GPS City GuideRochesterBrown's Race Historic District

Stop 4 of 31 · Rochester audio walking tour

Brown's Race Historic District

Rochester · 1989 · Recognized as Historic District

What you'll hear here: about a minute on what happened at Brown's Race Historic District and around Rochester — the audio starts on its own when you walk into range.

Brown's Race Historic District gathers a compact sweep of historic industry along the curving south rim of the Genesee River gorge, right at the rim of the High Falls. Picture 15 contributing buildings, two contributing structures, and 14 contributing sites gathered here, their brick and stone walls rising in forms that range from one- to six-stories. These are 19th-century industrial buildings, now used for commercial purposes, sited along or near the gorge where water and commerce once met.

Listen with your eyes: the masonry, the scale, the way the facades turn with the curve of the river—each detail is part of a working landscape that earned recognition when the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. You can also see the mill race that once channeled power, and the 19th-century iron Pont De Rennes bridge, a surviving span that is used today as a pedestrian bridge and a viewing platform of the High Falls and the surrounding gorge. The 19th-century iron Pont De Rennes bridge still spans the gorge, a pedestrian crossing and viewing platform of the High Falls waiting for you.

Where it is

Coordinates
43.16056, -77.61639
Area
Rochester
Era
1989 · Recognized as Historic District
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.