December 27

December 27, 1887: The blasting powder mill owned by Rand & Co. in Pittsford (near the present day Powder Mill Park) exploded. The blast was felt and heard as far away as Canandaigua and Avon. No workers were injured.

Sources and Further Reading:

1. Town of Pittsford: Powder Mill Park

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December 22

December 22, 1813: News arrives at Reynold's post office that British and Indian forces have taken Fort Niagara and of a massacre at the village of Lewiston. The local militia is dispatched to assist and, shortly thereafter, surviving refugees arrive in Rochester seeking shelter.

Sources and Further Reading:
Rochester History (1942), vol 4, no 4, pg 13

December 21

December 21, 1888: The Jefferson Flour Mill explodes as naphtha (a flammable liquid hydrocarbon) refined at the Vacuum Oil Works leaks from an underground pipe into a sewer, igniting between State and Mill streets. The fire continued in the sewer, blowing man hole covers skyward and spouting flames for several hours. The accident resulted in five deaths.

Sources and further reading:
Rochester History (1988); vol 50, no 3, page 15

December 5

December 5, 2005: The "Spirit of Ontario I" fast ferry made its last passenger trip after two seasons in operation. The ferry service was officially discontinued after Mayor Duffy assumed office in 2006.

Sources and Further Reading

1. Wikipedia: Spirit of Ontario I
2. RocWiki: Fast Ferry

December 3

December 3, 1847: The first edition of the North Star newspaper was published in Rochester by Frederick Douglas.

Sources and Further Reading

1. Documents of the American South, from UNC website
2. RocWiki: Frederick Douglas
3. Wikipedia - The North Star (Newspaper)

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December 2

December 2, 1814: Mortimer F. Reynolds is born in the Reynolds' home, becoming the first childbirth in what was then the new settlement of Rochester.

However, among the early settlers in the area of what would ultimately become the present Rochester, the first child birth was that of James Stone, son of Enos Stone, on May 4, 1810.  Enos Stone built a house and then saw mill in 1809 on the east side of the river and would purchase the first lot of the 100 Acre Tract for $50 from Col. Rochester in 1811 on the west side of the river to build a log cabin.  A bridge crossing the river and connecting the communities would not be completed until 1812.  The first child born on the west side of the river was Benjamin Evans in 1811.

Sources and Further Reading:

1. History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York (1908); Peck, William F.; page 36
2. Illustrated history of the Rochester Trades Assembly and the Building Trades Council, Rochester, N. Y., Rochester Trades Assembly, Building Trades Council (Rochester,N.Y.), Boyd Press, 1897, pp 79
3. The Lives and Reminiscences of the Pioneers of Rochester and Western New York, Kelsey, John, 1854, pp 8   
4. A directory for the Village of Rochester (1827), pg 87

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