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New York - Rochester - Points of Interest The POWERS BUILDING, NW. corner of Main St.W. and State St., eight stories high, built of Ohio sandstone and designed by Andrew Jackson Warner, is typical of post-Civil War architecture with its cast-iron decorations, many dormer windows, horizontal belt courses, and an unusual series of mansard roofs. When erected in 1870 it was hailed as the first fireproof structure in the city and the only building west of New York City equipped with elevators. Daniel W. Powers ( 1818-97), local banker and broker, built this office building and the adjacent hotel, both landmarks. The MONROE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, SE. corner of Main St. W. and Fitzhugh St., is a four-story building of New Hampshire granite built in 1896 and designed in the Italian Renaissance style by J.Foster Warner. Four Roman Doric columns flank the main entrance, from which a wide marble stairway leads up to an enclosed courtyard. The millstones of Allen's gristmill are embedded in the west wall. The BOARD OF EDUCATION BUILDING, 13 S.Fitzhugh St., a good example of Victorian Gothic architecture, was built in 1874 to house the Rochester Free Academy, the city's first public high school. On this site, donated to the city by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, the first school in Rochester was built in 1814. ST.LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 17 S.Fitzhugh St., a Gothic structure erected in 1824, is Rochester's oldest church edifice. The three doorways are surmounted by high-arched stained-glass windows. Unusual at so early a date are two reversed-curve pointed arches above the central door. In the interior north wall is embedded a stone bearing the seal of the Bishop of Rochester, England, dated 1115-24, which was presented to St.Luke's by the Cathedral Church of that city. The CITY HALL, NE. corner of Fitzhugh and Broad Sts., built in 1875, is a five-story structure of Lockport gray sandstone designed by A.J.Warner in a variation of the Victorian Gothic style. In the common council chamber are oil portraits of past mayors. The ROCHESTER ATHENAEUM AND MECHANICS INSTITUTE, SW. corner of Broad St. and Plymouth Ave.S., is a two-story brick structure occupying an entire block. The Athenaeum was established in 1829 for non-occupational training. In 1885 Captain Henry Lomb founded the Mechanics Institute 'for the purpose of providing technical training for the youth of Rochester.' In 1891 the two institutions were merged. The JONATHAN CHILD HOUSE, 37 S.Washington St., an interesting example of Greek Revival architecture, is occupied by the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist. The two-story-and-attic brick building is distinguished by its five lofty Corinthian columns. When it was constructed in 1837 by Jonathan Child, Rochester's first mayor, it was derisively called 'Child's Folly.' BEVIER MEMORIAL HALL, NE. corner of Washington and Spring Sts., houses the School of Arts of the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. It was built in 1910 on the site of the home of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester with funds donated by Mrs. Susan Bevier of New York City. Claude F. Bragdon designed the building, and it can be described only as in his personal style. The colors of the brick and terra cotta suggest the Orient. Monthly art exhibits are held here. LIVINGSTON PARK SEMINARY, 1 Livingston Park, a white twostory-and-attic wood building constructed as a residence in 1825, is occupied by the Gospel Mission and Welfare Association, Inc., and is known as the Gospel Tabernacle. In the Federal style, it is a reminder of the architectural splendor of early Rochester homes. Columns mark the front and side entrances. The interior trim is of carved mahogany, with columns of black walnut. In 1880 the building was converted into a private school for girls. The terraced lawns of Livingston Park, guarded by iron grille gates and adorned with cast-iron animal figures, were the scene of many early Rochester social events. The FOX SISTERS' HOME, NW. corner of Plymouth Ave.S. and Troup St., one of the cradles of Spiritualism, is a simple postColonial brick house. The two-story portico has Greek Doric columns. After their first contact with the spirit world at Hydeville (seeTour 32), the Fox sisters moved with their family to this house in 