![A view of the the fac̨ade of the B. Forman Co. store at 46-50 Clinton Avenue South. Christmas decorations are visible. c.1930. [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-b-forman-department-store-02.jpg)
For the past few days we’ve been doing some holiday window shopping at the old Sibley’s and McCurdy’s department stores. “But, WAIT! What about B. Forman’s?…” you say? Well, I searched around a bit, and though I wasn’t able to find many photos of window displays from B. Forman Co., fear not… I’ve got something you might like. Newspaper ads from December 18 – December 25, 1929! Don’t say I never gave you anything…
Archive: ‘Rochester History’...
B. Forman Co.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012Tags: ad, B. Foreman Co. Department Store, Christmas, Clinton Ave, Clinton Avenue, Democrat & Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, downtown Rochester, holidays, McCurdy & Co., old photos, old photos of Rochester, old photos of Rochester NY, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Sibly Lindsay & Curr Co.
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 6 Comments »
Window Shopping at McCurdy & Co.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012![The McCurdy & Norwell Company department store was located at 285-291 Main Street East, at the corner of Elm Street. The display windows are crowded with goods. The store occupied several attached buildings of various heights and styles. c.1901-1913 [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone Collection]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-mccurdy-department-store-windows-02.jpg)
Do you remember window shopping at the big downtown department stores? Freezing cold holiday shoppers all pressed up against the plate glass like moths to a porch light. Dreams of sugar plums and reindeer and presents under the tree were fueled by these sparkling menageries of the latest and greatest stuff. The displays themselves were an art form; and drawing people in off the street was the ultimate goal. In all but our largest metros, scenes like these have been lost as retailers gradually moved to suburban malls. Yesterday we went window shopping at the old Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co. department store. Today let’s browse a series of pictures (also from the Rochester Public Library) documenting some of the windows at McCurdy & Co. department store in downtown Rochester more than 70 years ago…
Tags: Christmas, downtown Rochester, Elm Street, Empire Theater, holiday windows, holidays, John Cooke McCurdy, Main Street, May Department Stores, McCurdy & Co., McCurdy & Co. Department Store, McCurdy and Robinson, old photos, old photos of Rochester, old photos of Rochester NY, Rochester history, Rochester NY, window shopping
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 3 Comments »
Window Shopping at Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co.
Saturday, December 1st, 2012![An exterior view of Sibley's as seen at nighttime and decorated for Christmas. 1939. [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-sibley-department-store-windows-02.jpg)
Do you remember window shopping at the big downtown department stores? Freezing cold holiday shoppers all pressed up against the plate glass like moths to a porch light. Dreams of sugar plums and reindeer and presents under the tree were fueled by these sparkling menageries of the latest and greatest stuff. The displays themselves were an art form; and pulling people in off the street was the ultimate goal. In all but our largest metros, scenes like these have been lost as retailers gradually moved to suburban malls. This series of pictures from the Rochester Public Library documents some of the windows at Sibley, Lindsay and Curr Co. department store in downtown Rochester more than 70 years ago…
Tags: Alexander M. Lindsay, Christmas, downtown Rochester, Empire Theater, holiday windows, holidays, John Curr, Main Street, May Department Stores, old photos, old photos of Rochester, old photos of Rochester NY, Osburn House, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Rufus Sibley, Sibley Building, Sibley's, Sibley's Department Store, Sibly Lindsay & Curr Co., window shopping
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 13 Comments »
Rochester’s Rundel Library on Ghost Hunters: ‘Due Date with Death’
Monday, November 26th, 2012
This Wednesday night, SyFy Channel will air a new episode of Ghost Hunters featuring Rochester’s Rundel Library (and possibly the subway tunnel). Sally Snow, Assistant Director at Monroe County Library, says the show approached them initially about the abandoned Rochester subway. “As scary as the subway is, the library is where the real haunting action is,” Snow said. “All I can say is that they found stuff, for sure. I can’t say what until the show airs.”
The Ghost Hunters team spent two full nights investigating the tunnels and the Rundel building. Sally says she’s never experienced paranormal activity in the library first hand, but she has seen security camera footage of a door opening and closing by itself. “This is a door that usually requires a really good tug to get it open. It’s very strange.”
