City of Rochester history

The population multiplied as the War of 1812 forced settlers inland from the shores of Lake Ontario.

In 1817, it was incorporated as a village under the name Rochesterville.

Rochester, industrial city, seat (1821) of Monroe county, northwestern New York, United States It is a St Lawrence Seaway port on the Genesee River at its outlet into Lake Ontario, 71 miles (114 km) east-northeast of Buffalo.

Coupled with rapid population growth, the city earned the moniker 'America's first Boom Town' and 'Young Lion of the West.' Upon its opening in 1825, the Erie Canal was considered the most significant engineering marvel in the world.

As the home of Susan B. Anthony after 1846, Rochester also witnessed the growth of the women's suffrage movement.

In 1847 Frederick Douglass, the black abolitionist, published his antislavery paper (North Star) there.

The Colgate-Rochester Divinity School was founded in 1850 as the Rochester Theological Seminary.

On July 12, 1854, George Head and his family laid claim to land that now forms part of Rochester's central business district.

Head named the city after his hometown of Rochester, NY. In 1855, the territorial legislature created Olmsted County, named after David Olmsted who was the first mayor of St Paul but never a resident of the county named for him.

The city's first hospital was St Mary's Hospital, established in 1857.

Rochester was declared the county seat and was incorporated as a city on August 5, 1858.

Doctor W.W. Mayo stayed on and became Rochester’s “County Doctor”. In 1864, Rochester became a stop on the Winona & St Peter Railroad.

A cabin belonging to Jemison's daughter, Nancy, was acquired by the park in 1881.

Rochester Public Library Attn: Acquisitions Department 115 South Avenue Rochester, NY 14604-1896

By 1929 there were 386 physicians working under the Mayo name.

Former City Historian Blake McKelvey published the first quarterly issue in January 1939 with the goal of expanding the knowledge of local history.

In 1946 Watson Jr. returned to work at IBM, the business his father had founded.

In 1948, flying on a return trip to Washington from a visit with his friend Watson Jr. in New York, Col.

Outstretched demand for appointments at the Mayo Clinic lead to the construction in 1955 of the first phase of the Mayo Building.

In February 1956, IBM announced plans to establish new manufacturing, engineering and educational facilities on a 397-acre site on the edge of Rochester.

IBM Rochester began with 174 employees and had 1,800 employees by the 1958 opening of the first phase of the main “blue” building, designed by AIA Gold Medal architect Eero Saarinen.

The Monroe Community College of the State University of New York system was founded in 1961.

Watson Jr. became CEO of IBM in 1962.

The July 6th crest (at 10 AM) at the Rochester river gage on the south fork of the Zumbro River established an all-time record of 23.36 feet (flood stage 12 feet) and 30,500 cfs, easily exceeding the previous record crest (1965) by over 4 feet.

After a relatively wet early summer in 1978, an epic rainstorm began on July 5th.

The highest Zumbro River level reached since completion of the project, occurred in June of 2014 with almost no flood related effects.