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Rochester

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Rochester

NEW YORK

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Poised on the south shore of Lake Ontario with the Genesee River knifing through its center, Rochester offers a dramatic landscape of scenic wonders. The city is blessed with over 2,000 acres of parklands, which means plenty of hiking, camping, and recreational spots are readily available. Rochester is also known as a manufacturing hub, thanks to the production of high-tech imaging and photography. Bausch and Lomb and Xerox make Rochester home, and George Eastman started his Eastman Kodak Company here. Visitors should take in Kodak Park, Eastman Theater, and the International Museum of Photography, which is located in Eastman's former house. Cultural highlights include the Strong Museum, the Rochester Museum and Science Center, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the renowned Eastman School of Music. If time allows, check out the impressive botanical gardens of Highland Park.

Rochester Facts

Fact 1: The jazz musician, Cab Calloway, was born in Rochester. A song and dance man, Calloway was featured in the 1979 movie, The Blues Brothers.

Fact 2: With its many parks and nurseries, Rochester has earned the nickname, "Flower City." Sonneburg Gardens, which is listed on the registry of historical places, is one of the many breathtaking gardens you can enjoy.

Fact 3: Greater Rochester is the third largest metropolitan area in New York State. The city of Rochester is the 79th largest city in the United States. The community has preserved so many links with its past that it claims more sites on the National Register of Historic Places than any other city its size.

Fact 4: John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb opened a small optical shop in Rochester during the 1800's. Their business eventually became the famous optical and health care company, Bausch and Lomb. A few decades later in 1888, a young Rochester bank clerk named George Eastman produced a flexible film camera that would initiate an entire new era of photography. The Haloid Company, known today as Xerox, was also started in Rochester.

Fact 5: H.O.G. HEAVEN! The acronym stands for House of Guitars, a complex of five warehouses packed with everything from guitars to a pair of Elvis' leather pants. Opened in 1964 by three brothers, the music emporium has hosted a list of customers that includes Metallica, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Jon Bon Jovi, and Ozzy Osbourne. The self-proclaimed "World's Largest Music Store" stocks just about every brand of instrument, including more than 11,000 guitars that range in price from $60 to $50,000!

Fact 6: Rochester's magnificent waterways are among the most popular attractions for visitors. The historic Erie Canal flows directly into the Genesee River at the Genesee Valley Park. This famous man-made waterway is also a favorite spot for history buffs that visit to see the remains of old Erie Canal locks that are no longer in use.

Fact 7: While in Rochester, be sure to visit the Susan B. Anthony House, which is a National Historic Landmark. The house is the site where Anthony was arrested for the "crime" of voting!

Fact 8: The statue of famous orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass stands in Highland Park and is believed to be the first monument in the United States to honor an African-American. Douglass is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, the first municipal cemetery in the United States.

Fact 9: A short drive from Rochester to the Finger Lakes Region will take you into the heart of New York's wine country. Large corporate wineries and some smaller, family-owned vineyards offer tours and wine tasting opportunities.

Fact 10: Lake Ontario, one of the five fresh water lakes in America known as the "Great Lakes," hosts some of the best salmon fishing in the Unites States. After a day of fishing, be sure to enjoy one of the lake's most popular waterfront attractions – the rare, 1905 Dentzel menagerie carousel.