Rochester, New York

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Rochester, New York
A portion of Rochester's skyline, looking north-northeast along the Genesee River from the Ford Street Bridge.
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): "The Flour City", "The Flower City", "The World's Image Centre"
Motto: Rochester: Made for Living
Location of Rochester in New York State
Coordinates: 43°9′56″N 77°36′41″W / 43.16556, -77.61139
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Monroe
Government [1]
- Mayor	Robert Duffy (D)
Area
- City	37.1 sq mi (96.1 km²)
- Land	35.8 sq mi (92.8 km²)
- Water	1.3 sq mi (3.3 km²)
Elevation	505 ft (154 m)
Population (2006)
- City	208,123 [1]
- Density	6,132.9/sq mi (2,368.3/km²)
- Metro	1,098,201 [2]
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	146xx (14604=downtown)
Area code(s)	585
FIPS code	36-63000
GNIS feature ID	0962684
Website: www.cityofrochester.gov

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area.^[2] Known as The World's Image Centre,^[3] it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City. It is the county seat for Monroe County.

Rochester's population is approximately 208,000 making it New York's third largest city. It is at the center of a larger Metropolitan Area which encompasses and extends past Monroe County and includes Genesee County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Orleans County and Wayne County. This area, which is part of the Western New York region, had a population of 1,037,831 people in the 2000 Census. As of July 1, 2005, this population rose slightly to 1,039,028.

Rochester was ranked #6 among 379 U.S. Metro areas in the 25th edition of the Places Rated Almanac for Most Livable Cities.^[4] In 2007, Rochester was ranked as the top city in the country by Expansion Management Magazine for quality of life. Expansion Management rated the region's public schools sixth best nationwide among metropolitan areas of a million people or more.^[5]

The current Mayor of Rochester is Robert Duffy, who was the city's Police Chief before being elected mayor.

Founding and early history

Main article: History of Rochester, New York

An aerial view of downtown Rochester from 1938

On November 8, 1803, a 100 acre (ca. 40 ha) tract in Western New York along the Genesee River was purchased by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh, all of Hagerstown, Maryland. The site was chosen because of three cataracts on the Genesee, offering great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville.

Aqueduct of the Erie Canal as it was built in 1842, replacing the original construction from 1823. In the 1920s, the Broad Street Bridge was erected on top of it.

By 1821, Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County. In 1823, Rochesterville consisted of 1,012 acres (4 km²) and 2,500 residents, and the Village of Rochesterville became known as Rochester. Also in 1823, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, and the Erie Canal east to the Hudson River was opened. Later, after the advent of railroads, the presence of the canal in the center city became bothersome, and it was re-routed south of Rochester. By 1830, Rochester's population was 9,200 and in 1834, it was re-chartered as a city.

Rochester was first known as "The Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, Rochester was the largest flour-producing city in the United States. Having doubled its population in only ten years, Rochester became America's first "boomtown."

In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded the abolitonist newspaper The North Star in Rochester. Douglass, a former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. The North Star served as a forum for abolitionist views.

In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was home of enterprises such as Fashion Park and Hickey-Freeman. It was home to the pioneer automobile company Cunningham, produced by carriage maker James Cunningham and Sons.^[6]

The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, population had reached a high of 332,488. It declined to 219,773 by 2000.

Geography and climate

High Falls during the summer

Rochester is at 43°9′56″N, 77°36′41″W (43.165496, -77.611504).^[7] The city is east of Buffalo, west of Syracuse and sits on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The Genesee River bisects the city.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1 square miles (96.1 km²), of which, 35.8 square miles (92.7 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) of it (3.42%) is water.

Rochester's geography comes from the ice sheets during the Pleistocene epoch. The retreating ice sheets reached a standstill at what is now the southern border of the city, melting at the same rate as they were advancing, depositing sediment along the southern edge of the ice mass. This created a line of hills, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill, and Cobb's Hill. Because the sediment of these hills was deposited into a proglacial lake they are stratified and classified as a "kame delta." A brief retreat and readvance of the ice sheet onto the delta piled unstratified (moraine) material there, creating a rare hybrid structure called a "kame moraine."

The ice sheets also left behind Lake Ontario (one of the five fresh-water Great Lakes), the Genesee River with its waterfalls and gorges, Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, Braddock's Bay, Mendon Ponds, numerous local streams and ponds, the Ridge, and the nearby Finger Lakes.

According to the City of Rochester, the city has 537 miles (864 km) of public streets, 585 miles (941 km) of water mains, 44 vehicular and eight pedestrian bridges, 11 public libraries, two police stations (one for the east side, one for the west), and 16 fire stations. The principal source of water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is owned by the city. Other water sources are Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. The 30-year annual average snowfall is 95.0 inches (241 cm), making Rochester the snowiest large city in the U.S.^[8] The mean July temperature is 71.3°F (21.8°C), and the mean February temperature is 23.6°F (−4.7°C).

Rochester lies in the Humid continental climate zone, and has four distinct seasons, with often cold and snowy winters. Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, and summer sees comfortable temperatures that usually stay in the low to mid 80s (upper 20s Celsius). Precipitation is plentiful year round.