Rochester's 19th Ward

Rochester s 19th Ward portrays one of the city s largest residential neighborhoods. The initial settlement, predating Rochester itself, was called Castle Town. It emerged around 1800 along the Genesee River, where boatmen poled flat-bottomed boats along a stretch of turbulence in the river known as the Rapids. Out of this desolate community developed a streetcar suburb, an elegant and vibrant neighborhood, designed for the modern 20th-century family. Fine homes, churches, shops, schools, and industries arose between 1900 and 1930, and the 19th Ward quickly became a prestigious address for doctors, professors, and skilled laborers."