Corn Hill spreads across the west bank of the Genesee River just south of downtown, Rochester's historic Third Ward. Imagine this hillside between the river and the rising city: from approximately 1830 to 1880 the neighborhood was the city’s most prestigious residential address, home to wealthy merchants, industrialists, and civic leaders. The origins of the name “Corn Hill” are debated here — perhaps from corn cultivated by the Seneca people who once inhabited this land, from pioneer farming of the crop, or as a nod to London’s Cornhill.
One of the earliest prominent residents was Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, the city’s founder. The area you stand in wears its history proudly: the Third Ward Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and the City of Rochester designated the Corn Hill Historic Preservation District in 1977. Today, the neighborhood is clearly framed by the Genesee River to the east, Interstate 490 to the north, and Ford Street to the west and south.
The neighborhood is framed today by the Genesee River to the east, Interstate 490 to the north, and Ford Street to the west and south, the edges of your Corn Hill.