Edward E. Boynton House

Started an early Sunday morning run at the Artisan Works on Blossom Road.  The four mile route was a pleasure, with lots of varied scenery and some nice houses along the way.  I decided to cut up to Park ave from University via East Boulevard, where I ran across a sign marking this house as a Frank Lloyd Wright original.

The house, now undergoing a full restoration, was built for a successful businessman, Edward E. Boynton in 1908.  It is an example of a Wright "Prairie" house, the furthest East one of these had been built. Legend has it that Wright got along very well with Boynton and his daughter, and decided to personally supervise the construction.  It is said he often slept on site - in a simple lean-to where he sustained himself by eating mainly "raw carrots".

The house also featured furniture designed by Wright, as well as the original landscaping and layout of the grounds. It is the only home designed completely by Wright in Rochester.

Eastman Dental Dispensary

I started this run at the Village Gate on Goodman with the intent of checking out the Eastman Dental Dispensary on Main Street towards the end of the run.  The building was funded by George Eastman in 1917 to provide free dental care to underprivileged children in Rochester.  Although now in disrepair, the building is a wonderful example of the type of architecture built from the turn of the century through the first world war.

Children from around the city were bussed in, often on school buses, to receive their dental care  This picture is from 1930. 

Care was given in large, open operating rooms and infirmary style sleeping areas.  Over 1400 tonsillectomies were performed here in 1920.

In 2007, the same Scott Donaldson who purchased the Main Street Armory purchased the building.  During the Halloween season of 2007 the building was used as the "House of Pain" haunted house attraction .... probably explaining the ghostly statue in the window.

I ran this route on a hot July 5 morning that felt more like mid day.  My route stretched a little longer than normal, about 3.9 miles. Historical pictures courtesy of UR Research, urresearch.rochester.edu.  Tip about this building thanks to @ezekialdantes.

Return to My Roots - Utica, NY

This run wasn't in Rochester, but I included it here for a bit of family history.  The building above was the home of my great grandfather's suit factory.  He was an immigrant from Italy, a tailor who eventually started his own custom made clothing company.  His custom made suits were considered the best in the Utica NY area in the early to mid 20th century. 

This picture is of the original sign on the first floor of the building which advertised the clothing factory on the floors above.  My brother Paul, the official family historian, was able enough to acquire the actual original sign on a lucky tip.  A friend of his who works for the local power company was working in the building and saw the sign in an unused storage area.  It is now proudly displayed in my brother's house.

My run started on Culver Ave, and then took me down through the old factories of Broad Street.  Some are still in use, but some are completely shuttered.  One that is particularly interesting is the former Beaunit Fibres rayon factory (left).  From his teen years, my dad remembers the smell coming from the smokestacks as particularly acrid.  It now stands deserted, with all of it's machinery and structures still inside becoming artifacts of the era when Utica NY was a thriving textile manufacturing center.  Some great pictures of this site can be found here: http://bit.ly/bvn1yB

The Main Street Castle

The Main Street Armory, built in 1905 by the US Army was used for many purposes throughout the 20th century.  Now mainly a concert venue, it once was a training center for troops headed to World Wars I and II.  Sharing the building with sporting and entertainment events apparently began as early as the 1930's.  It has been the home of various Rochester professional sports teams.  The 'castle' lends a cool atmosphere to rock shows, and the size of the arena is great for regional to national touring acts.

In the 1990's, the building decayed to the point of nearly being condemned - until Scott Donaldson purchased it from the city for $1000 (no kidding).  The first concert after it's re-opening in 2007 was the band  O.A.R.

I started this route at the Village Gate then headed toward the Armory.  It was a great day, about 6 AM on a Saturday.

Cobb's Hill Reservoir

Cobb's Hill is a great place to work into the middle of a run on the Southeast side of Rochester.  The paved trail around the reservoir is .69 miles, and the views from up there are really nice.  Got up there on a crisp, clear winter morning. Cobbs Hill is part of Rochester's mini-mountain range within city limits, with the adjacent Pinnacle Hill being the highest point in the city.

Built in 1908, the Cobb's Hill reservoir has provided water for the city ever since.  The reservoir building is a great example of the majestic and ornamental style of public buildings built around the country from the turn of the century through about WW1.  It features classical columns and gargoyle-like ornaments.

During World War Two, the Cobb's Hill Reservoir area and Park was used as a POW camp.  Hundreds of Italian and German POW's were housed there during the war, and were often put to work on public works projects in the city.

The Day the Market Crashed

This beautiful example of 1920's Art Deco architecture provides one of the most distinctive features of Rochester's skyline.  The most noteworthy feature of the building are its four 42 foot high, 12,000 pound aluminum wings, but the whole building is a study in the art deco style and grand optimism of the roaring 20's. 

It was designed by the architecture firm of  Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, who are famous for many distinctive buildings in New York City, including the impressive Bank of New York Building at #1 Wall Street.

It has always been used mainly as a bank or finance building throughout it's history.  Ironically, the cornerstone of the building was laid the day the stock market crashed, October 29, 1929, marking the beginning of the Great Depression.

The best way to view this building is to approach it running over the Broad Street Bridge (mentioned in a previous post).  I was able to capture it a sunrise on an amazingly warm November morning.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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...