Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area. Known as The World's Image Centre , it was also once known as The Flour City , and more recently as The Flower City . It is the county seat for Monroe County.
Rochester's population is approximately 219,773 , making it New York's third most populous city. It is at the center of a larger Metropolitan Area which encompasses and extends beyond Monroe County and includes Genesee County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Orleans County and Wayne County. This area, which is part of the Western New York region, had a population of 1,037,831 people at the time of the 2000 Census. As of 1 July 2005, this population rose slightly, to 1,039,028.
Rochester was ranked as the sixth 'most livable city' among 379 U.S. metropolitan areas in the 25th edition (2007) of the Places Rated Almanac. The Rochester area also received the top ranking for overall quality of life among U.S. metros with populations of more than 1 million in a 2007 study by Expansion Management magazine. In the same study, Expansion Management rated the area's public schools as sixth best nationwide.
The current mayor of Rochester is Robert Duffy, who was previously the city's police chief.
Founding and early history
Main article: History of Rochester, New YorkOn November 8 , 1803 , a 100 acre (ca. 40 ha) tract in Western New York along the Genesee River was purchased by Col. Nathaniel Rochester, Maj. Charles Carroll, and Col. William Fitzhugh, Jr. (1761-1839), all of Hagerstown, Maryland. The site was chosen because of three cataracts on the Genesee, offering great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville.
By 1821, Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County. In 1823, Rochesterville consisted of 1,012 acres (4 km 2 ) and 2,500 residents, and the Village of Rochesterville became known as Rochester. Also in 1823, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, and the Erie Canal east to the Hudson River was opened. In the early 20th century, after the advent of railroads, the presence of the canal in the center city became bothersome, and it was re-routed south of Rochester. By 1830, Rochester's population was 9,200 and in 1834, it was re-chartered as a city.
Rochester was first known as "The Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, Rochester was the largest flour-producing city in the United States. Having doubled its population in only ten years, Rochester became America's first "boomtown." By the mid-nineteenth century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west, the city became home to a booming nursery business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the "Flower City." Large and small nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was the one started by German immigrant George Ellwanger and Irish immigrant Patrick Barry in 1840.
In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded the abolitionist newspaper The North Star in Rochester. Douglass, a former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. The North Star served as a forum for abolitionist views. The Douglass home burnt down in 1872 , but a marker for it can be found in Highland Park off South Avenue. The city was also home to abolitionist and women's rights leader Susan B. Anthony. Anarchist Emma Goldman also lived and worked in Rochester for several years, championing the cause of labor in Rochester sweatshops.
Rochester experienced another period of renewed industrial activity in the post-Civil War years. It is in these years that companies like Eastman Kodak and Bausch & Lomb were founded in the city. This boom continued into the early twentieth century, when Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was home of enterprises such as Bond Clothing Stores, Fashion Park Clothes, Hickey Freeman, and Stein-Bloch & Co.. It was home to the pioneer automobile company Cunningham, produced by carriage maker James Cunningham and Sons.
The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, population had reached a high of 332,488. It declined to 219,773 by 2000.
Geography and climate
Rochester is at 43°9′56″N 77°36′41″W / 43.16556°N 77.61139°W / 43.16556; -77.61139 (43.165496, -77.611504). The city is east of Buffalo, west of Syracuse and sits on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The Genesee River bisects the city.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1 square miles (96.1 km 2 ), of which, 35.8 square miles (92.7 km 2 ) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km 2 ) of it (3.42%) is water.
Rochester's geography comes from the ice sheets during the Pleistocene epoch. The retreating ice sheets reached a standstill at what is now the southern border of the city, melting at the same rate as they were advancing, depositing sediment along the southern edge of the ice mass. This created a line of hills, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill, and Cobb's Hill. Because the sediment of these hills was deposited into a proglacial lake they are stratified and classified as a "kame delta." A brief retreat and readvance of the ice sheet onto the delta piled unstratified (moraine) material there, creating a rare hybrid structure called a "kame moraine."
The ice sheets also left behind Lake Ontario (one of the five fresh-water Great Lakes), the Genesee River with its waterfalls and gorges, Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, Braddock Bay, Mendon Ponds, numerous local streams and ponds, the Ridge, and the nearby Finger Lakes.
According to the City of Rochester, the city has 537 miles (864 km) of public streets, 585 miles (941 km) of water mains, 44 vehicular and eight pedestrian bridges, 11 public libraries, two police stations (one for the east side, one for the west), and 16 fire stations. The principal source of water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is owned by the city. Other water sources are Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. The 30-year annual average snowfall is 95.0 inches (241 cm) The mean July temperature is 71.3 ℉ (21.8 ℃), and the mean February temperature is 23.6 ℉ (−4.7 ℃).
Rochester lies in the Humid continental climate zone, and has four distinct seasons, with often cold and snowy winters. Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, and summer sees comfortable temperatures that usually stay in the low to mid 80s (upper 20s Celsius) and it can be quite humid. Precipitation is plentiful year round.
Demographics
According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates, the city's population was 50.3% White (41.0% non-Hispanic White alone), 43.2% Black or African American (39.9% non-Hispanic Black or African American alone), 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.3% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 5.4% from some other race and 3.0% from two or more races. 13.6% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
In the census of 2000, there were 219,773 people (206,759 estimated as of 2007), 88,999 households, and 47,169 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,132.9 people per square mile (2,368.3/km²). There were 99,789 housing units at an average density of 2,784.7/sq mi (1,075.3/km²). The racial makeup was 48.30% White, 38.55% African American, 0.47% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 6.58% from other races, and 3.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.75% of the population. Ancestries include: German (10.9%), Italian (10.0%), Irish (9.6%), English (5.8%), and Polish (2.7%).
Rochester has the largest per capita deaf population in the United States. Rochester is home to internationally recognized programs for the deaf at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (part of the Rochester Institute of Technology) and at the University of Rochester.
There were 88,999 households of which 30.0% had children under 18 living with them, 25.1% were married couples living together, 23.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.0% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individual
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