Stepping into Historic Rochester

Stepping into Historic Rochester. Town of Rochester. , One generation makes history, another records it. Emerson said, "We are the sum of all our yesterdays." In order to appreciate fully and recognize the blessings and opportunities of the present age, it is necessary to understand the problems and tribulations of those who have come and gone., 1840 , The Borough of Rochester is nicely situated on the northern-most point of the Ohio River where it meets the confluence of the Beaver River, and it sits nearly 26 miles Northwest of Pittsburgh. Blessed with an abundance of natural resources, and an ideal location between two rivers, the advantages of this site have been recognized throughout its history., The story of Rochester began in the years prior to the Revolutionary War when this place was once the location of a village populated by the famous Chief Logan and his Mingo followers. It was known as "Logan's Town" or "Mingo Town." Logan's Town was founded in 1770 and ended about 1774 when Logan and his followers relocated to the mouth of Yellow Creek in present-day Ohio., Following the opening of the northern side of the Ohio River for settlement in 1785, European settlers, recognizing the benefits of the fertile land between both rivers, began establishing crude log cabins here about 1799. Widely accepted as the very first settler, Reverend Francis Reno, built his log cabin just below the present location of Passavant Memorial Homes. Other early settlers included the Atkinson, Bell, Pounds, Nannah, Leet, Lacock, Irwin and Wehr families. As the population began to grow, the site was variously known as "Fairport" (along the Ohio riverfront), "East Bridgewater" (area near the Beaver Division Canal locks) and "Beaver Point.", An 1804 Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature removed seventy-nine out lots located on the eastern side of the Beaver River from the Borough of Beaver. This detached area would later form the basis of Rochester Township and later Rochester Borough., The name Rochester was given to the village around 1837 by Mitchell Hammond, a local grocery merchant, but it was not used officially until Rochester Township was formed in 1840., The borough was incorporated on March 20, 1849, from Rochester Township. It was already an important shipping center thanks to its river location and the Pittsburgh and Erie Division of the Pennsylvania Canal that was built in 1834. Rochester really began to flourish with the arrival of the railroads. Located at the junction of three main railroad lines, the borough soon became host to as many as sixty passenger trains a day and became known by the newspapers as the "Junction City." The railroads attracted industry, and by the late Nineteenth Century, Rochester had become an important hub of manufacturing, transportation and finance in the Beaver Valley. The twentieth century brought gradual decline to both the manufacturing and transportation industries, and today, the borough is mainly a residential community., It is the hope of the Committee that the viewer will peruse and enjoy this history of "Our Yesterdays."