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The Greater Rochester Area has a lot to offer: spellbinding historic sites, including two National Historic Landmarks; captivating, hands-on museums for children and families; fascinating attractions; and rollicking entertainment nearly every night of the year.
Located on Lake Ontario’s southern shore between Buffalo and Syracuse, and diagonally across from Toronto, Rochester became America’s first boomtown in the mid-1800s with the building of the Erie Canal. Today, tour boats and historic sites still tell the story of the man-made marvel and Rochester-area canal towns celebrate the waterway’s history with summer festivals. Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and George Eastman all called Rochester home. The National Historic Landmark homes of Anthony and Eastman are open to visitors.
Several Fortune 500 companies do business in Rochester. Eastman Kodak Company, founded by George Eastman, and Bausch and Lomb are headquartered here and others, such as Xerox, maintain a high manufacturing presence. In fact, Chester Carlson first started using the process of Xerography right here in Rochester. The community has one of the highest levels of skilled workers in the world and is one of the top ten exporting areas in the nation.
Some other American mainstays have their roots in Rochester: French’s Mustard; the voting machine; Fanny Farmer Candy; and marshmallows. Rochester is hometown to 2006 Academy Award winner, Philip Seymour Hoffman and new musical sensation Teddy Geiger. The Mormon religion began in a rural area just east of Rochester and Francis Bellamy, who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, attended the University of Rochester.
Rochester is the third largest urban area in New York State, the 38th largest in the country, and it is known for its philanthropy. The United Way began in Rochester and American Demographics Magazine twice has rated Rochesterians as the kindest and most helpful in the United States.
Just take a look -- the Rochester area has plenty to offer, no matter what era catches your fancy.
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