Overlooked Fence Post Marks Once-Grand Rochester Estate

A lonely stone pillar near the sidewalk on North Main Street is easily overlooked by passersby, yet it stands as a witness to the existence of a once-grand estate tied to an influential Rochester family. The Charles S. Chapman residence depicted in a hand-colored postcard. Situated on the property line between St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and the 714 North Main building (where the Denny's Restuarant used to be), the pillar is an artifact of the decorative stone fence that marked the … [Read more...]

Rochester Explodes with History as Part of the “Arsenal of Democracy”

The “Arsenal of Democracy” in Rochester: How McAleer Manufacturing Helped Win a World War During the recent months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen Michigan manufacturers—including several in the Rochester area—pivot from their usual course of business to manufacture ventilators, PPE, and other high-priority items in response to our nation’s health emergency. This is not the first time our Rochester businesses have made such a transition in the national interest; during World War II, … [Read more...]

How Drace, Griggs and Albertson Streets Were Named

On the eve of the twentieth century, the village of Rochester was in a bit of a crisis. The year was 1899, and what had been a quiet farming community was changing rapidly. An interurban line (later to be known as the D.U.R.) had just laid tracks through the heart of town along Main Street. The Detroit Sugar Company was building a huge processing plant on Paint Creek, and business was booming in anticipation of all the new economic activity that these ventures would bring.  There was one … [Read more...]

Milo Prentice Newberry House Listed on National Register

Rochester House is Listed on National Register of Historic Places Michigan’s newest listing in the prestigious National Register of Historic Places is the Milo Prentice Newberry House in Rochester. The 1863 Italianate-Victorian farmhouse on Bloomer Road was listed in the National Register on October 9, after a yearlong process of application and review by state and federal officials.  Milo Prentice Newberry was part of one of the Rochester area’s pioneer families. He was born in New York … [Read more...]

How Ludlow Street Got its Name

Street and building names in a town often memorialize the people who helped to create them, but as time goes on and memories fade, the stories behind those names can become lost. Take, for example, Rochester’s Ludlow Street. Do you know for what or whom it is named?  The story of Ludlow Street starts with the Chapman family. William Clark Chapman and his brother, Charles Sherwin Chapman, grew up in and around Ludlow, Vermont. When William was 16 years old, the Chapman family moved from … [Read more...]

Water-Powered Mills of the Rochester Area

Mill Town Heritage of Rochester and Avon Township The real estate professional’s mantra that “location is everything” was as true in Rochester’s pioneer days as it is today. Long before the James Graham party led white settlers to today’s Oakland County, its hospitable lakes and streams and the excellent fishing they offered drew native people to the area. Water also attracted the Grahams and those who followed them. It was an essential element to sustain life, and it would power the new … [Read more...]

Christmas 1942 in Rochester, Remembering the Fight and Loss of the War

Virginia MacLeod and Christmas 1942 in Rochester  Seventy-five years ago, Rochester’s Christmas season was a memorable one – for a tragic reason. The end of the first year of the Second World War brought with it rationing restrictions, worries about absent loved ones, and the shock of a wartime-related death that happened not overseas, but right here at home.  There were no big, bright holiday lights on Rochester’s Main Street in December 1942. The news from the fighting fronts was … [Read more...]