Rochester was born in the early nineteenth century as a small village on the '''Genesee River''', a few miles south of '''Lake Ontario'''. The village was constructed around flour mills that took advantage of the three waterfalls on the river for power. When the '''Erie Canal''' was built a few years later, it was routed through Rochester, and the small village became America's first boomtown, a major trade center for grain being shipped east and goods being shipped west. It soon garnered the nickname "The Flour City", and its products were known as far away as England.As time went on, and farmland opened up in the Great Plains, Rochester's flour industry faded, to be replaced by a variety of others, including clothing, shoes, boats, and horticulture. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Rochester's nurseries and gardens had led to a new nickname: "The Flower City". Rochester also became a center for social progressivism. The great abolitionist orator '''Frederick Douglass''' made his home here for many years, and suffragist '''Susan B. Anthony''' was a life-long resident.In the early 1900s, the modern city began to take shape, molded in large part by the philanthropy of '''George Eastman''', whose Eastman Kodak camera company became the area's largest employer. The Eastman School of Music, the Eastman Theatre, the George Eastman House, and numerous other buildings and institutions remain today as testaments to his influence and generosity.Since World War II, Rochester has seen a decline in population but has also seen periods of urban renewal funded by industry, such as Xerox. In the 60s and 70s, the city became known as the leading jazz town in upstate New York, a legacy recalled today by the annual Rochester International Jazz Festival every June. Since the turn of the century, Rochester has called itself "The World's Image Centre", based on the local prominence of imaging giants Kodak and Xerox and optics company Bausch & Lomb.Rochester's recent industrial decline has been painful, but it has been countered by a rise in world-class historical and cultural attractions.*'''Susan B. Anthony House''', 17 Madison St., '' 1'' 585-235-6124,
http://www.susanbanthonyhouse.org/. Winter Hours (Labor Day to Memorial Day) W-Su, 11AM-4PM; Summer Hours (Memorial Day to Labor Day), Tu-Su, 11AM-5PM. Highlights of life of the women's rights activist, including influences, the many reforms she worked for (suffrage, abolition, temperance, education, and a purse of her own among them), her friendship with Frederick Douglass, and her trial after voting illegally in 1872. $3-6 admission. http://wikitravel.org/en/Rochester (New York)