27 Sights in Rochester, United States (with Map and Images)

The Rundel Memorial Building is a historic library building located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It is the original downtown site of the Rochester Public Library, and along with the Bausch & Lomb Library Building directly across the street, serves as the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County. It is framed in reinforced concrete and faced in smooth Indiana limestone. It consists of three main floors, a mezzanine, two underground levels, a catwalk level above the river, and a penthouse area for equipment. It was constructed between 1934 and 1936, and represents an integration of Beaux-Arts planning and massing with Art Deco detailing and stylization. The building is sited along the east side of the Genesee River directly above the Johnson and Seymour millrace and Rochester Subway. The building was built in part with monies from the estate of Morton W. Rundel and with a grant from the Public Works Administration.

Wikipedia: Rundel Memorial Library (EN), Website

The Times Square Building is an Art Deco skyscraper designed by Ralph Thomas Walker of the firm Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker located in Rochester, New York, United States. At 260 feet (79 m), it is the eighth-tallest building in Rochester, with 14 floors. The former Genesee Valley Trust Building is a streamlined twelve-story building supporting four aluminum wings 42 feet (13 m) high, known as the "Wings of Progress", each weighing 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg). These structures are among the most distinctive features of the Rochester skyline. The trompe-l’oeil style is used for the decor throughout the building's interior and features various depictions of stylized wheat in reference to Rochester's presence as "the flour city". The building originally hosted a Depression era mural by Carl William Peters (1897-1980) on exhibit from its opening that was later destroyed.

Wikipedia: Times Square Building (Rochester) (EN)

The Rochester Contemporary Art Center is a non-profit art center located in Rochester, New York's East End District. The art center is a venue for the exchange of ideas and a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that was founded in 1977. As a center for contemporary art, it provides encounters for audiences and opportunities for artists. The center exhibits and supports contemporary art of all forms and is well known for its annual 6x6 exhibition. The art center is also known for its popular Makers & Mentors Exhibitions, which combines notable educators with their current and former students. The State of the City exhibitions focus on new urbanism and feature artists from across the region. The organization hosts numerous other curated group exhibitions, collaborations with arts organizations of all kinds, and community-based projects.

Wikipedia: Rochester Contemporary Art Center (EN), Website

The Taft Farmstead is a historic farm located west of Rochester, Sangamon County, Illinois. Established in the early 20th century, the farm is one of the few intact farmsteads from the period which was not a renovation of an earlier farm. The farm's Classical Revival farmhouse, which dates from 1912, is representative of the spread of individualized architecture to farms; its design includes two-story Doric columns along the front porch and a pyramidal roof with a pediment-like dormer in front. The farm's main barn, a wooden structure used for livestock, was built in 1906. The farm also includes two additional barns, a grain shed, a chicken coop, an outhouse, and a garage.

Wikipedia: Taft Farmstead (EN)

Rochester City Hall is a historic government building in Rochester in Monroe County, New York. Also known as the Federal Building and Old Post Office, the building was originally built for use by the federal government. It is a four-story, Richardsonian Romanesque style structure with an inner court and tower. It was built between 1885 and 1889 of heavy brown sandstone with a metal skeleton. It was expanded in 1893 and in 1907. The building was designed in part by architect Harvey Ellis under the Office of the Supervising Architect Mifflin E. Bell. The building has served as the City Hall since the 1970s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Wikipedia: Rochester City Hall (New York) (EN)

Erie Canal: Second Genesee Aqueduct, also known as the Broad Street Aqueduct or Broad Street Bridge, is a historic stone aqueduct located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It was constructed in 1836–1842 and originally carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River. The overall length of the aqueduct including the wings and abutments is 800 feet (240 m). The aqueduct is 70 feet (21 m) wide and has large parapets on either side. It is one of four major aqueducts in the mid-19th century Erie Canal system. In 1927, a roadbed was added to carry automobile traffic and named Broad Street. It also carried a part of the Rochester Subway.

Wikipedia: Broad Street Bridge (Rochester, New York) (EN)

The Temple Building is the name of a high-rise building located in Rochester, New York, United States. Standing at 218 feet (66 m), it is the eleventh-tallest building in Rochester. In the early 1920's, Reverend Clinton Wunder, Pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Rochester, NY, convinced his congregation to build the Temple Building. The parish had outgrown their existing church. Wunder thought that a nine-story building would become an economic engine for the Church's mission. Eventually the plans changed to a fourteen-story building. Many in the congregation thought that it was unwise to build a fourteen-story "Skyscraper Church."

Wikipedia: Temple Building (Rochester, New York) (EN)

The Mayo Building is the main center of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. When the original 10-story Mayo Building was completed in 1955 by designers of Ellerbe & Co., it had been the largest construction project undertaken by Mayo. The Mayo Clinic features artwork by many famous artists such as Andy Warhol. Floors hold patient care offices as well administrative offices. The physical shape of each floor is that of a greek cross when viewed from above, though now that it has conjoined with the Gonda Building since 2001, the shape is not as recognizable.

Wikipedia: Mayo Building (Rochester, Minnesota) (EN)

The Pont De Rennes bridge is located in the Brown's Race Historic District of Rochester New York at the base of the High Falls where it spans the Genesee River. The Pont De Rennes bridge formerly carried Platt Street over the river but was converted to pedestrian use in 1982 as part of a redevelopment of the High Falls area as an entertainment area. The bridge was renamed the Pont De Rennes for Rochester's sister city Rennes in France as part of the conversion. The Pont De Rennes bridge provides unobstructed views of the High Falls and downstream gorge.