1848. Meeting with skepticism, they conducted seances in their home; and from that small beginning the faith spread. The house later served as a station of the Underground Railroad. The PLYMOUTH AVENUE SPIRITUALIST CHURCH, NE. corner of Plymouth Ave. S. and Troup St., is recognized as the mother church of modem Spiritualism. This Victorian Gothic brick building, designed in 1853, was originally a Congregational church. In the churchyard a marble monument, erected in 1927, commemorates the advent of Spiritualism in the home of the Fox sisters. The WHITTLESEY HOUSE, SW. corner of Troup and S.Fitzhugh Sts., is a two-story-and-attic brick building in the Greek Revival style erected in 1835. A high-columned portico extends across the Troup Street side, although the main entrance is on Fitzhugh Street. The interior of the house has mahogany trim, high-ceilinged rooms, and a wing stairway, all typical of the architecture that predominated in early Rochester homes. This house was purchased in 1937 by the Society for the Preservation of Landmarks in Western New York, Inc., for preservation as a historical shrine. The STATUE OF MERCURY, by J.Guernsey Mitchell, a 28-fooy copper figure atop the high chimney of the city hall annex, 34-54 Court St., towers 182 feet above the Genesee River. When it was placed in position in 1881, the building was the factory of the Kimball Tobacco Company, early manufacturer of machine-made cigarettes. The BROAD STREET BRIDGE serves as a roof for what was once the Erie Canal aqueduct, built in 1842, which carried the canal across the Genesee River and was considered a marvel of engineering accomplishment. The RUNDEL MEMORIAL BUILDING, NW. corner of South Ave. and Court St., houses the Rochester Public Library, the Reynolds Reference Library, and the book and manuscript collections of the Rochester Historical Society. Completed in 1936, it is built of limestone in a modern 'stripped classic' style, designed by Gordon and Kaelber and Leonard A. Wassdorp. The building is constructed literally on stilts over a four-track subway and a river raceway. Through a series of 11 archways in the west base of the building the waters of the raceway spill into the Genesee River. Funds for the building were bequeathed by Morton W. Rundel ( 18381911), art dealer and patron. The Reynolds Reference Library, of more than 90,000 volumes, was chartered in 1884 and enjoyed independent growth until 1936. It includes outstanding collections of official reports, State and national, and extensive back files of local newspapers. Art exhibits, mostly borrowed from America's leading art museums, are displayed each month in the gallery rooms. The GENESEE VALLEY TRUST BUILDING, NW. corner of Exchange and Broad Sts., erected in 1929 of granite and limestone, is modern in style. The architects were Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker of New York City. Severely straight lines characterize the first 12 stories, converging in a tower which supports four aluminum wings 42 feet high and weighing 12,000 pounds each. These wings add a distinctive touch to the Rochester skyline, especially under floodlights at night. The REYNOLDS ARCADE, 10-20 Main St.E., a modern 10-story office building designed by Gordon and Kaelber and completed in 1932, occupies the site of the original Reynolds Arcade, which stood for a century and was the birthplace of the Western Union Telegraph Company and of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. George Eastman obtained his first job in an office in the Arcade, and George Selden had his office in the building. The CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING, 55 St.Paul St., four stories high, of modified Italian Renaissance architecture, the exterior of Tennessee marble, was erected in 1916 with funds donated by George Eastman. A four-story addition was built in 1927 at the corner of Mortimer and Water Streets. The original structure was designed by Claude F. Bragdon, the addition by Gordon and Kaelber. The FREDERICK DOUGLASS MONUMENT, Central Ave. and St.Paul St., a bronze statue on a granite pedestal, designed by Sidney W. Edwards, was dedicated in 1899 by Theodore Roosevelt, then governor of the State. Frederick Douglass ( 1807-95) was born a slave in Easton, Maryland, and ran away from his master in 1838. His home on Alaxander Street was a station on the Underground Railroad, and during the Civil War he helped organize Negro troops. Under