Gonechester: A History

My name is Geoffrey Zeiner, and I am the author of the blog Gonechester, at Gonechester.com.

I have had an interest in the history of Rochester and its streets and buildings for a very long time; as a sixth-generation Rochesterian, I was made aware of my family’s history in the city from an early age. Since the 1870s, the Zeiner side of my family worked as everything from ragpickers to cabinetmakers, cigar-box makers to sausage-makers, policemen to brass polishers, and so on. A later addition, the O’Brien side of my family provided the city with prominent pharmacists and a corner drugstore still mired in the memories of many children since grown old.

[For more about my family history, check out “The Zeiner Story“.]

Combine an interest in what came before with a love of maps and a love of architecture, I soon found myself poring over the detailed plat maps of Rochester at times past. When I found disappeared structures, I spent much time trying to find visual depictions: engravings, photos, even early Google Maps. Before I knew it, I was possessed of numerous documents containing everything I’d discovered about numerous places of interest.

Like, extremely numerous. I have so many documents. So, what to do with them? My wife suggested I make a blog, which I was certain nobody would be interested in. Turns out that, once again, she knew better than I did; Gonechester received immediate interest and recognition. I really had ought to listen to her more often.

2023

Gonechester’s first post was on June 13th, 2023, entitled “The Burkhard Place Schism“.

Gonechester posted roughly once weekly to begin with, mostly to get through the backlog of documents. As posts became more in-depth and detailed, the posting changed to [again, roughly] fortnightly, with exceptions for longer posts, difficulty in completion due to personal scheduling issues, or because of arbitrary reasons which I command as would a tempestuous deity.

2024

Gonechester celebrated its first anniversary on June 13th, 2024.

In October of 2024, I was featured in the R.E.P.O.R.T.S. section of City Magazine:

City Magazine October, 2024
https://issuu.com/roccitynews/docs/cn_october_2024_web

On November 17, 2024, Gonechester won a special commendation award from the Landmark Society of Western New York. This honestly came out of the blue for me; apparently, I had a couple fans among the Society.

2025

I gave my first in-person presentation at the Pittsford Community Library on Saturday, January 4th, 2025. It was entitled “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” and took an historical tour of Main Street between State Street, Front Street, Graves Street and Exchange Street. Gonechester and this presentation were featured on Spectrum News.

My second presentation at Pittsford Community Library was on Saturday, March 1st, 2025. It was entitled “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” and it concerned the Main Street Bridge throughout history, and some of the buildings which used to be built along the sides.

*Geoffrey Zeiner presenting “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at Pittsford Community Library.*
Courtesy Day Trips Around Rochester

I gave a repeat presentation of “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at the Greece Historical Society on Sunday, April 13th, 2025. There is a recorded version of this presentation available for viewing on Youtube below. [Note that this presentation has changed significantly from its time of recording, and any future presentations of “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” will differ in many regards to the below recording.]

https://youtu.be/Vzgym89q7xg?si=_Ydqp1D-a5WoE08r

I gave a presentation for the NEMNU Neighborhood Association on Monday, April 21st, 2025. It concerned the history of the NEMNU neighborhood area and some of the people whose names ended up on street signs.

I gave my presentation “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at the Parma Public Library, Monday, May 5th, 2025 at 6:30 PM.

I gave my presentation “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at the Penfield Public Library, Sunday, May 18th, 2025 at 2:00 PM.

I gave my presentation “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at the Chili Public Library, Thursday, June 12th, 2025, at 6:30 PM.

Gonechester celebrated its second anniversary on June 13th, 2025.

I gave my presentation “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at the Webster Public Library, Saturday, June 14th, 2025 at 2:00 PM.

I gave my presentation “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at Immanuel Lutheran Church for their “Wellness on Wednesdays” senior program, Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 at 11:00 AM.

I gave my presentation “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at the Penfield Public Library, Monday, July 7th, 2025 at 6:30 PM.

I gave my presentation “Forgotten Waters” at Pittsford Community Library, Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 at 6:30 PM.

I gave my presentation “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at the Ogden Farmer’s Library, Monday, July 28th, 2025 at 6:30 PM.

*Geoffrey Zeiner presenting “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” at Ogden Farmer’s Library.*

I gave my presentation “Forgotten Waters” at Greece Public Library, Wednesday, August 13th, 2025 at 6:30 PM.

*Geoffrey Zeiner presenting “Forgotten Waters” at Greece Public Library.*

I gave my presentation ”Forgotten Waters” at Hilton Parma Recreation Center, Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 7:00 PM.

*Geoffrey Zeiner presenting “Forgotten Waters” at Hilton Parma Rec Center.*

I gave my presentation ”A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at Rush Public Library, Thursday, September 18th, 2025 at 6:00 PM.

I gave a commissioned presentation about the Pittsford Community Library and related topics called ”Landmarks, Libraries, and a Legacy” at Pittsford Community Library, Saturday, September 27th, 2025 at 2:00 PM. This event was in celebration of the 20th anniversary of PCL’s building on State Street, built in 2005.

*Geoffrey Zeiner preparing to present ”Landmarks, Libraries, and a Legacy” at Pittsford Community Library.*

I presented “Disappeared Downtown” to the St. Ann Community, 9:30-10:30 AM and 2:30-3:30 PM, Friday, November 7th, 2025.

*Geoffrey Zeiner preparing to present “Disappeared Downtown” to the St. Ann Community.*

I presented “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” to the St. Ann Community, 9:30-10:30 AM and 2:30-3:30 PM, Friday, November 14th, 2025.

*Geoffrey Zeiner preparing to present “Crossing the Main Street Bridge” to the St. Ann Community.*

I presented “A Walk Through a Disappeared Downtown” at Irondequoit Public Library, Thursday, December 4th, 2025 at 7:00 PM.

*Crowd at Irondequoit Public Library awaiting “Disappeared Downtown”.*

2026

I gave a shortened, test version of my in-the-works presentation, “From Nurseries to Neighborhoods: The History of the East Main-Culver Area“, at Immanuel Lutheran Church for their “Wellness on Wednesdays” senior program, Wednesday, January 14th, 2026, at 11 AM.

I gave my new presentation, “From Nurseries to Neighborhoods: The History of the East Main-Culver Area” at Central Library on Saturday, March 7th, 2026. This presentation covered the area nearby the intersection of East Main Street and Culver Road, following its development from nursery lands, to industrial suburb, to residential neighborhoods. Sprinkled in, some curiosities and trivia.

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.