Rochester has 123 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #39 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Dated to 1788 (Wikidata), with 54% of its homes built before 1940 and 32 historic districts holding 9,190 contributing buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, the census since 1810, and every listing on the Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1812.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rochester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rochester is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #39 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rochester’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Rochester ranks #24 on History.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rochester’s 440 sits above most of its state (91% of New York towns have fewer) while its 9,190 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1788.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Rochester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
East High SchoolschoolGenesee HospitalhospitalHolleder Memorial StadiumlocaleIola SanitariumhospitalMechanics InstituteschoolNorth Park Drive-InlocaleSilver Stadiumlocale
The Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy lived around Rochester prior to the American Revolution, and used the area as a hunting ground. Allied with the British, the Seneca were forced to cede or sell most of their land in New York after the war. The area now occupied by Rochester was ceded in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788. As a reward for their loyalty to the British crown, the Iroquois were given a large land grant on the Grand River in Canada.
Passages that mention Rochester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts1907 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
ure united. At a town meeting held June 4, 1700, "The inhabitance had before them the accompts of some of the chang that necessarily is coming and hath been in sd town of Rochester, and being sensable of the necessity of mony to be Received for a town stock or Treasury, the inhabitance voted that a Rat of thirty shillings be raised to defray the necessary chang arising in sd town of Rochester, in the year 1700."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts1907 · page 78Read the page →
Read the text
78 Mattapoisett and Old Rochester The second parish division in Old Rochester took place July 6, 1739, when the town of Wareham was incorporated. The same year a church was established there, consisting of thirty-three members dismissed from the First Church of Rochester.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Rochester, 1788 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rochester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Rochester sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rochester.
Every building
Rochester, building by building, 1892–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1788, according to Wikidata. Rochester’s post office opened in 1812, and the census of 1810 counted 1,001 people here.
How does Rochester rank for history?
Rochester is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #39 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Rochester?
123 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 84 buildings, among them the Susan B. Anthony House (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), 32 historic districts with 8,927 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 4 structures. 9,190 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Rochester?
54% of Rochester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (123), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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