Now personally, I’m not saying I believe in this stuff, but here’s the story of one mysterious death which occurred on this very spot in 1902…
Tags: Court Street, Democrat & Chronicle, Democrat and Chronicle, Erie Canal, Erie Canal Aqueduct, Erie Canal Path, Erie Canal towpath, Ghost Hunters, ghost subway, haunted subway tunnel, Johnson Seymour Mill Race, Laura Young, Monroe Avenue, murder, mystery, O.W. Stanley Cafe, old photos of Rochester, old photos of Rochester NY, Rochester Public Library, Rundel Library, Sally Snow, spirits, SyFy Channel
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester News | 5 Comments »
The Life and (Explosive) Death of Rochester’s Driving Park Bridge
Monday, November 19th, 2012
Last week we explored some of the caves in Rochester’s Genesee River gorge. While digging around for information about Lower Falls, I came across some great stuff on the nearby Driving Park Bridge. The bridge that you know today was built in 1989. But the previous bridge (shown above) had been there for nearly 100 years. That’s pretty remarkable when you consider its length of 717 feet, the icy Rochester weather, and the relentless spray from the Lower Falls below. Be sure to click on the image above for a much larger view. And check out the link at the end of this article to watch the explosive demolition of the old steel bridge in the 1980’s…
Tags: Avenue E, bridge, demolition, Driving Park Bridge, Genesee River, Genesee River Gorge, infrastructure, Lefferts L. Buck, Lower Falls, Niagara Falls Bridge, old photos, old photos of Rochester, Rochester, Rochester NY, Williamsburg Bridge
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Transit + Infrastructure | 14 Comments »
Left for Dead: Rochester’s Union Depot
Friday, November 9th, 2012![Rochester's NY Central (Bragdon) Station half demolished, c.1970? [PHOTO VIA: John R. Stewart]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-bragdon-station-demolition-1.jpg)
I know I keep coming back to this over and over and over again. But I just can’t believe we intentionally reduced this once world-class rail station to rubble only so we could pay tens of millions 50 years later in an attempt 
to build a much smaller and less impressive imitation of what we once had.
I’m not going to say much more about it. I just wanted to share these recently found photos of Rochester’s half-demolished NY Central (Bragdon) Station. Like a decapitated, rotting corpse left to rot in public as a reminder of a brutal ‘auto’cracy. Most of the building was torn down in the 1960’s but one section stood like this for over a decade before it was finally removed altogether and replaced with the current Amtrak building in the mid to late 70’s. Oy, how painful…
Tags: Amtrak Station, architecture, Bragdon Station, Central Avenue, Claude Bragdon, demolition, downtown Rochester, history of Rochester, Joseph Avenue, New York Central Railroad, North Clinton Avenue, NY Central Station, old photos, railroad, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Union Station
Posted in Rochester History, Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 13 Comments »
State Takes Rochester Rail Station Project From City
Friday, October 26th, 2012![New York Central Railroad Station c.1905-1914 [PHOTO: Detroit Publishing via Library of Congress]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-ny-central-railroad-station.jpg)
First, a little bit of history. The building shown above was one of Rochester’s earliest rail stations. Make sure you click to see all the great detail in the photo. It was located on Central Avenue between St. Paul & Clinton near the site of the current Amtrak Station. This view is looking west from Clinton Avenue, sometime between 1905-1914. In 1914 this station was replaced by the great Bragdon station in 1914, which was demolished in 1965…
Tags: downtown Rochester, New York Central Railroad, NYSDOT, old photos, old photos of Rochester, railroad station, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester NY, rochester photos
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Rochester News, Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure | 11 Comments »
Loew’s Theater: Rochester’s Other Lost Movie Palace
Thursday, October 11th, 2012![Loew's Rochester Theatre, Rochester. On the marquee: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, Maria Dressler in “Anna Christie” and on stage Barto and Mann, Harry Girard’s Ensemble, and A. Robbins. Photo by George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto and Mann. April 26, 1930. [PHOTO: George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto and Mann. Via Brad Smith's Flickr Stream]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/loews-theater-rochester-01.jpg)
Earlier this week a collection of photos of Rochester’s RKO Palace Theater was discovered thanks to the Rochester Theater Organ Society. Mixed in with those RKO Palace photos were a few interior shots of Rochester’s other lost movie palace… Loew’s Theater. So I thought it only fair to shine the spotlight on this one too. Loew’s Theater also happened to be on Clinton Avenue, just four or five blocks south of the RKO. Xerox Tower now occupies the spot. Take a look…
