Going Downtown? Take the Subway!

Well, you could from the late 1920's until the 1950's, anyway.  Like many other Rochester civic projects, ie: The Fast Ferry, poor planning and a lack of demand doomed our little subway system.  Rochester was actually the smallest city to put a subway system into operation, and many artifacts of it remain if you look for them.  The Broad Street brdge in the picture above actually is a very unique design which had cars, trucks and pedestrians on the top level, and subway cars on the second level.  Before the subway, the bridge carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River.

The abandoned subway system has become a haven for the homeless, since the tunnels and stations were never fully closed off or filled in.  It has become a place of dark legends, and a destination for brave adventurers.  One interesting account of an excursion into the subway can be found here.  I've never been brave enough to attempt going down there...