President Benjamin Harrison he served as Minister to Haiti. His grave is in Mount Hope Cemetery. The NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD STATION, Central Ave. between Joseph Ave. and Clinton Ave.N., built in 1914 of smoke-brown tapestry brick and brownstone, represents one of the major architectural achievements of Claude F. Bragdon. The style is a free adaptation of the neoclassic. The four-story end pavilions are essentially traditional in design, but the connecting unit, with its three wide circular arches lighting the main waiting room of the station proper, is somewhat of a departure from the classic precedent. In the interior treatment of the waiting room, while some of the details are based on Roman prototypes, the beauty of the design is achieved by simplicity of line and proportion and by the able treatment of nonstylistic ornament. The MASONIC TEMPLE, SE. corner of Main St.E. and Prince St., dedicated in 1930, is built of pressed brick and limestone in a modern adaptation of the Gothic style. The architects were Osgood and Osgood, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with Carl Ade as associate. The lodge rooms on the upper floors are designed in the Georgian Colonial, Classic, and Gothic styles. The auditorium seats 2,600. The GLEASON WORKS , 1000 University Ave., manufactures gears and gear-cutting machinery. The TODD PLANT, 1154 University Ave., produces mechanical devices and chemically treated paper to protect checks against alteration, and mechanical check-writers and check-signers. COBBS HILL RESERVOIR, entrance NW. corner of Monroe and Highland Aves., is the largest within the city limits. A large central fountain aerates the water by sending a column 75 feet into the air. The hill, with an elevation of 636 feet, affords an excellent view of the city. A Lookout Tower (open 10-10 daily, June-Aug.), near the reservoir, is equipped with a telescope. From it can be seen the downtown skyline with a residential section in the foreground, and, on a clear day, Lake Ontario to the north. The EARLY MISSION MONUMENT, 1201 Blossom Rd., on the grounds of Our Lady of Mercy High School, a granite monument surmounted by a cross, was erected to commemorate the first building for Christian worship in the Rochester area. A small cabin for divine service was built of bark of trees near this site in 1679 by the Franciscan Recollect missionaries, Louis Hennepin, Gabriel de la Ribaud, and Zenobe Minord. KODAK TOWER, NW. corner of State and Kodak Sts., 19 stories high, constructed of skeleton steel with exterior facing of terra cotta and completed in 1913, is designed in a modified French Renaissance style. The aluminum tower, built in 1931, rises 106 feet above the 19th floor. Known as the 'nerve center of photography,' this building houses the administrative offices of the far-flung Eastman Kodak organization. The BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL PLANT, 635 St.Paul St., the largest of its kind in America, occupies 16 buildings, employs more than 3,500 workers, and manufactures upward of 17,000 products, including spectacle lenses and frames, instruments for testing and treating eyes, telescopes, microscopes, periscopes, binoculars, and scientific instruments. The company manufactures its own glass and maintains its own foundry, with one iron cupel and several brass and aluminum furnaces. The LOMB MEMORIAL, on the plaza, facing Bausch St., is a black granite shaft, 48 feet high, on a base of pearl-pink marble, designed by Walter Cassebeer and Lewis Brew and erected in May 1930. Captain Henry Lomb ( 1825-1908), born in Germany, emigrated to America in 1849 and worked as a carpenter. In 1853 he became Bausch's partner in his optical store. During the Civil War he sent a portion of his soldier's pay home to help support the business. In 1885 Lomb founded the Mechanics Institute; in 1903 he donated the initial funds for the Rochester Dental Clinic. The PLATT STREET BRIDGE, St.Paul and Platt Sts., a steel arch bridge constructed in 1891, is 857 feet long, its roadway 114 feet above the river. The BAUSCH MEMORIAL BRIDGE, St.Paul and Bausch Sts., is of steel cantilever construction with a span of 945 feet and a height of 105 feet above water level. The view embraces one of the centers of Rochester's industrial life. Bronze tablets at the approaches to the bridge honor John Jacob Bausch ( 1830-1926), founder of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. Born