Maplewood:Reprint Template.Qxd.Qxd

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 THE DAILY RECORD

WESTERN NEW YORK’S SOURCE FOR LAW, REAL ESTATE, FINANCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1908 VASILIY BAZIUK VASILIY

Shown clockwise from top left: A breathtaking view from the edge of the Lower Falls along the Genesee River gorge; the foot bridge over N.Y. 104; children toss rose petals into the fountain at the Maplewood Rose Garden. NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS Maplewood

BY COLLEEN M. FARRELL

It may be hard to picture, but the hustle and bustle of the City of Kings, also known as Hanford’s, Landing, at the corner of Lake Rochester’s Maplewood neighborhood wasn’t always so. Avenue and West Ridge Road. Before becoming the major thoroughfare it is today, Lake Avenue The area evolved from one of farming to mills to residential, was a plank road. becoming one of the most prominent addresses a Rochesterian Before that, its could have, according to Cynthia Howk, architectural research few inhabitants coordinator at the Landmark Society of Western New York. were Native Ameri- Indeed, Lake Avenue was the west side of the city’s answer to cans, no doubt another fashionable address. drawn to the lush “Lake Avenue, until the 20th century, was very much in the setting next to the character of East Avenue,” Howk said. Genesee River. The neighborhood was developed between 1870 and the The waterway 1930s. Grand estates sat on large lots, the best ones with views attracted new set- of the river and gorge. The mansions and fine houses were home tlers over time, who to many local business leaders, Howk said. set up small com- A drive down Seneca Parkway, with its grassy mall, shows a col- munities: McCrack- lection of architecture: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor enville, at the cor- Revival, Classical Revival, Jacobethan and more. ner of Lake Avenue and Driving Park Extension of the electric streetcar line to Charlotte in 1889 Avenue; Kelsey’s and the opening of Kodak Park — now Eastman Business Park Landing at Lake — near Lake Ave and West Ridge Road really drove residential Avenue and Seneca development in Maplewood between 1900 and 1920.

GRAPHIC BY LAWRENCE SEIL LAWRENCE GRAPHIC BY Parkway, and Continued ...

WESTERN NEW YORK’S SOURCE FOR LAW, REAL ESTATE, FINANCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1908 VASILIY BAZIUK VASILIY

From top left: An apartment building along Lake Avenue; a private home on Lakeview Park; DeWitt Cosman, a resident of the Maplewood neighborhood, and Deborah Elliott, of Rochester, enjoy a late summer con- versation.

Continued ... At the same time homes were going up, there was a strong industrial presence in Maplewood, mostly in the form of brew- eries and manufacturers that harnessed the power of the nearby waterfalls. One popular business was a resort known as the Glen House, which opened in 1870 at the bottom of the gorge near the Lower Falls. A steamboat from Charlotte transported visitors there, or a hydraulic elevator also was an option. The hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1894 but the base of the elevator remains. The area became famous nationally around the end of the 19th century. The Rochester Driving Park, a race course for trotters, opened in 1874 on 70 acres north and west of present-day Dewey tute, Nazareth Hall and the Academy. The Holy Sepulchre ceme- Avenue along Driving Park Avenue. Thousands traveled from all tery, which opened in 1871, also is located there. Bishop over Upstate to fill the grandstands. One of the most famous races Bernard J. McQuaid, the first Bishop of Rochester, sought to held there was between professional bicycle rider Elsa von Blu- build it so graves at smaller parish cemeteries could be consoli- men and the trotting mare, “Hattie R,” in 1881. Von Blumen won. dated there. The Driving Park Bridge, built in 1893, also contributed to the The cemetery stretches along both sides of Lake Avenue. neighborhood’s growth. Before, those who wanted to cross the Riverside Cemetery, built in 1892, is located to the east of the Genesee River first had to trek to Charlotte or Downtown to find street. When the association that owned it went bankrupt, it was a bridge, Howk said. purchased by the city. After the bridge opened, George Ellwanger’s family opened a Nearby, also, is the former St. Bernard’s Seminary, which German beer garden nearby. opened in the 1890s and was the last major public project of The area that came to be known as Maplewood, or the 10th Rochester architect A.J. Warner. The sandstone used to built it Ward, is expansive, stretching from Driving Park Avenue to the was quarried on site, Howk said. Now a senior housing complex, south to the Charlotte line to the north, from the Genesee River the structure is a designated city landmark. Warner also on the east to the city’s border with Greece to the west. A large designed Holy Sepulchre’s chapel and medieval-style gate- portion of the neighborhood is listed in the National Register of houses. Historic Places. “This is a really important collection of A.J. Warner’s late The neighborhood also is notable for its religious history. It’s career,” Howk said. home to the recently-closed Holy Rosary Church, Grace United Methodist Church Sacred Heart Cathedral and Aquinas Insti- Continued ...

WESTERN NEW YORK’S SOURCE FOR LAW, REAL ESTATE, FINANCE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1908

Continued ... The beauty of nature is one of the emphasis on attracting new businesses things longtime Maplewood resident and revitalizing the Dewey Avenue com- A neighborhood mainstay is the Dennis Reed cites when asked why he’s mercial district,” he said. Maplewood YMCA branch on Driving continued to live there. He and his fam- One success has been PriceRite Gro- Park Avenue. Constructed in 1916, it ily have lived on Albemarle Street since cery, which moved into the former Weg- was designed by Rochester architect 1963 in an American Craftsman style mans store on Driving Park Avenue. Claude Bragdon. house. He said space for biking, hiking Another challenge is changing nega- Maplewood Park, laid out by by land- and walking also are plentiful. tive perceptions of the city school dis- scape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, is “It’s a really nice place to live,” Reed trict home to a rose garden that attracts thou- said. “It’s convenient to Downtown. It’s City schools “have that reputation — sands during the annual Maplewood Rose convenient to the lake. It’s convenient to rightly or wrongly, they’ve got that repu- Weekend. Olmsted considered the adja- any one of the suburbs.” tation — and people with young families cent gorge a center piece for the park, and The variety of housing styles, priced are very reluctant to move into the area tried to make the area look appear as it reasonably compared to other tony spots, because of it,” Reed said. did pre-settlement, Howk said. also are a benefit, he said. Despite the challenges, Reed said he “Here you’ve got a wilderness gorge, Maplewood is not without its chal- wouldn’t live anywhere else. And by far, right in the middle of the city, that now lenges, however. Attracting commercial he said, the greatest attraction is the has access for hiking and boating,” investment is an immediate goal of the neighborhood’s residents. Howk said. “That was part of the allure” Maplewood Neighborhood Association “It’s kind of why we stayed here as long that drew many of the neighborhood’s said Reed, who is a member. as we have, because we’ve always been residents. “They’re really trying to put an blessed with really nice neighbors.”