Seneca Park

"As a community we need not only to shine a light on our successes, but create an environment where there will be even more successes to share." Craig L. Charles

Successes:

Rochester General Hospital Rochester General Hospital is in our neighborhood and is a top 100 heart hospital.

Hickey Freeman
The suits that Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Lt. Gov. David Patterson wore at their inauguration were made by the Hickey Freeman Co.

Adrian Jules Ltd.
The Adrian Jules Ltd. Custom Clothier shop in Irondequoit, now operated by Roberti's sons, continues to make exclusive, hand-made suits worn by celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, Nicolas Cage and Robert DeNiro.

Seneca Park Zoo

The following information was contributed by Joan Roby-Davison

History:

Village of Cathage, incorporated in 1809, founded by Norton, Huntington, Hooker & Cutler families, roughly from Conkey to the river between Clifford & East Ridge Road. Center of commerce until the upstart village of Rochesterville was the crossing point on the river for the new Erie Canal. The river bank was lined with hotels, mills and taverns. The driving park bridge, named because of the "driving park" on the west side in McCrackenville, was the longest span in the country (briefly) - it collapsed after only 18 months, and when rebuilt lasted for over 100 years.

School 36 is the oldest operating school in the district. It was started in the 1890's and the new portion of the school was built before 1930. Beautiful architecture with spectacular details both inside and out. A feature to note is the courtyard garden - a secret that can only be entered from inside the building. The "secret garden" at School 36 is beautiful in the spring! They have raised gardens, a stone path, fountain and murals, along with perennials and spring bulbs. The second garden is the "three sisters garden" and has vegetables & strawberries.

Engine 16: the oldest working firehouse in the city, it celebrated its 100th birthday a few years ago. You can still see some elements from when the engines were horse drawn - an upper level door to the hay loft appears on the Bernard Street side. While it is too small to house the large modern equipment, it is the busiest station in the city, providing both fire and medical (EMT) response to emergencies.

The area around Hudson & Norton (down to at least Avenue D, and north to Rt. 104) was known as "Polish Town" and was home to waves of mostly Eastern European immigrants. Polish were most prominent, but Ukrainian and Lithuanian were also present. Street names and churches reflect this ethnicity: St. Stanislaus (Polish), Holy Redeemer (German), St. George's (Lituanian) and Church of the Epirphany (Carter Street - Ukrainian). Street names: St Stanislaus, Pulaski, Kosciusko, St. Casimir, Sobieski, Zygment and Wanda are all drawn from the Polish heritage of the area.

Further east was farmland, with orchards at the corner of Carter and Norton, and on Portland Ave. If you ever have time, stop in at Carter Rec on Tuesday morning and talk with some of the senior citizens - they've watched the transformation. Until the renovation and expansion at Carter, there were still two cherry trees from the original orchard near the entrance to the parking lot - while they were supposed to be protected, the construction crews cut them down. The rec center land was donated to the city to be used as a playground.

The area around Clinton was known as the "butter hole" because of the dairy farms in the area. Again, check some of the oldest homes - you'll find barns scattered through the neighborhood. Joan overheard some elderly men talking about baseball teams from their childhood - one of the said that he was a member of the "butterhole gang" baseball team.

North, is Seneca Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (who also designed Central Park). Lots of history here - the zoo actually relocated from Durand Eastman Park (where you can find Zoo Road), and was a menagerie - more of a petting zoo. Passing the zoo, you enter the lower park, with the trout pond where swan boats once provided rides for visitors. Hiking trails and scenic overlooks are along the gorge side of the park - some of which are quite similar to the original Olmsted design.

Present Businesses:

Hartmann's Old World Sausage Shop: N. Clinton Ave. More than 30 years old, this family business makes and smokes all of its products on site (with a few imports that can't be made here). They serve lunch daily, and provide sausage, cold cuts and other products to Wegman's, Tops, and restaurants locally.

Clothing: Uptown Express, on N. Clinton, has high quality men's and boy's clothing, and serves many church choirs as well with special clothing. Everything from shoes to hats - and an enormous variety of men's suits.

Hickey-Freeman: Joan wrote a speaking out piece when they were considering relocating a few years ago. Their building has been on North Clinton since around 1902, and was considered cutting edge in terms of design (large windows, well lighted, and ventilated) and in production, moving the industry from cottage shops to centralized manufacturing.

Sisters' Apparel: St. Paul Street, is a tiny specialty store for women, featuring some of the most elegant hats Joan has seen.

Auto:

Blaesi's Auto Repair on Hudson Avenue, owned by Jim Blaesi who is also a city firefighter. He has been very successful.

Other:

Silk Creations: a full-service floral shop, owned by Elizabeth Ortiz, a resident of 14621, and operated for about 20 years at various locations. The business has been at the corner of Hudson and Pulaski for many years now. While she does have silk flowers, she also has fresh flowers, does arrangements and delivers both locally and as a member of one of the national florist chains (teleflora or ftd - you'd need to check).

Quality Vision/Optical Gaging: one of the few remaining optical businesses that sprang up to serve Bausch and Lomb, this business thrives in the block between Hudson & North Street. It continues to expand, and has added some of the lots as buildings on Hudson have been demolished.

Originally the Northside expansion of Genesee Hospital (you can date someone by whether they call it Rochester General or Northside), it is now Rochester General Hospital. The VIA Health complex includes RGH, Wilson Health Center, the doctor's office building and a large parking garage. It is almost entirely within 14621, with a small strip along Portland that is in Irondequoit. It is a nationally recognized hospital, also affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic.

Pedestrian bridge across the river at the RG&E dam.