When I first moved to Rochester’s Swillburg neighborhood thirteen years ago, my favorite place to eat was Highland Park Diner. I remember this Rochester Landmarks poster, by Richard Margolis, hung over one of the booths there. I used to stare and study those landmarks all the while shoveling Aunt Bee’s Homestyle Meatloaf into my face. Ah, my first taste of Rochester. Today I own that poster, and I’ve now been to all but one of the 38 landmarks on it. It’s a great feeling!
Now you can get your hands on a copy of this Landmark poster from the RochesterSubway.com Gift Shop, and start checking them off your list too. Can you name all 38 landmarks? No peeking! The answers are after the jump…
Today’s Fun Foto Friday may not be very fun for rail fans and admirers of the old Hojack Swing Bridge near the Port of Rochester. This is an aerial photo of where the bridge used to be. The shot was taken just a few days ago, on January 14, by Bob Biakowski. Here’s what it looked like before it was dismantled…
The Portageville Bridge which carries the Norfolk Southern railroad over the Genesee River in Letchworth State Park was built in 1875 after a fire destroyed the former wooden bridge. The steel frame bridge, which towers over the river gorge and its waterfalls, has become a beloved feature of the park and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. But a 2008 inspection by Modjeski and Masters revealed structural deficiencies, and it was determined that the current bridge should either be rehabilitated or replaced. The question is what to do with the old bridge once a new one is built. State officials are now soliciting comments from the public on three different options…
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…
Just when I think I’ve done everything there is to do in Rochester, I discover another little hole in the wall. Literally. Check out these photos of what is unofficially known as “Rico Cave” near Lower Falls…
Greetings from Rochester! Lately you may have noticed lots of old images stuck to the sides of the buildings downtown. The images are actually larger reproductions of old postcards—some a century old—and they pay homage to the gorgeous buildings that once lined Rochester’s streets. For the past two years I’ve been collecting a lot of these same vintage postcards. I like to say “vintage” instead of “old” because most of them are new to me – plus I can’t imagine these incredible images ever getting old in the other sense of the word.
Well, I finally did it. It was a monumental task but now you can flip thru my entire collection of vintage Rochester postcard images right from your computer. All 178 views – scanned, uploaded, and labeled for your viewing pleasure…
I’ve never shared this with anyone before… but I have a disorder. I’m an excessive wallpaper changer. I’m in therapy (and doing a little self-medicating) but still, I have a hard time keeping one background graphic on my computer desktop for more than a day or two (at most). Maybe I have ADHD? Or maybe I just need a life. I CAN’T HELP IT! I just get bored staring at the same image for too long. I tear through so many wallpapers I’ve had to start making my own…
Recently we acquired this postcard (shown above) of the Rochester subway entrance at Court Street. And while I was reading up on the history of Rochester and the Erie Canal, I came across some pretty neat photos of downtown, the old canal, and later the construction of the Rochester Subway. These images say a thousand words so I’ll just start the slide show with this incredible panorama of Rochester from 1906…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway (the “subway”) was built in
its place as a link between the five different railroads and interurban trolley
lines that served the Rochester area. As the industrial landscape of Rochester
changed, and highways replaced the railroads, the Rochester subway gradually
became a relic of a bygone era. In 1956 the subway was abandoned and much of
its route was converted into Interstate 490 — built to connect Rochester
with the New York State Thruway (I-90). Read more about the history of the Rochester Subway.
RochesterSubway.com exists to help spark
public dialogue around how we can better connect the neighborhoods of Rochester
NY, surrounding communities, and their cultural offerings. Rochester’s
future is written in her past. Let's rediscover it.
![Rochester Landmarks Poster [IMAGE: Richard Margolis]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-landmarks-poster-richard-margolis.jpg)
![Old site of the Hojack Swing Bridge near the Port of Rochester. [AERIAL PHOTO: Bob Biakowski]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/Swing-Bridge-Aerial-Photo-Bob-Biakowski.jpg)
![The Portageville Bridge over Letchworth State Park looking south from the Middle/Upper Falls Picnic Area. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/letchworth-portageville-bridge-overlook.jpg)
![Rico Cave in the Genesee River gorge near Lower Falls. [Flickr PHOTO: bobbybeans]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-rico-cave-bobbybeans-1.jpg)
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