TIMELINE
1789
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Ganson's Mills opens in Avon, first grist mill in area (Before 'Indian
' Allen by a few months.)
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Ebenezer Allen builds a mill in exchange for 100-acre tract at The Falls
on west bank of the river. The location was so deep in the wilderness that
only 12 men were in the area to assist in the mill's construction. The
area is a dense forest and swamp, infested with rattlesnakes and mosquitoes
that spread 'Swamp Fever' or what we call malaria.
.
1792
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With no settlers, and no demand for mills, Indian Allen sells the100-acre
tract and mill to Benjamin Barton, Sr. Allen abandons area the for Mount
Morris, and then Canada. The property is sold several more times.
.
1805
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Charlotte established as Port of Entry by U.S. Congress
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Samuel Latta appointed Custom's Agent for the Port of Genesee by President
Thomas Jefferson. Latta was also the local agent for Pulteney Estates,
and was selling lots for $10 each.
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The settlement was named Charlotte, after Robert Troup's daughter. He was
the previous land agent for the Pulteney Estates.
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First years revenue for the Port of Genesee $22.50
.
1808
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$100,000 in wheat, pork, and whisky pass through the Port of Genesee.
.
1817
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Johnson and Seymour Dam built to provide water for raceways to power mills
on both side of river at present Court St.
.
1818
-
Phoenix Mill fire
.
1823
-
Erie Canal reaches Rochester. The Canal Aqueduct is ready to carry traffic
over the Genesee River at the site of an old Indian ford. Construction
started July 17, 1822, and is completed Nov. 11, 1823 at a cost of $83,000.
Building the canal to cross over the Genesee was considered an engineering
marvel, and one of the biggest obstacles to the canal's completion. The
towpath is on north side. Aqueduct is so narrow only one boat can cross
the river at a time. Boats fight over the right of way -- men are pushed
overboard, and towropes to mules are cut.
-
The weighlock was built. It was a special lock designed so that the water
displaced by the loaded canal boat in the closed lock, could be measured,
and used to asses fees for canal use -- a nineteenth century tollbooth.
It was located near the site of the Rundel Library, on the east side of
the river.
-
The Erie Canal is such an efficient way to transport goods that shipping
costs drop by 90%.
-
In the first ten days that the canal is open 40,000 barrels of Rochester
flour are shipped to Albany and New York City.
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Local millers grind 25,000 bushels of wheat ... daily.
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First County Fair
.
1824
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'Canawlers' dock boats at Castletown and calmer Eastern Widewaters, where
small communities thrive during the winter.
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Bank of Rochester incorporated, first bank.
.
1825
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Erie Canal opens formally.
.
1826
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Public Market built on north side of the Main Street Bridge. Originally
an open platform for a vegetable market, it was soon joined by a covered
meat market with 12 foot wide center walk between two rows of columns and
10x14 stalls. This building eventually fell in the river, but other buildings
soon line both sides of the bridge. From the street there is no evidence
that you are crossing the river.
.
1827
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9,000,000 board feet of lumber sawed in Rochester mills. Trees brought
up Genesee from in large rafts. Raftsmen and Canalmen do not get along.
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The first village directory lists 9 saw mills, 8 canal basins, 2 dry docks
with machinery to lift boats out of the water for repairs. Rochester is
home port for 160 canal boats.
.
1830
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William A. Reynolds (son of Reynolds Arcade owner) with Mr. Bateham start
first seed business. This is the start of what will be the Ellwanger &
Barry Nursery Co. James Vick and Joseph Harris start their own nursery
businesses.
.
1834
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20 flour mills produce 500,000 barrels annually.
.
1837
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Panic of 1837 hits economy - mills move west.
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Public market moves from Main Street Bridge to a a brick and stone structure
200 feet long with 80 foot wings extending towards Front St. This market
is said to be rivaled only by the structure in Boston.
.
1840
-
From the opening of the canal until 1840, Rochester's
population grew 421 per cent. In 1812 the area where the city would stand
was forest, by 1816 the population was 331, and by 1838 it was the largest
flour producing city in the world!
-
Larger, second Aqueduct built after demolition of
leaking first structure. Canal is made wider, and deeper with improved
locks.
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Two employees of Reynolds and Bateham's seed business buy the company.
The Ellwanger & Barry Nursery Co. is founded on seven acres on Mt.
Hope Ave.
.
1847
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Mire Greentree and Joseph Wile open first clothing manufacturing factory.
.
1849
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Jesse W. Hatch employs a female clerk in his shoe store.
.
1850
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Ellwanger and Berry Nursery, the largest in the world, expands to 500 acres.
Their office on Mt Hope Ave. is designed by Alexander Jackson Davis
-
James Vick, Joseph Harris, and Ellwanger & Barry and others, have 2,000
acres planted as nurseries surrounding the city.
-
A dozen shops employ 1000 in the manufacturing clothing, shoes, and metal
working.
.
1851
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Hiram Sibley starts a Telegraph Company.
.
1853
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Bausch & Lomb Company opens at Reynolds Arcade
.
1855
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Alexander Jackson Davis designs Ellwanger & Barry Nursery Co. office
at Mt Hope Ave.
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Vick Nurseries opens on East Ave.
.
1856
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Hiram Sibley's telegraph company merges with several
northeast telegraph companies to become Western Union. This network is
the driving force in a coast to coast telegraph line.