Tags: downtown Rochester, Loew's Theater, old photos, old photos of Rochester, RKO Palace Theater, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, South Clinton Avenue, Washington Square, Xerox Tower
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 27 Comments »
Never Before Seen Photos of RKO Palace Theater
Sunday, October 7th, 2012![Rochester's RKO Palace Theater during demolition. 1965. [PHOTO: D.O. Schultz / Rochester Theater Organ Society]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/RKO-Palace-013-AuditoriumNorthWall.jpg)
A few weeks after we discovered the RKO Palace Theater floor at the site of RGRTA’s future transit center, Russ Shaner, president of the Rochester Theater Organ Society contacted me. These were the guys who saved the old Wurlitzer pipe organ from the RKO Palace before the building was demolished. And as it turns out, one of their founding members, D.O. Schultz, captured a treasure trove of photographs and left them with the Organ Society before he moved to Florida years ago. Russ asked RochesterSubway.com for help, both archiving the photos, and sharing them with you, the public. Yesterday you saw part 1, and now, here is part 2 of this awesome collection…
Tags: Clinton Avenue, demolition, downtown Rochester, Mortimer Street, old photos, old photos of Rochester NY, RKO Palace Theater, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester Theater Organ Society, Russ Shaner, Saint Paul Street
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 16 Comments »
Never Before Seen Photos of RKO Palace Theater
Sunday, October 7th, 2012![Rochester's RKO Palace Theater during WWII. Main entrance on Clinton Ave. 1942. [PHOTO: D.O. Schultz / Rochester Theater Organ Society]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/RKO-Palace-001-ClintonAveEntrance1942.jpg)
A few weeks after we discovered the RKO Palace Theater floor at the site of RGRTA’s future transit center, Russ Shaner, president of the Rochester Theater Organ Society contacted me. These were the guys who saved the old Wurlitzer pipe organ from the RKO Palace before the building was demolished. And as it turns out, one of their founding members, D.O. Schultz, captured a treasure trove of photographs and left them with the Organ Society before he moved to Florida years ago. Russ asked RochesterSubway.com for help, both archiving the photos, and sharing them with you, the public. Below is part 1 of this awesome collection…
Tags: Clinton Ave, demolition, downtown Rochester, Loew's Theater, Mortimer Street, old photos, old photos of Rochester, RKO Palace Theater, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Rochester Theater Organ Society, Russ Shaner, Saint Paul Street
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 33 Comments »
Drunken Hijinks and Homicide in Rochester’s Sibley Building
Friday, October 5th, 2012![This was the Sibley Building office, and murder scene, of J. Frank O'Connor, a tailor merchant. A sewing machine and its table have been knocked over and lie in front of the radiator. The cutting table is at the right. A lower table, on the left, holds a bolt of fabric, a pressing board for sleeves, and an electric iron. A chair and a box of material sit in front of the lower table. [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone Collection]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/sibley-murder-scene-3.jpg)
J. Frank O’Connor, known by his clients and friends as “Scrappy” O’Connor, was a merchant tailor. After a long weekend of partying, he would be murdered during a drunken battle in his office (shown above) on the second floor of Rochester’s Sibley Building. O’Connor’s body was found about 6:00 p.m., Monday, August 28, 1922. These are actual crime scene photos by Albert R. Stone…
Tags: Albert R. Stone, Browncroft, downtown Rochester, Grace M. Begy, homicide, J. Frank O'Connor, Main Street, murder, Owen DeWitt, prohibition, prohibition saloon, Rochester, Rochester NY, Sibley Building, Sibley's, Sibley's Department Store, speakeasy, Stillson Street
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 9 Comments »
Back to Main Street
Friday, September 28th, 2012![Main Street Rochester. c.1908 [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone Collection]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-main-street-then-and-now-1.jpg)
The image above was printed in the Rochester Herald on October 10, 1908. This was Main Street looking east from the Four Corners on a busy day in October. The sidewalks are thronged with pedestrians. Several traffic police are standing at various spots in the intersection. A cluster of westbound trolleys, one labeled “Plymouth” and the other “Saratoga”, have stopped in their tracks. A few people are waiting to board, and others are crossing the street in front of the stopped cars. Several wagons, some covered, are traveling along the street. But then the trolley tracks were ripped up…
Tags: Main Street, old photos of Rochester, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, vintage postcard, vintage views
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 70 Comments »
Where’s Cogswell?
