I’ve been writing Filling in Columns for over 2 years now (starting with this one on Exchange Street), and I’ve realized that it’s high time to have a discussion about my vision for the column, what I write, and why I write it…
Posts Tagged ‘Exchange Street’...
1920’s Photo of Rochester Subway Construction
Friday, December 6th, 2013
Today’s Fun Foto Friday is this 1920’s view of the Erie Canal aqueduct looking east. You’re looking at the covering over the old canal which would soon become Broad Street and the Rochester Subway beneath. In the background (center) is the Osburn House hotel. Eventually Broad Street would be extended eastward, right through that hotel. The stairwell to the City Hall subway station can be seen at the street corner. And next to the stairs, notice the construction site…
Tags: Broad Street, Exchange Boulevard, Exchange Street, Fun Foto Friday, Genesee Valley Trust, history of Rochester, James Field Company, Osburn House, Rochester history, Rochester Subway, Times Square Building
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Rochester Subway, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 2 Comments »
Rochester’s (inspiring) Old Railroad Stations
Saturday, November 6th, 2010Lots of news has been brewing lately over the future of Rochester’s beat-up, 32-year-old Amtrak station on Central Avenue. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter recently announced that a $1.5 million federal stimulus grant has been awarded to New York state to plan for a new multi-modal station on the site. A $2.5 million appropriation to pay for the station design is expected to pass Congress next month. And Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has just made it abundantly clear that New York will take whatever federal money is left on the table by newly elected GOP governors in Ohio and Wisconsin.
So for now, let’s just assume that something very interesting is in the works for our pitiful excuse for a train station. This is the perfect time to take a step back in time—to be inspired by Rochester’s grand old stations…
Tags: Auburn Railroad Shed, Bragdon Station, Broad Street, Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, Claude Bragdon, Clinton Avenue, Court Street, Erie Railroad, Eugene Sintzenich, Exchange Street, High Falls, history of Rochester, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Main Street, New York, New York Central Railroad, old photos, old photos of Rochester, railroad, railroad station, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Saint Paul Street, vintage postcard, vintage views
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Train/Railroad Stuff | 20 Comments »
The Electric Interurban Railways in America
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Long before hybrid cars, SUV’s, JetBlue, and even Amtrak, travel between American cities occurred largely by rail. With the industrial and technological revolution around the turn of the 20th century, America’s interurban railway developed so fast and connected so many of us, it must have seemed like the future had suddenly arrived out of nowhere. So when Henry Ford’s Model T was introduced who could have anticipated the turn transportation history would soon take.
If you’re interested in understanding the history of rail travel in American (its rise and quick fall), we’ve got a book for you. One of our readers, Laurence Keefe, recently brought this one to our attention. The following is Larry’s review…
“When we were children on summer vacation, the highlight of the day was when Dad got home from work. We would eat dinner at six o’clock, when the news came on the radio. That was because it took him 50 minutes to get from his office near the Four Corners in Rochester, NY to our farm in Victor…
Tags: Alexander Street, Amtrak, automobile, Averill Street, Canandaigua, Clyde, Court Street, Exchange Street, General Motors, George W. Hilton, GM, Great Depression, Henry Ford, hybrid car, I-490, industrial revolution, interurban, JetBlue, John F. Due, Laurence Keefe, mass transit, mass transportation, Model T, New York, New York Central Railroad, NY, public transportation, rail, rail transit, railroad, Rochester, Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railroad, Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway, Rochester Syracuse and Eastern Railroad, SUV, Syracuse, The Electric Interurban Railways in America, train, trains, transportation, vintage postcard, War Memorial
Posted in Opinion, Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure | No Comments »
Subway Confessions: Rochester’s Boys of Summer, 1952
Sunday, November 1st, 2009Our recent article about the City’s initiative to fill the abandoned subway tunnel drew many interesting comments from our readers. I wanted to highlight one of those comments from Patrick Eagan—a native Rochesterian who has since relocated to south Florida (RochesterSubway.com receives almost as many emails from people now living outside Rochester as we get from current residents). When Patrick was a kid he used to play softball with the Kodak Park Athletic Association. And when you’re a kid what could go better with a game of softball than a ride on the Rochester Subway?
Patrick agreed to let us post his subway story here—but do check out his great blog and original post.
Tags: 19th Ward, abandoned subway tunnel, Cameos, Dewey Avenue, Emerson Street, Exchange Street, Four Corners, Jefferson High School, Kodak Park Athletic Association, KPAA Softball, New York, NY, Patrick Eagan, Rochester, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway story, Rochester's northwest quadrant, softball
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway Stories | 1 Comment »