In 1788, two Yankee traders purchased two and a half million acres of land from the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Nation. This area would become Rochesterville, and then Rochester, New York.
By 1810, Colonel Nathaniel Rochester (whose name the city still carries) and his partners had purchased this land. Flour mills were built--their water
wheels powered by the mighty Genesee River; but it was the man-made Erie Canal that turned Rochester into a "boom town." More than a source of power, the Genesee River and its four, magnificent waterfalls also attracted plenty of visitors, as well as some notoriety.
Today Rochester has over 11,000 acres of parkland which provide recreation through all seasons.
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