A Lot of History: the Evolution of the Parcel 5 site

Reposted with permission from Local History ROCs!

The once empty lot now known as Parcel 5 has been experiencing a rebirth as of late as yoga classes and DJ nights have taken root at the site, which will soon also host RPO concerts and Rochester Fringe Festival performances.

From: City of Rochester map, 2021.

This central plot of land has been a significant site for much of Rochester’s history. Before the city was even incorporated, the block of East Main Street between Cortland and Elm (now Andrew Langston Way) was already a hub of activity.

In 1824, just seven years after the village of Rochesterville was established, Erastus Granger erected the Farmers’ Hotel on the southwest corner of Main and Elm. The sizeable hostelry, which was outfitted with a stable in the rear, soon gained a favorable reputation among farmers across the Genesee Valley.

The Farmers’ Hotel ca. 1893. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.

Situated along the route of a major stage line, the inn proved convenient to farmers and other travelers making their way through town, while its central location at the “Seven Corners,” (what now comprises the area near the Liberty Pole) helped it become a favorite gathering place for locals in the village’s nascent years.

The Farmers’ Hotel marked on this 1851 map by the name of then owner J.J. Chappell. From: Plan of the City of Rochester by Marcus Smith, 1851.

Ownership of the Farmers’ Hotel switched hands a number of times over the course of the nineteenth century, but as one Democrat & Chronicle reporter opined in 1886, it remained the “only hotel in Rochester perhaps which has maintained its moral characteristics to a degree, and which still has about it the aroma of the country tavern and village inn.”

The aforementioned aroma was no doubt influenced in part by the horses stabled beside the inn. It is possible that the journalist in question felt the need to qualify the hotel’s moral characteristics due to certain colorful incidents that were known to have unfolded at the site. On one night in 1880, for instance, a guest from Wayne County “while crazy drunk in the dining-room” drew a revolver on the wife of then proprietor, Alderman Charles Watson.  

A circa 1874 advertisement for the hotel. From: City of Rochester Directory, 1874.

Fortunately, she did not suffer any injuries, and the incident seemingly did not deter her husband, who maintained ownership of the business for several years. The time-worn structure eventually closed its doors in March of 1893, by which time the site was being eyed as an ideal location for a new commercial building.

The following year, a four-story edifice with more than 50,000 square feet of space opened its doors to the public as the headquarters of the carpeting and drapery firm, Gorton & McCabe. As one satisfied customer remarked on the store’s first day, “the entire establishment is a credit to the city of Rochester.”

A circa 1895 ad for Gorton & McCabe, who erected their building on the future Parcel 5 site in 1894. From: Democrat & Chronicle, April 11, 1895.

The impressive business was nevertheless overshadowed by its successor, McCurdy’s. Originally known as McCurdy & Norwell (after early partner, William Norwell), the venture began as a dry goods store in 1901. Its founder, John Cooke McCurdy, was a Northern Irish émigré and former Philadelphia department store owner. He launched the new business in Rochester to relieve himself of the boredom that had plagued his retirement.

A postcard depicting the McCurdy & Norwell store along a busy stretch of Main Street in the early 1900s. From: the Collection of the Rochester Public Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division.

McCurdy’s soon became a fixture of Rochester’s downtown landscape and as business boomed over the course of the twentieth century, so too did McCurdy’s footprint. The building underwent several expansions till it swallowed up much of the block that now constitutes Parcel 5.

The McCurdy & Norwell store took up the northeast corner of the Parcel 5 site in 1910. From: City of Rochester Plat map, 1910.

By the 1930s, the store had expanded substantially. From: City of Rochester Plat Map, 1935.

By 1950, McCurdy’s covered much of the future Parcel 5 site. From: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1950.

By the time of McCurdy’s 50th anniversary in 1951, the sprawling store featured 150 departments that peddled everything from toys and clothing to furniture and major appliances.

That decade, downtown department stores across the country began facing growing competition from the lure of suburban shopping centers and the ample free parking they provided patrons. Recognizing this trend, but not wanting to abandon the center city, store executives Gilbert and Gordon McCurdy, along with Fred Forman of nearby retailer B. Forman’s, devised a plan for an indoor shopping mall that would simultaneously encase and showcase their respective flagship stores.

Exhibit Q: a scale-model of the entire mall! McCurdy’s is located on the northeast corner of the lot. From: Democrat & Chronicle, September 26, 1958.

The McCurdy’s entrance on the day of Midtown’s opening in 1962. From: Democrat & Chronicle, April 10, 1962.

It was hoped by many that Midtown Plaza, which opened in 1962, would serve as an anchor that would ensure the future economic stability and social vitality of Rochester’s downtown. By the following year, 90% of the mall’s stores had been rented out. But despite this promising start, both Midtown and McCurdy’s witnessed their customer base increasingly gravitate to suburban retailers in the ensuing decades.

McCurdy’s and Midtown decked out for the 1988 holiday season. From: City of Rochester, 1988

McCurdy’s closed its doors in 1994 and Midtown followed suit in 2008. Though these departures represented a significant loss, the empty lot that was left behind has not only served as a multifunctional gathering place, but has also helped inspire a re-envisioning of Rochester’s downtown.

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