Wikipedia: Pont De Rennes bridge (EN)

The Joseph Ross House is a historic house located at 5200 Passfield Road in Rochester, Illinois. Joseph Ross built the two-story Italianate house in 1868. The brick house has an L-shaped plan with a low hip roof. Two porches run along the house, one at the front entrance and one along the rear ell. A bracketed and dentillated cornice, the house's main decorative feature and a key element of the Italianate style, encircles the roof line. The house is the best-preserved brick Italianate house in the Rochester vicinity.

Wikipedia: Joseph Ross House (EN)

The Eastman Dental Dispensary was constructed between 1915 and 1917 in the Italian Renaissance architectural style by architects Gordon, Madden, and Kaelber. It was built as a free dental dispensary to serve the community of Rochester, New York, later expanding into throat and nose diseases. It fell into a state of disrepair after sitting vacant for close to four decades. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Wikipedia: Eastman Dental Dispensary (EN)

The First Unitarian Church of Rochester is located at 220 Winton Road South in Rochester, New York, U.S. The congregation is one of the largest in its denomination, the Unitarian Universalist Association. The non-creedal church conducts programs in the areas of spirituality, social concerns, music, and arts. This church is one of two Unitarian Universalist congregations in Monroe County, the other being First Universalist Church of Rochester.

Wikipedia: First Unitarian Church of Rochester (EN), Website

George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he patented and sold a roll film camera, making amateur photography accessible to the general public for the first time. Working as the treasurer and later president of Kodak, he oversaw the expansion of the company and the film industry.

Wikipedia: George Eastman (EN)

Lehigh Valley Railroad Station is a historic railway station located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. The Lehigh Valley Railroad built the station in 1905 but stopped using the station for passenger service in the 1950s. Later the station was used as a bus terminal and then as a night club. In the 1980s the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and today it houses the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant.

Wikipedia: Lehigh Valley Railroad Station (Rochester, New York) (EN)

The First Universalist Church is a historic Universalist church building located at 150 S. Clinton Ave. in Rochester, New York. Construction began in September 1907 and was dedicated in October 1908. First Universalist Church is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association and is one of two Unitarian Universalist congregations in Monroe County, New York; the other being the First Unitarian Church of Rochester.

Wikipedia: First Universalist Church (Rochester, New York) (EN), Website

The Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) is a museum in Rochester, New York, dedicated to community education in science, technology and local history. The museum also operates the Strasenburgh Planetarium, located next to the museum, and the Cumming Nature Center, a 900-acre (3.6 km2) nature preserve near Naples, New York. The museum resides at 657 East Ave. and has a collection of 1.2 million artifacts.

Wikipedia: Rochester Museum and Science Center (EN), Website

Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of the U.S. state of New York, along Lake Ontario's southern shore. As of 2022, the population was 752,035, according to Census Bureau estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Rochester. The county is named after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States. Monroe County is part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Wikipedia: Monroe County, New York (EN)

Asbury First United Methodist Church is located on East Avenue in Rochester, New York, United States. It traces its heritage to several Rochester congregations dating back to the 1820s. In its current form, it is the result of a 1934 merger of First Church and Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church. With a congregation of 2,300 people, it is the largest United Methodist church in the Rochester area.

Wikipedia: Asbury First United Methodist Church (EN), Website

The Strong National Museum of Play is part of The Strong in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1969 and initially based on the personal collection of Rochester native Margaret Woodbury Strong, the museum opened to the public in 1982, after several years of planning, cataloguing, and exhibition development for the museum's new building in downtown Rochester.

Wikipedia: The Strong National Museum of Play (EN), Website

Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard. The Center has full seasons of programming, in addition to discussions based on plays and staged readings, and community outreach.

Wikipedia: Geva Theatre Center (EN)

The Memorial Art Gallery is a civic art museum in Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus. It is a focal point of fine arts activity in the region and hosts the biennial Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition and the annual Clothesline Festival.

Wikipedia: Memorial Art Gallery (EN), Website

Gannett Building is a historic industrial and commercial building located in Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It is a Classical Revival style structure constructed in 1927, with four major later additions. It was built to house the consolidated offices and newspaper printing facilities for the internationally prominent Gannett Newspapers chain.

Wikipedia: Gannett Building (EN)

The Charlotte–Genesee Lighthouse is an 1822 stone octagonal lighthouse in the Charlotte neighborhood in northern Rochester, New York, United States. The 40 ft (12 m) tower is located on Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Genesee River. It originally had 10 whale oil Argand lamps, which were replaced with a Fresnel lens in 1853.

Wikipedia: Charlotte–Genesee Lighthouse (EN)

Andrews Street Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It was designed by city engineer J. Y. McClintock, constructed in 1893, and spans the Genesee River. It has seven segmental arches with spans of 36 feet and rises of nine feet.

Wikipedia: Andrews Street Bridge (EN)

The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York.

Wikipedia: George Eastman Museum (EN), Website

Main Street Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York. It was constructed in 1857 and spans the Genesee River. It has five segmental arches with spans of 30 to 42 feet and rises of 8–11.5 feet (2.4–3.5 m).

Wikipedia: Main Street Bridge (Rochester, New York) (EN)

The Rochester Zen Center (RZC) is a Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha in the Kapleau lineage, located in Rochester, New York and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States.

Wikipedia: Rochester Zen Center (EN), Website