| 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. Then, get out and walk!
About this tour
This tour is divided into two parts. The entire tour, including 18 stops, is just under a mile loop.
In most of the 20th century, the center of Rochester’s downtown was its department stores. While the stores are gone, the buildings survive, as does the nation’s first urban shopping mall, Midtown Plaza (1). On this walking tour you will visit one of Rochester’s most fabulous banks (8), a Romanesque Revival church (12) and a former church (9), now a tranquil and unusual downtown park.
Historic Highlights: In 1766, a liberty pole was raised in Manhattan to celebrate England’s repeal of the stamp act. Rochester first erected a liberty pole in 1846. Our current Liberty Pole (6) was erected in 1965.
Significant Architecture:
If you visit only one building in downtown Rochester, make it the Charter One Bank (8) (formerly the Rochester Savings Bank) at 40 Franklin Street. You’ll also want to get a good look at the 1960s bank at One East Avenue (3), (now Fleet Bank) an excellent reflection of its time. Sibley’s Building (2) (now called Sibley Centre), also is an outstanding example of the Chicago School of architecture.
Parks, Libraries and River Walks: Liberty Pole Plaza (6), St. Joseph’s Park (9) (interior not open in the winter), Schiller Park (15).
Churches: The Lutheran Church of the Reformation (12), 111 N. Chestnut Street, 454-3367, Community Bible Church (16), 284 Andrews St, 232-4575; Salem United Church of Christ, 60 Bittner Street, 454-5973.
Downtown Living: Apartments and lofts are being created in the Temple Building (7), the Michaels-Stern Building (11) and in other downtown buildings.
Food Courts: Midtown Plaza (1) and Sibley Centre (2).
Eating and Entertainment: There are several restaurants and night clubs along this tour route or on nearby streets.
Major Employers: Chase Bank.
Special Note: The intersection of Main Street and South Avenue, where you can see the Hyatt Regency Rochester, Riverside Convention Center and the Points by Sheraton, is part of Tour One.