in Germany and apprenticed there to the optical trade, Bausch came to America in 1848. After several difficult years, he opened an optical store in Rochester and began grinding his own lenses. The ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, 100 Lake Ave., was opened in 1937. Materials relating to the history of Rochester and the Genesee country, slowly collected by the Society since its organization in 1888, are displayed in rotating exhibits. Of special interest is an extensive collection of pioneer portraits. A program of special exhibits commemorating the anniversaries of historic events and personages was inaugurated on February 13, 1938, with the celebration of the 118th birthday of Susan B. Anthony. EDGERTON PARK, Backus St. opposite Phelps Ave., 62 acres, is used for winter athletics. Near the main entrance a peristyle with stone columns adjoins a bandstand. The Rochester Museumof Artsand Sciences, south of the peristyle, housed in a four-story brick structure with the crenelated roof line of a feudal keep, was established by the city in 1911. The director is Dr. Arthur C. Parker, who has been cited as the most eminent man of Indian descent and an authority on Indian life. The Indian and archeological exhibit displays many artifacts discovered by Dr. Parker. There are also exhibits of local flora and fauna, geological specimens, and historical items. MAPLEWOOD PARK, main entrance near intersection of Lake and Driving Park Aves., contains 145 acres bordering the west bank of the Genesee. There are two picnic areas with fireplaces, tables, and benches. A small artificial lake is used as a skating rink in winter. KODAK PARK, NW. corner of Lake Ave. and Ridge Road W., with main entrance on Lake Ave., the largest Rochester plant of the Eastman Kodak Company, contains 83 major buildings over an area of 400 acres. The plant resembles a modern city in compact form, with a hospital, cafeterias, a small theater, a locomotive roundhouse, and an athletic field. A six-story building near the main entrance houses the research laboratory, which has produced home 'movies,' natural color film, film that records images at a distance of hundreds of miles, and many other advances in photography. Production at Kodak Park is confined to photographic films, plates, paper, and chemicals. In the departments where film and sensitized paper pass through the various stages of manufacture, white light is carefully excluded, and the work is carried on under an eerie glow of subdued orange, red, and green. In one building pure bar-silver is converted into silver nitrate, which, by its sensitivity to light, makes photography possible. The EASTMAN MEMORIAL, at the Lake Ave. entrance to Kodak Park, is reached by three broad flights of steps leading down sloping banks to a large circular plaza paved with Georgia rose marble. A circular pedestal in the center of the plaza, containing a bronze urn with the ashes of Eastman, is surmounted by a cylindrical block of pink Georgia marble eight feet high, on which are carved two figures in bas-relief: a man heating a retort over a flame and woman holding aloft a torch. George Eastman ( 1854-1932), born in Waterville, New York, came to Rochester with his family in 1860. While working as an office clerk for $4 a week, he spent much of his time and savings in experiments to simplify the making of photographs. In 1880 he began the manufacture of dry plates in a third floor loft on State Street, meanwhile keeping his job as a bank clerk. He opened a small factory in 1882, and in 1888 brought out the first Kodak. In 1889 he developed the flexible film that was used in Edison's moving picture machine. Eastman donated $72,000,000 to various institutions. His Rochester philanthropies include the Eastman School of Music and the Eastman Theater, the Eastman Building of the Mechanics Institute, the Rochester Dental Dispensary, and the Chamber of Commerce building. He also gave large sums to the University of Rochester. He died, leaving the message, 'My work is done; why wait?' The VETERANS' MEMORIAL BRIDGE, carrying Ridge Road across the river, completed in 1931 at a cost of $2,500,000, is the longest of the city's bridges, with a span of 981 feet. It is a concrete arch type dressed with granite masonry, and has been widely praised for its classic architectural beauty. Gehron and Ross, New York City, were the architects and Frank P. McKibben