Chapter 2 Birthplace by the Genesee River
G
olf met America as the nineteenth century was transitioning into the twentieth, and Rochester was awash in a period of tremendous growth and prosperity. The continued westward settlement of the United States led to the discovery of the rich wheat fields in the Great Plains that eventually deprived Rochester of its once-lofty position as the premier flour center in the country. Yet while the number of flour mills had been dwindling since the end of the Civil War, other businesses were thriving during a time when governmental interference and heavy taxation were not a detriment to operations. By 1890, there were nine railroads passing through Rochester. Annual imports and exports through the lake port of Charlotte both topped out at about $1 million, and more than 400,000 tons of merchandise were being loaded and unloaded yearly from the canal. Horticulture was also at its peak, as nurseries along East Avenue were in perpetual bloom, filling orders domestically as well as internationally. Once known as the “Flour City,” Rochester was now being referred to as the “Flower City.” It was also during this time that John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb perfected the production of optical lenses. There were approximately thirty clothing factories and about sixty shoe factories employing thousands of people, while other citizens worked as foundry men, tobacco processors, bankers and accountants. But the Eastman Kodak Company, founded in 1889 by George Eastman following his invention of the Kodak camera,