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Using These Self-Guided Walking Tours of Downtown Rochester
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From hidden nooks and crannies to eye-catching modern edifices, six downtown walking tours, with photos and maps, will introduce you to Rochester’s past as seen through the best of its historic and contemporary architecture.
Want to know more? Click on Show the Map or Download Tour. The easy-to-follow numbering system on the map corresponds to the numbering
system on the tour pages. Each 3-6 page tour is full of historic and architectural information on a compact, easily walkable section of Rochester's downtown. Now, get out and walk!
About this tour
Welcome to Kodak’s neighborhood! Rochester’s tradition of reusing older buildings for new uses is most evident in this historic district, and your walking tour will be enhanced by grand views and interpretive markers (see #12 & #18). The industrial buildings of a previous era are now being used in many different ways, including restaurants such as Jillian’s, 51-61 Commercial Street (17), the Empire Brewing Company (2), once the Rochester Button Factory, and Jimmy Mac’s in the Phoenix Mill Building (4). High tech and public relations firms are also in renovated buildings. A former RG&E maintenance facility (#11) has been transformed into restaurants (the Triphammer Grill) and nightclubs. Brown’s Race is a National Register Historic District and a city Preservation District. A tour of High Falls and Brown's Race features a panoramic view of the Genesee River 96-foot falls (6) and spectacular gorge and a visit to an urban cultural park that celebrates Rochester's earliest industrial area, started during the Flour City era.
This tour is 2/5 of a mile one way.
Historic Highlights:
There is very little in the Rochester area more historic than the Genesee River Gorge (6) and its 96-foot High Falls (6). Also included on this tour of Rochester’s oldest industrial area, started during the Flour City era, is the Center at High Halls (10), formerly the Rochester Water Works, the 1826 Seyle Fire Engine Company (13) on Mill Street and the Triphammer Forge site (12).
Parks and River Walks: There are several places in this area to sit or walk along the Genesee River. Among the most spectacular is the Ponte de Rennes Pedestrian Bridge (5), a pedestrian and bike rider’s enclave with benches overlooking High Falls.
Restaurants and Entertainment: There are several food and entertainment venues in the Brown’s Race Historic District.
Major Employers: Rochester Gas & Electric (7), Eastman Kodak Company (1), and High Falls Brewing Company (8) (formerly Genesee Brewing Company).
