Rochester Hills Museum Presents Smart Towns Lecture
Smart Towns is a series of lifelong learning programs led by educational, non-profit organizations in the greater Rochester area. The Smart Towns’ ‘partners’ work together to provide a unique series of programs exploring one period in history every year. Lectures, presentations and courses introduce the participants to the arts, sciences, transportation, industrial, social and economic changes of the time and are presented by experts in the respective fields of study.

Detroit Sugar Mill was located in Rochester in 1900 during the Gilded Age in American History
For 2017, the Smart Towns topic is The Gilded Age in America: 1870-1900. Presentations include: Architecture of the Gilded Age, Railroads and the Gilded Age, Rochester in the Gilded Age, The Emerging Auto Industry, Literature and the Arts, Clothing of the Gilded Age, Upstairs/Downstairs, Politics and Presidents and Great American Inventors.
The Smart Towns programs are offered at all partner locations; Meadow Brook Hall, Rochester College, Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm and the Rochester Hills Public Library.
While many of the presentations are free, some will require the purchase of a ticket. The Rochester Hills Public Library website provides all of the 2017 offerings at smarttowns.rhpl.org
Rochester in the Gilded Age will be presented on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Rochester Hills Museum – sign up at rochesterhills.org/musprograms.
What was happening in Rochester during the age of the Robber Barons, westward expansion and railroads? How did the inventions and scientific advancements by Levi Strauss, Burbank, Carver, Edison, Ford, Tesla and Westinghouse affect the local residents? Rochester Hills Museum Manager, Patrick McKay, will entertain and educate with his presentation on Rochester in the Gilded Age.
The Rochester Hills Museum is located at 1005 Van Hoosen Road, off Tienken Road between Rochester and Dequindre Roads. For more information, call 248-656.-663.