Time moves ever forward at an inexorable pace. Long before the internet, long before the atomic clock and even a bit before the quartz clock, these mechanical marvels ticked away the seconds through the sheer wizardry of cogs and sprockets. Standing proudly on pedestals beside the street, or clinging to the corners of great banking establishments, these timekeepers displayed the hour–accurate or no–for sundry passers-by to reference and adjust their watches.

Downtown, with its many financial institutions and offices, was home to many of these timepieces throughout the years. Let’s take a look.

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The Powers Clock

Outside of the famous and fabulous Powers Building on the northwest corner of Main Street and State Street, Daniel Powers had a pedestal clock installed around 1870. The clock stood outside the State Street entrance.

The above photograph seems to be during the installation of the clock; the bezel has been installed upon the post but there is not yet a face inside of it.

For much of its existence, the clock was associated with the jewelry shop of Henry and David Rosenberg. Previously at No. 37 Buffalo Street, the Rosenbergs rented a storefront in the new Powers Building before it was even complete, where they moved their business in 1869.

As of 1902, the former Rosenberg jeweler’s storefront was occupied by Louis Phaler in the capacity of a barber shop.

Later on, he would bring his son Walter into the business, making it Louis Phaler & Son Barber Shop.

Phaler altered the signage on the clock on the curb to read “LOUIS PHALER”.

Louis Phaler’s parents, Johann Gottlieb Pfahler and Johanna Susanna Schieß Pfahler, emigrated from Germany; Johann died in 1860, leaving Johanna to raise their sons Louis, then 4, and Henry, then 8.

As you can see above, the Phaler surname was spelt “Pfahler”, which was an Anglicization of the German surname Pfäler, which was apparently altered even further to become “Phaler”.

The above home was built in 1874, a year before the 1875 map on which it first appeared; apparently at one point Louis Phaler had the house rotated to front on Child versus Wilder Street.

Is it disrespectful to say the dude gave off a Mr. Feeny vibe?

Louis’s son, Walter, operated the barbershop until he moved his business to No. 6 North Fitzhugh Street in 1946.

In 1929, State Street between Main and Commercial streets was paved with asphalt as part of a massive push to improve Rochester’s streets; curb alterations resulted in the demolition of the old clock:

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The Western Union Clock

Out in front of the Reynolds Arcade, birthplace of Western Union, stood a pedestal clock branded with the telegraph company’s name:

The clock was briefly removed from out front in 1932 during the process of tearing down the original Reynold’s Arcade and building the new one. It would be replaced, after the new building was completed.

In late 1943 or early 1944, the clock was struck by a trailer truck and out of commission for many months, but was restored and put back into place.

The below photo of the clock outside the Lincoln Rochester Trust Company office shows the Western Union clock in front of the refurbished Reynold’s Arcade in 1953, indicated by the left arrow:

The right arrow indicates the far-off C. S. Forsythe clock in front of Nos. 37 and 39 East Main Street, which we’ll cover later.

A new clock was installed in the spot, sometime in October or November of 1958. Its two faces apparently did not agree with one another for some time, until a final synchronization with the Naval Observatory could be made.

The replacement clock was a square, two-faced pedestal clock with a sign on top reading “WESTERN UNION”, as can be seen in the sources below:

The clock can be seen from the side in the below 1981 photo:

By 1983, the Genesee Savings Bank in the Arcade was acquired by Buffalo Savings Bank, which changed its name to Goldome. A Goldome sign was placed atop the old clock in place of the Western Union sign in 1984.

The First National Bank clock-sign, pictured in both the above and below articles, is still extant and attached to No. 35 State Street.

Above, this article is the last visual evidence I have of the clock in front of the Arcade. When it was finally removed, I cannot be sure given the information I’ve found so far.

What happened after? Well, in 1991 KeyCorp acquired Goldome’s Rochester branches after the latter bank went under. The Goldome branch at Reynold’s Arcade became a Key Bank.

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The Wheeler & Wilson Clock

This section contains much information that is also shared in the post about Nos. 37 and 39 East Main Street, so click there for more in-depth information about the buildings this clock stood in front of.

