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For much of its history, Rochester was one of the fastest growing cities in American society. During the 20th century, it became one of the most innovative urban areas in North America. Many people know that Rochester is home to major technology companies like Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb, but few realize that it has also been a major manufacturing hub that attracted waves of immigrants to the region from the early 1800s right through to the present. From flour milling to fine clothing, Rochester has been a productive powerhouse for nearly two centuries.

Bausch and Lomb Buildings on St. Paul Street

Rochester's industrial legacy began with the Erie Canal, a man-made river stretching from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal revolutionized American trade by making it easier and cheaper to transport raw goods and passengers between Eastern and Western regions. By the 1830s, nearly two dozen flour mills existed in Rochester, alongside a variety of other manufacturing outfits. Rochester was one of America’s great boomtowns. 

After the Civil War, a bevy of innovators made Rochester home, building industries that would define American high-tech far into the future. Perhaps the most famous figure in this regard was George Eastman, first worked in Rochester’s banking industry before experimenting with photography. By the 1880s, he established Kodak Corporation. Eastman’s success prompted other innovators to gravitate to Rochester, including the lens making company Bausch & Lomb.

Millinery class for senior normal students, Division B, at Mechanics Institute in 1908

Rochester’s economic growth relied partly on manufacturing trades, particularly in the garment industry. Much of the workforce was comprised of Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian and Jewish immigrants, who streamed to Rochester at the turn of the century. This set the stage for a series of public debates over civic identity and working conditions in Rochester. During the early 20th century, Rochester was one of the nation’s leading producers of men’s and women’s clothing, and the garment trade employed roughly 20% of the city workforce. Today that legacy continues in Hickey Freeman, a renowned men’s clothier based in Rochester.