ROCHESTER, a town of the United States of North America, in the state of New York, on both sides of the Genesee, 7 miles above its mouth, in Lake Ontario, and 230 W. by N. of Albany. It is built on level ground, with broad, straight, well-paved streets, the principal of which
run from E. to W. through the middle of the town. The houses are for the most part built of limestone or brick; many of them are surrounded with gardens; and the streets are generally lined with rows of trees. The court-house and city-hall, a large and handsome edifice, with a granite front; the arcade, a fine building partly occupied by the post-office; the western house of refuge for juvenile delinquents, a large brick structure; the university buildings, as well as many handsome churches of different sects, form the most conspicuous ornaments of the town. The university of Rochester, founded in 1850, is under the direction of the Baptists, and had in 1857, 8 professors, 165 students, and a library of 5200 volumes. There is also a Baptist theological seminary, containing in 1856-7, 3 professors and 36 students. The town has numerous schools, an athenæum, two orphan hospitals, and other benevolent institutions. Several newspapers and other periodicals are published. The prosperity of the place must chiefly be ascribed to the great amount of water-power within reach; for the Genesee descends within a short distance by three cataracts and two rapids, in all 373 feet; and the inhabitants have not been slow to make use of these advantages. The chief establishments are flour-mills, which are perhaps the most extensive in the United States, and produced in 1852, 538,680 barrels of flour. Machinery, cutlery, iron, leather, cloth, paper, and other articles are also made here. The town is remarkable for the extent of its fruit nurseries. The Erie Canal, which traverses the centre of the town, and crosses the river on an aqueduct of stone, extends westward to the lake of the same name; and the Genesee Valley Canal opens up communication with the south. The steam-boat navigation, which extends on the river to within 2 miles of the town, and the several railways which diverge from it, increase the facilities for commerce that Rochester possesses. The shipping of the district, June 30, 1852, had an aggregate tonnage of 686 enrolled and licensed, of which 429 tons belonged to steamers. During the year ending on that day there entered (exclusive of canal navigation) 264 vessels, with a tonnage of 38,903; and there cleared 200, tonnage 33,027. Rochester was first settled in 1812, and received its charter in 1834. Pop. (1850) 36,403; (1853) about 42,000.