RochesterSubway.com : Rochester’s Mercury Statue, Up Close and Personal

Rochester’s Mercury Statue, Up Close and Personal

May 29th, 2014

On Facebook last week I shared an old photo of Rochester’s iconic Mercury statue as it was being removed from its original perch atop the Kimball Tobacco Factory in 1951. The factory was demolished to make way for the War Memorial and the statue sat in storage until the Lawyers Cooperative (Aqueduct Building) became his new home in 1973.

Fast forward to June 2011; the 21 foot tall, 700 pound statue gets a thorough inspection for signs of wear and a good restoration. The following photos were taken by Wes Plant during that checkup. And they show Mercury in detail you’ve probably never seen before…

Looking up toward Mercury, inspectors are hoisted up in a bucket to get a good look at the Rochester landmark.

In 1881, young sculpture Guernsey Mitchell was commissioned by his brother-in-law, William Kimball, to create a decoration for his new tobacco factory’s smokestack. The Kimball Tobacco Factory was located at the corner of Court Street and Exchange Street.

At the time, it was described as the largest copperplated statue in America. Mercury quickly became the hallmark of Rochester’s Skyline.

Cluett-Peabody & Company acquired Kimball’s building in 1905 for the production of its linen shirt collars. By the 1930s, the City had acquired the property, with the help of George Eastman. The factory building was used for several City functions, including as the central branch of the public library, until it was demo’d in 1951 to become part of Rochester’s new civic center. The statue was moved to a warehouse in Charlotte.

In 1973 our old friend was re-introduced to the skyline – this time atop the Aqueduct Building, one block north of its original home.

Mercury was the Roman version of Hermes, the Greek god of messages, eloquence and of trade, particularly of the grain trade (fitting for the Flour City).

He was usually depicted wearing winged shoes, a winged hat, and carrying the caduceus, a herald’s staff with two entwined snakes. In Greek mythology, the staff was a gift from Apollo.

The pose chosen by Mitchell—poised on one foot, one arm pointed toward the heavens—was borrowed from the work of Giambologna .

Mercury was also considered a god of abundance and commercial success. To emphasize this characteristic, and to reflect the success of his brother-in-law’s business, Mitchell added a bag of gold to Mercury’s right hand.

Here’s something you wouldn’t notice while standing on the ground… from this vantage point we can clearly see that Mercury is supported by a zephyr. In Greek mythology, Zephyr was the gentle wind of the west and the interceder between the world of the living and the underworld. Zephyr also brought the spring rains that were so valuable for awakening the nature.

Alright sir, time for your checkup…

Let’s have a peek under your wings.

Now turn your head and cough for me.

What happens if I give this a tug?

Hmm… that’s going to need a prescription.

Here’s a closeup of that bag of gold.

Looks like a little fungal thing happening here.

*** giggle ***

Can you wiggle your toes?

Perrrfect, thanks.

Looking good, big guy. Eat right, get regular exercise, and you should be good for another 130 years.

Thanks to Mark O’Brien for sending these photos!

Tags: aerial photography, Aqueduct Building, Blue Cross Arena, Cluett-Peabody & Company, downtown Rochester, J. Guernsey Mitchell, John Siddons Co., Kimball Tobacco Factory, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, Mercury statue, public art, Rochester, Rochester NY, rochester photos, Statue of Mercury, War Memorial, War Memorial Arena, William Kimball

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at 12:14 am and is filed under Art + Culture, Reader Submitted Stories, Rochester Images, Urban Exploration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

22 Responses to “Rochester’s Mercury Statue, Up Close and Personal”

Steven Tryon says:

May 29, 2014 at 7:57 am

A superb series of photo, especially looking down with the Genesee River as the backdrop.
Steve
Patrick says:

May 29, 2014 at 3:05 pm

Is that hole in the elbow supposed to be there, or did someone shoot the thing?
Debi says:

May 30, 2014 at 6:56 am

Gorgeous details, history and perspective. Thank you for sharing these!
Roberta says:

May 30, 2014 at 10:07 am

Wow! What a treat to see this local icon in such detail. Being afraid of heights, those are angles I would never see in my lifetime. Breathtaking!
Maranne says:

May 30, 2014 at 12:46 pm

What a remarkable opportunity! Thank you for sharing this story. As a Rochester native, I have always known about Mercury (probably because I was the right age when the statue was re-installed). Having said that, I learned a few things about Mercury today and .I love the iconographic connections made to the Flour City! Thank you, can’t wait to share with my kids!
Jonathan Bouman says:

June 10, 2014 at 10:18 am

Awesome perspective! Another great addition to your website.
Douglas Fisher says:

July 13, 2014 at 6:35 pm

Terrific to see these great images!

Such statuary close-ups would have been interesting to view up close during all those decades that the City kept Mercury lying in that Charlotte warehouse.

Does any know specifically which warehouse was Mercury’s rest home then?

The City of Rochester continues to own this Mercury statue, although its supporting tower, and its installation thereon, were paid for by the Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company (now Thomson Reuters), which owns the tower itself.