This clock was installed by Wheeler & Wilson, a prominent Four Corners pawnbroker.

The above photograph is from History and Commerce of Rochester, published in 1892. While the buildings are not visible in the photograph, the clock reading “WHEELER & WILSON, PAWN BROKERS” is present to the left.

The clock would have been nearly brand-new in the image, having been installed in May of 1890.

The ornate two-dial street clock was created by the Seth Thomas Clock Company in Thomaston, Connecticut.

For many decades, the distinctive clock would be central to advertising the location. “At the Sign of the Clock” was where J. C. Wilson Co. could be found, No. 39 East Main Street, second floor.

Apparently some sixteen to eighteen feet tall, the imposing clock was a black face in a black bezel mounted atop what seems to be a six-foot wrought-iron pillar upon a five-foot rectangular plinth. The frame of the east face of the clock bore the words “J. C. WILSON CO.” at top, the address “39” at the three- and nine-o’clock positions, and “JEWELERS” at the bottom. The west face was the same save for the words “DIAMONDS, WATCHES” at the bottom. The numerals were Roman. An ornamental finial topped it off.

The above photograph found on flourcitypost.com shows the clock to the left, with J. C. Wilson Co. Jewelers branding.

The above shot of the base of the clock reveals the little door for servicing the timepiece, as well as a sign reading “DIAMONDS | WATCHES | JEWELRY | SILVERWARE…” and then several more I’m unable to read.

The above photograph by photography pioneer Charles C. Zoller shows the J. C. Wilson Co. clock, center, set against the Powers Building. Also visible are the two tiers of pawnbroker’s balls, sets of three golden balls which traditionally serve as an occupational symbol and signage for pawnbrokers.

At some date prior to 1941, the clock had been replaced with a more modern design bearing brand signage for C. S. Forsythe Jewelry Co. The clock had a white face in a black bezel atop a column. The numerals were in Arabic numerals instead of Roman numerals.

Below, the final piece of visual evidence of the Columbia Banking clock:

By the next Google Maps update in 2022, the clock was gone, and the pavement in front of No. 31 East Main Street was redone.

As of 2024, a four-faced pedestal clock with Canandaigua National Bank & Trust branding stands outside No. 31 East Main Street.

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Rochester Trust Clock

On the southeast corner of East Main and Exchange streets, a box-shaped bracket clock clung to the corner of the old Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company building.

Presumably everything went through without a hitch and the clock was installed around August of 1952, for it appears in the following photograph from the D&C in 1953:

Eight years before 1963 would have been 1955; however, there is an article above about the clock being installed in 1952, a full eleven years before. Just saying, am I the only one fact-checking around here?

The clock was taken down and moved to what was then a branch of Lincoln Rochester, No. 1755 Monroe Avenue.

Another old Rochester Trust clock remains on the corner of Market and Pine Streets in Corning, NY:

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Merchants Bank Clock

Mounted to the exterior wall of the Merchants Bank of Rochester building on the corner of East Main Street and South Avenue, was a box-shaped four-dial bracket clock, most likely built by the O. B. McClintock Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Exactly when it was installed is difficult to pin down, but it was necessarily before 1920 as that is the earliest reference made to it. It is also not present in a 1914 photograph of the building’s corner, which limits the range of its installation to period of six years between 1914 and 1920.

The clock made for a convenient pre-arranged meeting spot.

During a “freakish gale” of 50mph winds on April 20, 1928, the clock was blown from its anchors and smashed on the ground:

Given the 1927 consolidation of The Merchants Bank of Rochester with the Union Trust Co., I doubt there was the opportunity or even the reason to reinstall the clock. The location at East Main Street and South Avenue stayed open as the Merchants branch of the Union Trust Co. By 1930 the ground floor was home to The Clothing Market.

After the building was demolished, a new one was built in its place; Rudolph’s jewelers moved in to the ground floor of the new business space.

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Tempus Fugit

Time brought this handful of clocks down, as it does all things. But to me there’s something specifically ironic about timekeeping devices succumbing to history: through the years, these clocks ticked off the seconds between their creation and their demise. A form of rote, mechanical self-awareness, these clocks did not fear the end.

To the contrary, they chimed happily each passing hour.

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