Some Things You May Not Know About Rochester NY
One would think that a city like Chicago or Pittsburgh would have been the first American boomtown, but in reality the title is held by none other than Rochester NY.Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, from whom Rochester ny gets its name, Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh, Jr. purchased this tract in 1803 because the Genesee River had the potential to generate a great deal of water power. The flour mills from which the city would earn its first nickname were eventually to take full advantage of this water power. After surveying began in 1811, streets and roads were laid out, and in 1817 other area landowners joined their holdings with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the Village of Rochesterville. Rochesterville, its name shortened to Rochester by 1823, soon became the seat of Monroe County, New York and was rechartered as a city in 1834.
By 1823, the Erie Canal had made its way westward, and an aqueduct was constructed over the Genesee River at the site of the present day Broad Street Bridge in downtown Rochester, NY. The Erie Canal now connected Rochester to all points east and west. Originally dubbed The Young Lion of the West, Rochester NY became known as the Flour City, reflecting its status by 1838 as the largest flour producing city in the United States. Its population had also doubled by that time, making Rochester the first boomtown of the United States. As the wheat producing industry moved further west during the nineteenth century, Rochester NY soon was referred to as the Flower City in reference to the numerous nurseries that grew up around the city.The region saw its own Industrial Revolution after the Civil War. It was during this era that the Eastman Kodak Company and Bausch and Lomb were founded.The Gannett newspaper conglomerate and Western Union also had their start in Rochester NY. In response to the regional decline in manufacturing during the latter part of the twentieth century, imaging and optical science is now prominent among local universities and companies, giving Rochester its latest nickname as The Worlds Image Centre.
With its rich history of entrepreneurship and adaptation to change, Rochester NY is poised to weather any economic storm. Why not consider it as a place to hang your hat. Rochester NY will not disappoint.
