This is the fourth and–for now–final installation in “Lost in Highland Park.” Originally commissioned by the Highland Park Conservancy, I presented on this topic at their annual meeting on April 29th, 2026, and have been posting the contents piecemeal via this blog. Part 1 can be accessed here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

The previous parts covered residences on Highland Avenue, and a double residence on Reservoir Avenue for the reservoir gatekeepers. In this installation, we visit the Administration Building, constructed in 1894 for offices, restrooms, and dining.

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The Administration Building

The Highland Park Administration Building began construction in 1894.

A two-story frame structure, the first floor would sit at the foot of the hill atop which the Children’s Pavilion had been built just a couple years previous. A stairwell would lead up the hill to the Pavilion.

The upper part of the administration building was first let to Mrs. Jacob Young for the sale of refreshments in 1895. From my research, that would be Elizabeth Fink, married surname Young; Though initially a farmer, Jacob A. Young seemed to have entered the restaurant business in Highland Park alongside his wife, until his death on January 31st, 1905. They also apparently lived in Highland Park, though which house was theirs I have yet to ascertain; they may even have had living quarters in the Administration Building itself.

Elizabeth would remarry to Sanford O. Boynton in 1916; she died at her home, No. 434 Averill Avenue, on January 21st, 1928.

And, just for the sake of completeness, Elizabeth Young Boynton’s former home at No. 434 Averill Avenue, in 1935 and in the present day:

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The Refectory

1908 saw a number of renovations and improvements to the second-floor refectory area of the Administration Building.

An entirely new addition was made to the building, more than doubling the available space in the administration building.

This 1911 postcard, entitled “Refectory, Highland Park” shows the improved Administration Building as it would have been seen looking northwestish from the Children’s Pavilion.  The Refectory was on the second floor, the floor visible in this postcard.  The additions to the building are visible as roofs behind the building; that secondary wing on the left would coincide with one of the table rooms.

Below, you can see blueprints for the Highland Park Refectory drafted in 1908; the whole building has been expanded dramatically, with two table rooms, a kitchen and pantry, soda fountain, service counters, and two large porches.

They were actually west of the Children’s Pavilion, not east.

A phoebe made its home in the support beams of the porch outside the Refectory during the years 1923 and 1924:

Another early proprietor of the Highland Park Refectory was Henry J. MacClurg, son of Alfred J. MacClurg. According to Alfred’s obituary, from 1900 to 1929 he ran the ice skating shelter and associated refectory at Genesee Valley Park. He lived in the residential part of the skate shelter and raised his family of five sons there, one of whom was Henry.

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The Herbarium

One of the purposes of the Administration Building was to house the Herbarium, which is a systematically arranged collection of dried, pressed, and labeled plant specimens used for scientific study. This was initiated by John Dunbar, reportedly around 1908.

Below, you can see a 1904 photo looking towards the north face of the administration buildings, the “back”. The Herbarium would have been conducted in the wing of the building indicated by the red arrow. This photo was from four years prior to the founding of the Herbarium.

One noteworthy feature of the Herbarium was the stand of cucumber trees, or Magnolia acuminata, that stood before it.

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James Bishop

One of the first park employees to take responsibility for the Herbarium after Dunbar’s term was James Bishop, a florist from Surrey, South East England. He had a large greenhouse known as Invicta Greenhouse at the corner of St. Paul Street and what is now called Whittier Park, at that time Harold Street.

James Bishop gave special attention to native flowers, and constructed a woods-like area by the Herbarium, complete with mossy rocks.

James Bishop’s remains were interred in Riverside Cemetery.

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W. L. G. Edson

Another Herbarium worker was William Lloyd Garrison Edson.

William Lloyd Garrison Edison died January 24th, 1962, and was interred in Pittsford Cemetery. He was followed into death about four years later by his wife, Josephine Gladys Zollman Edson.

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The Great Reduction

Though it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when, given a lack of newspaper publications about the act, at some point between 1910 and 1915 a smaller Refectory and restroom building was built at level with the hilltop, adjacent to the Children’s Pavilion. Oddly, it does not appear on the 1918 Plat Map, so the 1915 date may be incorrect.

Again, I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the 1915 estimate given by the Highland Park Conservancy for the above photo; as I said, it doesn’t appear on the 1918 Plat but who knows if that means anything.

With the new Refectory in place, the usefulness of the old Refectory in the Administration Building had ended. Parts of the Administration Building were removed, apparently piecemeal, until only the Herbarium section and a section for the Highland Park sign shop remained.

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The Sign Shop

Besides the Herbarium, another remainder of the removed Administration Building was the sign shop, where all the written warnings and labels and signs throughout the park were painted by hand.

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The Garden Center

The city purchased the Warner Castle in 1951: In 1952, the Castle would become the new home of the Highland Park Herbarium.

After the Herbarium was removed to the Warner Castle, The Garden Center of Rochester occupied the former Herbarium space. 

As of the winter of 1956, the building was the home of a skunk, which the D&C jokes should be named “Flower”.  The skunk was apparently quick to use its stinky spray to defend its chosen den, making its removal from the premises difficult.

The Garden Center would remain at the old Herbarium until 1964, when they once again moved, this time also occupying the Warner Castle in which the Herbarium previously resided. That collection had moved to the new Parks Department offices at No. 375 Westfall Road.

According to the below, the old Herbarium building in Highland Park was demolished some time after 1964 and before 1970.

With that, I draw this series to a close–for now. There’s plenty more about Highland Park’s past that I touched briefly upon during “Lost in Highland Park”, and I fully intend to come back with future submissions regarding those structures as well. But I’d like to get back to some other areas of Rochester.

Thanks for getting lost in Highland Park with me, but in the end I’m glad we found our way out!

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