Rochester Master Plan Update 2023
How Well Do You Know Rochester?
Historic Resources
How many of the places (below) can you identify? Move your mouse over the image to reveal its location. Click on the image for a larger view.
How Well Do You Know Rochester?
Public Art Installations
The number of public art installations in Rochester has seen unprecedented growth during the last several years.
How many of these (below) do you recognize? Have another look. Move your mouse over the image to reveal the name of the artist and the installation’s location. Click on the image for a larger view. Then go out and see them in person. Matt Wyatt, Rochester’s Public Information & Community Engagement Manager, has created an interactive online map to assist you finding the city’s public art.
How Well Do You Know Rochester?
How has the City Center Changed Since 1877?
Compare the Birds’ Eye View below with the adjacent 2022 aerial photo. Click on them for a larger view. Can you see what has changed? Some of the buildings depicted in the 1877 map are still with us today. These include the Methodist Church (#9), the Wyandotte Mill (#16), Ainslie’s (10 South Main), the Snow Block (26 North Main), and 44 North Main Street. Can you spot the others?
The Correct Answer
to the Bonus Trivia Question on the
Cultural & Historic Resource Survey
The correct answer is Portland Street. In 1913, fugitive Harry K. Thaw ran out of gas in front of this farmhouse at the corner of Portland Street and Salmon Falls Road (below). From that point on, things went from bad to worse for Harry. He ended up in the luxury wing of a New York City jail.
Be sure to have a look at the Rochester Historical Society’s excellent video series on local history. Here is a link to their 6-minute video on Harry K. Thaw’s fateful visit to Rochester.
If you haven’t yet taken the surveys, click here for Cultural & Historic Resources, and here for Natural Resources.
A Birds' Eye View in 1877
The illustrated map (segment) to the right is an example of a genre that was popular in the New Hampshire during the last quarter of the 19th Century. These artistically rendered maps portrayed the city as though viewed from above, and were intended to convey a visual story about the community. This map dates to 1877, and is preserved at the Library of Congress.
Note the three railroad depots depicted here, numbered 5, 6 & 7. At the time, Rochester was served by four railroad companies: the Nashua & Rochester; the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway; the Eastern; and the Boston & Maine. Forty or more trains stopped in Rochester daily.
How many of the places can you identify below? Click on the images for a larger view.
