One would think that a city like Chicago or Pittsburgh would have been the first American boomtown, but in reality the title is held by none other than Rochester NY.This tract was purchased in 1803 by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, for whom Rochester NY is named, Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh, Jr. largely because the cataracts of the Genesee River had the potential for generating a great deal of water power. The flour mills from which the city would earn its first nickname were eventually to take full advantage of this water power. After surveying began in 1811, streets and roads were laid out, and in 1817 other area landowners joined their holdings with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the Village of Rochesterville. Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County, New York by 1821 and was rechartered as a city under the shortened name of Rochester in 1834.
The Erie Canal Aqueduct, at the site of the modern day Broad Street Bridge in downtown Rochester NY, was built in 1823 to direct the waters of the newly constructed Erie Canal over the Genesee River. The Erie Canal now connected Rochester to all points east and west. Having grown to the largest flour producing city in the United States by 1838, Rochester NY became known as the Flour City. Its population had also doubled by that time, making Rochester the first boomtown of the United States. As the wheat producing industry moved further west during the nineteenth century, Rochester NY soon was referred to as the Flower City in reference to the numerous nurseries that grew up around the city.The region saw its own Industrial Revolution after the Civil War. Giants such as the Eastman Kodak Company and Bausch and Lomb were founded during this time.The Gannett newspaper conglomerate and Western Union also had their start in Rochester NY. The prominence of imaging and optical science among local universities and companies in response to a regional decline in manufacturing has given Rochester its modern nickname as The Worlds Image Centre.
With its rich history of entrepreneurship and adaptation to change, Rochester NY is poised to weather any economic storm. The region has much to offer. You will not be disappointed.