Rochester is the third-largest city in the New York state, founded shortly after the American Revolution. It was initially named “Rochesterville” by Col. Nathaniel Rochester. After the American Civil War, the population of the city grew from 48,000 to 162,800 at the end of the 19th century. The turn of the 20th century made Rochester a centre of the garment industry, particularly men’s fashions, numerous flour mills and manufacturing hubs were built. In 1916 the city was extended in a strip along both banks of the Genesee to Lake Ontario. In 1920s Rochester purchased the abandoned Erie Canal lands inside city limits to use them as a heavy rail mass transit and freight system.
Here below are some rare historical photos of old Rochester, NY from the early 20th century, that show streets, roads, landmarks and everyday life.
#1 East Main Street at South Avenue and St. Paul Boulevard, Rochester, New York, circa 1904
#2 Arnold Park, Rochester, N.Y, 1908
#3 Upper Genesee Falls, Rochester, N.Y, 1905
#4 Arnold Park, Rochester, New York, 1905
#5 New York Central railroad station, Rochester, 1905
#6 Elks Temple (Eureka Club), Clinton Avenue North, Rochester, N.Y, 1908
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I’ve got a picture of the lodge room in the Elks lodge!
#7 Mrs. Babcock doing the family laundry with an electric washing machine and a wringer, New York, September 1942
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I remember my Mom doing the laundry like this in the basement of the house on Saratoga Ave.about 75 years ago.
#8 Merchants’ Despatch Transportation Co, Rochester, 1906
#9 Hotel Seneca, Clinton Avenue at Cortland Street, Rochester, New York, circa 1908
#10 Earl Babcock’s school day begins with the salute to the flag, Rochester, New York, September 1942
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😮that’s a weird way for us to salute the flag… what happened to hand over heart?
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Noticing no black kids and others mostly boys in the class.
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Also the kid with the black eye look mad af! And why are they holding their hands out like that? And one child is holding his fingers up to the flag.