-
Ellwanger and Berry Nursery open a realty company, and lay out Linden St.
and Cypress St. and build homes for their employees.
.
1859
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Liberty Pole 101 ft. tall, 3 ft. dia. top had brass ball and arrow weather
vane. On hill at Main & Franklin.
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James Vick has an idea to expand his nursery business, and sells his garden
seeds by mail.
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Public Market at Main and Front Streets is sold due to declining use.
.
1860
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Telegraph companies consolidate with Western Union.
.
1863
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The Peerless Tobacco Works owned by William S. Kimball opens. The factory
occupied the site of the War Memorial. The statue of Mercury on the factory
chimney would be a distinctive feature of the city skyline for 75.
.
1864
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Seth Green starts first fish hatchery in Caledonia.
.
1865
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By end of the Civil War, Hiram Sibley has the 3rd largest income in the
country.
.
1870
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George Selden applies for a patent on his gas compression engine he invented
for his Selden Automobile.
.
1873
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William Gleason designs a bevel gear planer, the first practical machine
to mass produce gears. The bevel gear allows power to be transmitted around
corners.
.
1877
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Longest telephone line in the world is run 28 miles from Rochester to Hemlock
Lake.
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Hiram Sibley donated Sibley Hall to the University of Rochester.
.
1879
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Fire at the Steam Gage & Lantern Works at top of the upper falls kills
39. Smoke and fire on the third floor prevent escape. Several people jump
to their deaths to avoid burning.
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Bell Telephone installs exchange in Rochester.
.
1880
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George Eastman makes first photographic dry plates in America.
.
1881
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Kimball Tobacco Factory - Largest factory in city, employs 800.
.
1883
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Three year old R. T. French Co., started by spice trader Robert French,
moves from New York City to Fairport.
.
1885
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Eastman Kodak organized.
.
1887
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The Vacuum Oil Works, on the west side of the river, just above the Elmwood
Ave. Bridge accidentally releases naphtha. This highly flammable material
eventually makes it's to a sewer along Browns Race. Two mills are destroyed
in the explosion and two more in the resulting fire. One person was killed,
and several others injured in the disaster.
.
1888
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Kodak opens. 'Kodak Number One Box Camera' goes on sale.
.
1892
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Rochester Gas & Electric starts construction of electric subways, to
remove wiring from overhead poles.
.
1895
-
George Selden receives a patent for his gas compression engine.
.
1901
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George Selden's patent for compression gas engine for automobiles confirmed.
.
1904
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At 5 AM, Feb. 26 a fire starts in the Rochester Dry Goods Store on Main
St., by noon the entire block had been destroyed. Sibley's Department Store
lost $3,000,000 in buildings and inventory. Also lost was the company safe
containing the books showing the several hundred thousand dollars owed
the store. Within months voluntary payments were made, estimated to be
90% of what was owed. In just over a year a
new, larger building was on the site and open for business.
-
R. T. French Co. sends the first prepared mustard to St. Louis World's
Fair. Created as a salad dressing, it is paired with another new food,
the hot dog, and becomes an instant success.
.
1905
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New Public Market opens on North Union Street on 9.7 acre site next to
tracks of New York Central.
.
1907
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World's tallest smokestacks built at Kodak Park, 366 feet tall.
.
1912
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R. T. French Co. moves into city, and locates factory on Mustard Street.
.
1920
-
R. T. French Co. introduces power machinery and becomes one of the largest
food producers in the world.
. 
INDUSTRY
POST CARDS
Bausch & Lomb
Optical Co., Rochester, NY
Bausch and Lomb
Optical Co., Rochester, NY
Aerial View of
Bausch and Lomb Optical Co.
Air view of the
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. plant at Rochester, NY
In the
Glass Plant of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, NY
The
Crosby Frisian Fur Co.
The W. P. Davis
Machine Company, Rochester, NY
Entrance to Kodak
Park, Rochester, NY
Shrubbery, Kodak
Park-Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY
Rochester,
NY, Kodak Park
Kite Photograph
of Kodak Park
Eastman
Kodak Co., Rochester, NY
General Office,
Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY
Night View, Eastman
Kodak Office Building, Rochester, NY
Eastman
Kodak Office Building at night, Rochester, NY Tallest Tower in Rochester
Kodak Distribution
Center.
Entrance and Office,
Mount Hope Nurseries, Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, NY
Ellwanger &
Barry Office Grounds, Rochester, NY
The Genesee 12
Horse Team
The New Genesee
Stables. The Genesee 12-Horse Team
Genesee 12 Horse
Team
Genesee's Lipizzan
team... the Royal Horses of Austria
House of Carpets,
Inc.
New York State
Fish Hatchery, Caledonia, near Rochester, NY
NY State Fish
Hatchery at Caledonia, NY
View of State
Fish Hatcheries, Caledonia, N. Y.
General
View of New York State Fish Hatchery at Caledonia, NY
Public Market,
Rochester, NY
Public Market,
Rochester, NY
Public Market,
Rochester, NY
Staub & Wilson,
Dry Cleaners
A
section of the Aster fields on Vick's Seed Farm, Rochester, NY
Aster Flag on
the Flower Seed Farm of James Vick's Sons, Rochester, NY
Birds-Eye
View of Industrial Area (not a post card)
.
TIMELINE
