noon, and the loss is estimated at $100,000.
Wilkes-Barre Times
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
July 6, 1904
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1906
Rochester, a city, capital of Monroe co., N.Y., is situated on both sides of the Genesee River, 7 miles above its mouth in Lake Ontario (where is Charlotte, its lake-port) and 70 miles ENE. of Buffalo, on the New York Central and Hudson River, the Erie, the Lehigh Valley, the Penn sylvania and... Read MORE...
1932 - March 14 – George Eastman, founder of Kodak, commits suicide.
wikipedia.org
March 14, 1932
Read more about George EASTMAN-
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Rochester, New York, USA Genealogy
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