Friday, September 21st, 2012![This was the corner of Main and Fitzhugh Streets (1884). Can you find Cogswell? [PHOTO: Rochester Public Library]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-savings-bank-cogswell.jpg)
Often times while I’m doing research for a story, I’ll stumble upon something new and get completely sidetracked. Today I was digging for information on the Academy Building when I found the image above. It’s a shot of the Rochester Savings Bank building located at the corner of West Main and Fitzhugh. The Academy Building is to the immediate left of the bank. But forget the buildings for now. Do you see that strange little man standing in the lower left corner of the photo? That was actually a drinking fountain named Cogswell…
Tags: Academy Building, Cogswell Fountain, downtown Rochester, Dr. Henry D. Cogswell, Fitzhugh Street, fountain, Main Street, old photos of Rochester, Powers Hotel, prohibition, public art, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Rochester Savings Bank, sculpture, St. Luke's Church, statue, temperance movement, Women's Christian Temperance Union
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 6 Comments »
Rochester’s Old Federal Building Should Go
Wednesday, September 19th, 2012![Old Federal Building (now City Hall). [PHOTO: Richard Margolis]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-city-hall-richard-margolis.jpg)
“Listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated a city landmark, the old Federal Building is considered a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. No one’s particularly interested in using it, however, because inside it’s dark, gloomy, usually uncomfortable and just plain ramshackle. Blow it up. It’s an ugly thing…and not particularly interesting inside or out…It should be demolished. A modern, tax-producing building would be a better use for the site and would give more new life to that section of downtown…”
Tags: Church Street, demolition, Federal Building, Fitzhugh Street, Landmark Society of Western New York, National Register of Historic Places, preservation, preservation code, Richard Margolis, Richardsonian, Rick U., Rochester, Rochester City Hall, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Romanesque, State Street, Times-Union, zoning code
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Urban Development | 10 Comments »
Today, September 14, in Rochester History: The Seneca Hotel Opens
Friday, September 14th, 2012![The Seneca Hotel, 26 S. Clinton Avenue, south of E. Main Street on the east side of the street. The stores in front, left to right, are Laurabelle's Greeting Cards, Ringclear Hosery Co., and Rochester Cleaning & Dyeing Co. [PHOTO: Rochester Municiple Archives]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-seneca-hotel-front.jpg)
On September 14, 1908 a new 300 room hotel with ballroom, several dining rooms and meeting rooms opened its doors – right smack on the same spot where Windstream (Paetec) is constructing its new building today.
The following article was published in the New York Times on Monday September 14, 1908…
Tags: Albert R. Stone, B. Foreman Co. Department Store, Century Theatre, Clinton Ave, Clinton Avenue, Hearth and Embers Restaurant, Hotel Seneca, Lyceum Theatre, Main & Clinton, Manger Hotel, McCurdy's Department Store, Midtown Plaza, old photos, old photos of Rochester, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, Sibley's Department Store, South Clinton Avenue, Temple Theatre, this date in Rochester history, Wegman's
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Urban Development | 14 Comments »
A Classic Rochester Souvenir?
Monday, September 10th, 2012![Do you know what this is? Hint, it's not what you're thinking. You dirtbag. [PHOTO: Moldville.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-clock-of-nations-mold-1.jpg)
Imagine it’s 1965 and your parents bring you to the big city of Rochester, New York to take in the sights and do some shopping in the world’s first indoor urban shopping mall, Midtown Plaza . It’s thrilling! All the people! The lights! The sounds! The experience is setting off fireworks in your little 6 year-old brain. What better way to remember this extraordinary day from your childhood than with a warm, six-inch high… fleshy colored…… What the #&@! is this?
Tags: Clock of Nations, Golisano Children's Hospital, Greater Rochester International Airport, injection molding machine, Midtown Plaza, Mold-A-Rama, plastic souvenir, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester souvenir
Posted in Art + Culture, Rochester History, Video | 11 Comments »
Snapshots of Rochester’s Labor Days
Sunday, September 2nd, 2012![Six unidentified female railroad workers pose at Lincoln Park Station. The railroad line is the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway Company. In 1917-1918, many jobs traditionally held by men were filled by women, while the men served in the Armed Services in World War I. [PHOTO: Albert R. Stone Collection]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-woman-railroad-workers-c1917.jpg)
“I believe when we’re born into this world we’re entrusted with certain things. Our grandparents trust that we’ll work hard to keep and maintain the world that they’ve broken themselves to build. And our children need us to preserve it, and leave it a little bit better than how we inherited it. Preservation is often difficult. But in many ways it’s all we have to keep us grounded; as a society and as people. Future generations need to know what came before them. What was it that made this city great? Who designed and built this place? Who worked here and why? If we destroy the evidence, we cut our children off from the answers forever; and impede our own ability to progress.”
