Genesee River Gorge: Industrial & Urban Development

Genesee River Gorge: Industrial and Urban Development. The Bausch Memorial Bridge and Surrounding Area. By 1855, ten grist mills, producing 500,000 barrels of flour annually, were located along Brown's Race. Twenty-five years later, power generated at Brown's Raceway estimated at 3,670 horsepower. It remained the most powerful water power system in New York State for many decades and is still generating hydroelectric power for our region today. Soon after the Erie Canal connected Rochester to the Hudson River in 1825, the economy and population grew quickly. Rochester became known as the Flour City based on the numerous flour mills which were located along the waterfalls on the Genesee in what is now the Brown's Race area of downtown Rochester.

Bausch Memorial Bridge , 1873 Construction of the Vincent Place Bridge , 1892 Second truss added and bridge renamed the Smith Street Bridge , 1930 Smith Street Bridge dismantled , 1931 Opening of the Bausch Memorial Bridge , 2009 Bausch Memorial Bridge Renovation, The Phoenix Bridge Company designed and constructed the Bausch Memorial Bridge in 1931. The bridge carries approximately 26,000 vehicles daily in four travel lanes, and two cantilevered sidewalks 913 feet across the Genesee River Gorge and 100 feet above the river.