-
The old and venerable Blossom Hotel stood on the north side of Main Street, near the corner of St. Paul Street. A respite for travelers along road or canal, the Blossom Hotel enjoyed a high profile reputation. Wamsley Brothers was comprised of Joseph, Thomas, and Edward Wamsley, milliners and silk merchants. The Wamsleys moved their…
-
In honor of the self-selected birthday of Frederick Douglass, I spent an agonizing amount of time digging into the history of his briefly-held home on Alexander Street. Long now lying as a parking lot, this unremarkable site on the west side of Alexander Street had a long history–much of which is quite difficult to piece…
-
Since last time we did the northeast corner of East Main Street and Culver, why not do the even more historic northwest corner, just across Culver Road. This started out as the very old and rustic farmstead of the Schanck family, a prominent pioneer family whose Brighton home was early gobbled up by Rochester’s eastward…
-
On the northeast corner of East Main and Culver, there is now a McDonald’s. Yes, classy, I know; that’s not the thrust of this article, though. What’s really in question, as per most Gonechester articles, is what came before, and how it came to be, in the end, a McDonald’s. At the outset of its…
·
-
This is a repost of the original 2025 post: [https://gonechester.com/2025/01/06/twelfth-night-bonfires/] Starting in the early 1930s, there was a revival in the celebration of Twelfth Night–or the twelfth day after Christmas–on January 6th by building a massive bonfire of old Christmas trees, wreaths, and laurels. An old custom, its renewal was inspired by local artist George…
-
If you’re a Rochesterian, there is one crucial aspect without which no picture of daily life is fully rendered; a familiar and frustrating piece of the Rochester experience that can’t be left aside. I’m speaking, naturally, of snow and its removal, which you may have gleaned from the title. Rochester has long been gifted with…
-
Last time we went into the history of one corner of East Main Street and Elm with the entry Before Midtown; let us now cross over Elm Street to another history-rich lot of land. Vaguely triangular in shape, this expensive lot of commercial real estate was once the site of Rochester’s most prominent homes. For…
-
The familiar present-day greenspace of Parcel 5 on East Main Street, between Cortland Street and Andrew Langston Way, was a commercial and recreational hotspot since the 1840s. While in living memory this space held McCurdy’s–and, notably, the Midtown Plaza of which McCurdy’s comprised a large part–that was but the most recent of the decades of…
-
Death is deep. Deeper, even, than the grave. Long after their lives have ended, the remains and memories of the dead are still in the care of the living–and often left to specific individuals. An immense amount of trust is placed in the hands of the grave-keepers and cemetery sextons; they are tasked with maintaining…
What is Gonechester?
The Gonechester blog pulls together sources to tell stories about people and places that once were part of Rochester, NY, but now are no longer with us. Photographs, newspaper articles, and primary documents are all included to paint a picture of these lost locations, and the people who lived and worked in them.
➼ Would you like to know a bit more? Check out Gonechester: A History.
Research & Resources
If you are interested in a glimpse at the Gonechester research process, or a list of the resources Gonechester uses in its research, this page has both! Follow along as Gonechester discovers the location of a mystery photo.
Landmark Society Award
The Gonechester blog has won a 2024 Special Commendation award from the Landmark Society of Western New York, for diligent and meticulous research regarding Rochester’s lost cultural and material heritage.
Supporting Gonechester
Buy me a coffee:
If you’ve enjoyed Gonechester and want to guarantee future posts, please consider donating a small amount to my crowdfunding page at buymeacoffee.com/Gonechester, to help cover hosting costs.
Purchase apparel:
Let everyone know how much you love Gonechester with a t-shirt, hoodie, or other outwardly-visible apparel! Check out numerous stylish options at https://www.bonfire.com/store/gonechester/!
Upcoming Presentations
Interested in having a Gonechester presentation at your library, historical society, or other location? Go to this page for more information.
➼I will be guest speaker at the 2026 Highland Park Conservancy Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 at 6:30 PM. I’ll be giving a new presentation, “Lost in Highland Park”, covering structures once in Highland Park lands and the people who lived in them.
➼I will be giving my presentation, “From Nurseries to Neighborhoods: The History of the East Main-Culver Area” at Rush Public Library on Wednesday, May 6th, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
➼I will be giving my presentation “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at the Mendon Community Center, 167 North Main Street, at 7:30 PM on Thursday, September 3rd, 2026.
For a list of previous presentations, go to this page.