These are words I live by. They’re also the reason I keep this web site. While my family and I are enjoying this sunny Labor Day weekend on the shores of Lake Ontario, I’ll take pause to think about why we have it so damn good in this time and place. For me, the answer can be found in the portraits that follow. These are some of the men, woman, and even children who labored to make the way of life we enjoy today…
Tags: Adler Bros., Bert Bitting, Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, East Rochester, Eastman Kodak, Egypt Canning Co., Egypt NY, factory workers, Four Corners, Garment Workers Strike, Hanna's Dryhouse, Hilton NY, history of Rochester, Jerry Kellerer, Kodak, Labor Day, Main Street Four Corners, Merchants' Despatch Transportation Co., Michael Stern Building, old photos, old photos of Rochester, Rochester, Rochester Association of Workers for the Blind, Rochester Brewery Union Members, Rochester history, Rochester Industrial Exposition, Rochester Labor Day Parade, Rochester NY, Rochester Shoe Workers Union, Rochester water supply system, Silver Platers and Metal Polishers Union, strikebreaker, Womans Union Label League
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images | 6 Comments »
New Maps of Rochester’s Neighborhoods
Monday, August 27th, 2012![Rochester Neighborhoods Map [BY: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-neighborhoods-map.jpg)
Now you can admire your hometown of Rochester, NY and the diversity of its many communities without ever putting on a pair of pants.* Introducing two awesome new posters depicting the neighborhoods of Rochester…
Tags: 14621, 19th Ward, Alexander, Beechwood, Brown Square, Browncroft, Bulls Head / B.E.S.T., Cascade District, Charlotte, Cobbs Hill, Corn Hill, downtown Rochester, Dutchtown, East Avenue, East End, Edgerton, Ellwanger-Barry, Four Corners, Genesee-Jefferson / S.W.A.N., Grove Place, High Falls, Highland, Homestead Heights, J.O.S.A.N.A., Lincoln Park / U.N.I.T., Lyell-Otis, Main & Clinton, Manhattan Square, Maplewood, Mayor's Heights / C.O.T.S., Monroe Village, Neighborhood of the Arts, neighborhoods, North Marketview Heights, North Winton, Northland-Lyceum, Park Avenue, Plymouth-Exchange, Rochester, Rochester neighborhoods, Rochester New York, Rochester NY, Saint Joseph's, Saint Paul Quarter, South Marketview Heights, South Wedge, Strong-Mt. Hope, Susan B. Anthony, Swillburg, Upper Falls, Upper Monroe, Wadsworth Square, Washington Square
Posted in Rochester Gifts, Rochester History, Rochester Images, Rochester News | No Comments »
RGRTA Digs Up Rochester’s Old RKO Palace Theater
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
There are few places Rochesterians talk about with such fondness as the old RKO Palace Theater that once stood on Clinton Avenue. Looking at old pictures, I can see why. The place was all dressed up and sparkled inside and out like a glitzy Vegas showgirl. But like many of Rochester’s brick and mortar beauties, she grew old, was chopped up into little pieces, and buried where she stood. All in the name of “urban renewal.” Fast forward fifty years. RGRTA breaks ground on a new bus terminal. And guess what shows up? That’s right – the skeleton of Rochester’s most beautiful movie theater…
Tags: bus terminal, Clinton Avenue, demolition, downtown Rochester, old movie theater, old photos, old photos of Rochester, old theater, Regional Transit Service (RTS), RKO Palace Theater, Rochester, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), rochester images, Rochester NY, Rochester Theater Organ Society, RTS Transit Terminal, Saint Paul Street, urban explorers, urban renewal
Posted in Rochester History, Rochester Images, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development | 101 Comments »
The Burned-Over District; Sacred Sites of Western New York
Monday, August 20th, 2012![A stained glass window in Rochester's Saint Michael's Church, Rochester NY. [IMAGE: www.exploringtheburnedoverdistrict.wordpress.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/saint-michaels-church-stained-glass-rochester.jpg)
The following is a guest post by Luke & Chris,
Exploring the Burned Over District Blog .
Submit your story today.
One evening sometime during the fall of 2011, my friend Chris and I were sitting around complaining about the ways of the world. The conversation eventually turned towards discussing how despite both of us having been born and raised in Rochester, NY, how neither one of us had ever bothered to visit any of the “cool looking” spiritual places of worship in the area, like St. Michael’s Church or St. Stanislaus Church…
Tags: Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Buffalo NY, Burned Over District, Church of Scientology, Hindu Temple of Rochester, John Humphrey Noyes, Lewiston NY, Luke Myer, religion, Rochester, Rochester NY, Second Great Awakening, St. Michael’s Church, The Oneida Community
Posted in Reader Submitted Stories, Rochester Destinations, Rochester History, Rochester Images | 4 Comments »
![\"RochesterSubway.com\"](\"https://rochestersubway.com/images/pixel_white.gif\"){kind=tracking}