was the consulting engineer. ST.BERNARD'S (Roman Catholic) THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 2260 Lake Ave., is housed in a group of three-story buildings built of red sandstone in the Gothic style. The main building, with its chapel, classrooms, and living rooms, is flanked by the Building of Philosophy and the Theology Building, providing students' rooms, professors' living quarters, a library, and auditorium. The site was purchased in 1887 by the Right Reverend Bernard McQuaid ( 1823-1908), the first Bishop of the Rochester diocese. The OLD CHARLOTTE LIGHTHOUSE, foot of Lighthouse St. off Lake Ave., was erected in 1822 of sandstone and brick. Octagonal, ivycovered, it stands on a bluff about 2,000 feet from the mouth of the Genesee River. ONTARIO BEACH PARK (bathing—lockers, picnicking, playgrounds), foot of Lake Ave., has 2,000 feet of sandy bathing beach on Lake Ontario. The PORT OF ROCHESTER has a dock wall extending 1,200 feet along the west bank of the Genesee River and a large passenger and freight building adjoining the dock. The harbor accommodates regular lake traffic, freight steamers operating between the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes ports, and transatlantic steamers. Passenger boats ply regularly between Rochester and Toronto. DURAND-EASTMAN PARK, main entrance in Sea Breeze L. from Culver Rd., has 506 acres of rolling wooded terrain. The mile-long sandy bathing beach along Lake Ontario is floodlighted for night bathing. Four small lakes within the park are stocked with fish. There are eight picnic areas equipped with tables, benches, shelters, and fireplaces, a zoo, and an 18-hole golf course. The park contains 395 varieties of native and foreign trees, shrubs, and plants. The CLARISSA STREET BRIDGE, River Blvd. and Clarissa St., constructed in 1918, is a triple steel-arched bridge with four cast stone pylons, each consisting of four rusticated Roman Doric columns. The architects were Gordon and Kaelber. The COLGATE ROCHESTER DIVINITY SCHOOL, NE. corner of S.Goodman St. and Highland Ave., is on a hill. The administration building, the president's house, and the chapel comprise a group of English Gothic brick buildings designed by James Gamble Rogers. The square tower of the administration building, with its spires and pinnacles suggestive of English cathedral towers, is visible for miles. The main building, dedicated in 1931, marked the merger of the Colgate Theological Seminary, Hamilton, New York, founded in 1820, with the Rochester Theological Seminary, founded in 1850. HIGHLAND PARK, entrance at Reservoir and South Aves., 108 acres, part of which was donated in 1887 by Ellwanger & Barry, early Rochester nurserymen, contains more than 400 species of trees, shrubs, and perennials, including a grove with 370 varieties of evergreens. Five greenhouses and a conservatory display flowers throughout the year, with special displays at Easter and Christmas. More than 400 varieties of lilac are displayed at the Lilac Festival in May. MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY, 791 Mt.Hope Ave., extending over 250 acres, contains the graves of many prominent Rochester people: Su san B. Anthony ( 1820-1906), pioneer advocate of equal rights for women in politics, industry, and education; Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, founder and namesake of the city; Abelard Reynolds ( 1785-1878), the city's first innkeeper and postmaster; and Frederick Douglass, Negro leader. GENESEE VALLEY PARK, main entrance at Elmwood Ave. and River Blvd., has an area of 640 acres, with the Barge Canal, Red Creek, and the Genesee River converging near its center. A public boathouse rents boats and canoes and offers a sight-seeing trip in the river by motor launch. The park contains picnic areas and facilities for a large variety of sports. Near the entrance to the park is a statue of Dr. Edward Mott Moore ( 1814-1902), 'father of Rochester's parks.' The TAYLOR INSTRUMENT PLANT, 95 Ames St., manufactures instruments for recording, controlling, and indicating temperature, humidity, flow, and liquid level. The RITTER DENTAL PLANT, 404 West Ave., manufactures dental furnishings and supplies. The GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL PLANT, 801 West Ave., manufactures signaling apparatus. The PFAUDLER PLANT, foot of West Ave., makes glass-lined steel containers. 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