In 1870 Ellwanger & Barry (and other wealthy investors) owned a spot along the west bank of the Genesee River gorge known as Maple Grove. At the time, the Lake Avenue streetcar line stretched all the way to this point, and in an effort to stimulate traffic on the trolley line, they had built Rochester’s first water-side resort; the Glen House…
Posts Tagged ‘Genesee River Gorge’...

High Falls: A Waterfall, Within a Canyon, in the Heart of Our City
Wednesday, September 18th, 2013
By now you’ve probably heard of the GardenAerial project. But you may not be clear on the details. What is it? And why is it important? Benjamin Woelk is Associate Director of Administration & Community Engagement at GardenAerial. He recently gave a presentation at TEDxFlourCity where he explained how the GardenAerial project will reinvent our community by giving Rochester a “sustainable identity.”
Benjamin reminds us that we have a 96 foot tall waterfall… inside a canyon… in the middle of our city. High Falls has been here for millions of years. Yes it’s evolving; but it’s also been here longer than Kodak, Lilacs or Garbage Plates. Rochester began here. And as he correctly points out, this is a world-class site. Repeat it: A World. Class. Site.
Now watch the video and see how High Falls could be transformed into New York State’s first EcoDistrict, and a boon to our economy once again…
Tags: Benjamin Woelk, Brewers Square, GardenAerial, Genesee River, Genesee River Gorge, Genesee Riverway Trail, High Falls, Rochester Historic Brewery Square, TEDxFlourCity
Posted in Events, Rochester Destinations, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development, Video | 13 Comments »

Rochester May Have to Eat Crow
Monday, January 28th, 2013
Love’em or hate’em, these feathered Rochesterians may be here for the long haul. Last February the City and USDA used spotlights, pyrotechnics, lasers and recordings of distress calls to scare a pesky flock of crows out of Washington Square Park. But the birds came back. So, in December
City Council approved another $21,000 for crow removal and they tried it again. For now, Washington Square seems to be free and clear. But the family of roughly 40,000 didn’t move very far. In fact, they’re hiding in plain sight…
Tags: crows, flock of crows, Genesee River Gorge, High Falls, Rochester, Rochester NY
Posted in Rochester Images, Rochester News, Video | 8 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 | 12 Comments »