Rather than subject Mercury to the legally-required highest-bidder situation via a sale or lease, the City instead licensed the use of Mercury — and his supporting Zephyr — to Lawyers Co-op.
Douglas Fisher says:

July 13, 2014 at 6:38 pm

Lawyers Co-op also paid for the statuary restoration work involved in its 1973 re-emplacement on the Rochester skyline.
Diane Gutierrez says:

December 31, 2014 at 1:54 pm

Thanks for the photos, which solved a mystery for me: what happened to the wings on Mercury’s upraised right foot? It is there, smaller and not easily seen from the ground.
Ruth Nederlk says:

December 31, 2014 at 2:37 pm

Delighted to see a old friend again .Thank you. Brought back many memories of looking up and seeing him for many years. Was after the tobacco co for I didn’t know that was there earlier I was in the late 30’s 40’s and 50’s I often took the crosstown bus to go home at Exchange and Main St. or some times I took the subway at Broad St. Yes it was a landmark I could never forget.and later it was moved to Lawyer Coop company I had wondered where it was when it disappeared . Thank you for the information. Loved seeing him again like a old buddy of mine. I no longer go downtown now from living in Webster but still have wonderful memories of him. Great old days back then!
Richard Long says:

January 27, 2015 at 3:35 am

Mercury spent his time between removal and reerection in the old City owned Charlotte warehouse that was demolished to make room for the Rochester Terminal of the famed ferry Edmond FitsJohnson.

The warehouse was originally Rochester’s water port facility which until City Council abandoned the warf and warehouse gave Rochester businesses very low freight rates from all carriers by Federal Regulation. The warf and warehouse were leased by the City to Pittston Stevadore Company who ran it under contract. The City was supposed to maintain the warf and building, but politicians found other uses for the funds and the facility suffered.

After standing and laying around a few months waiting for politicians to decide where he would rest, Mercury was eventually crated in a skelital fashion so he could breathe and trucked to the warehouse. Pittston didn’t exactly welcome Mercury as he took up space they felt they could use more profitably, so he got pushed to the least desirable space in the building where his only visitors were pigeons and the occasional accountant verifying he was still in residence.

Pittston pulled out of Rochester when City Council ended the Port designation, and Mercury had only the company of the watchman making clock tours required by Insurance. He moved to a more desirable spot in the building after the watchman put his foot through a rotted part of the floor near Mercury.

After the move, Mercury shared residence for a number of years with thousands of pallets of Ragu spagetti sauce. The watchman continued to make rounds, and forklifts stopped by from time to time.

When Lawyers CoOp offered their building as his new residence, Mercury had to be crated and cradled anew for the move because his old crate was falling apart and covered in pigeon droppings.

He also got to make a stop in a sheet metal shop for some cosmetic work after a good bath on the way to the top of Lawyers CoOp. The Pop rivets and copper colored sealant on his seams are from that low budget restoration. Actually. considering the lack of interest that had been shwn him by Politicians probably came close to sending Mercury to scrap several times.
Dan Klein says:

August 17, 2015 at 10:40 am

If anyone’s still looking at this message thread, I just wanted to add that I work in the Aqueduct Building, and in July 2011 I took a photo of Mercury from near the base while on a tour of the building:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28147498@N07/5962831455/in/photolist-bUk8tU-a5V53T/ The caption, of course, was “Up close and personal.” A month earlier, when the restoration work was underway, I got another shot of the statue and the work bucket, zooming in from below: https://www.flickr.com/photos/28147498@N07/5859332188/in/photolist-a5V53T-a5V56e-9VLBjL-9K8aE3-8Xqbbi
CJ says:

September 18, 2015 at 1:13 am

Need a caption for the butt shot…
karen cusse says:

March 29, 2016 at 7:27 am

wonderful to see my favorite upstate n.y. statue up close. the details are great and so is the scenery
Rick Williams says:

July 25, 2016 at 11:05 am

I’m in my mid 60’s as of this writing. I fondly remember seeing this icon when traveling about Rochester. I never knew its history, nor all the details of its construction until I read this article, for which I am greatful.
Great companies have risen & fallen, delicious food venues of many nationalities have made good impressions on decades of Rochestarians, yet Mercury outlasts them all. Kudos to the many folks who should take pride in keeping this icon looked up to, even thru many tortuous upstate Winters !
Diane Gutierrez says:

July 25, 2016 at 12:43 pm

New York City has its Statute of Liberty, St. Louis has its Gateway Arch, Seattle has its Space Needle. Should Mercury symbolize Rochester likewise?
Matthew Denker says:

July 27, 2016 at 12:40 am

I’m ok with the idea, but Mercury would be the only thing on that list you can’t go up into… (personal anecdote – I’ve been up in all 3, and each is truly incredible in its own way). Throw the Washington Monument on the pile of epic monuments you can also go up into.
Dan Klein says:

July 27, 2016 at 1:15 am

Though you can’t go up into Mercury, I got as close as most people can ever get as part of the special tour for the building’s employees in 2011. We had to climb a steep metal ladder up to the space in the tower just below the statue’s base: https://www.flickr.com/photos/28147498@N07/5962831591/in/photolist-a5V56e
Melanie says:

February 3, 2017 at 10:29 am

Researching in an 1881 archive and I found an entry where my diarist left work to attend the unveiling of ‘Flying Mercury’ atop the tobacco building on Saturday, January 29, 1881 in the afternoon. Thanks for these photos.
JIm Morris says:

April 22, 2018 at 7:08 am

Thanks for the website – I was visiting Rochester and wondered what the deal was with this statue and why Mercury was so prominently displayed.
Your website cleared that up.
duncan pitkeathly says:

October 31, 2018 at 7:55 am

Mercury is the cap badge of the Royal Corp of Signals in the British Army , i wore it with pride during my time there , 1958-60 while in Episkopi Garrison Cyprus in the British Army .
Gabriel Pellegrino says:

September 23, 2021 at 12:16 am

The statue was replaced on November 15, 1974.

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Rochester’s Mercury Statue, Up Close and Personal

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