Rochester: The Water-Power City, 1812-1854 (Rochester Public Library, Kate Gleason Fund Publications)

xvi, 383 pp. The first in a four volume series. From the preface: This history of Rochester represents a remarkable municipal achievement. Under the laws of the state of New York, the towns and cities in this state are required to appoint town or city historians. the city of Rochester long ago met this requirement: the appointee to this office and the persons whom he selects to assist him in his duties are paid from municipal funds, which forma part of the budget of the Rochester Public Library; the City Historian and the Assistant City Historian are civil servants, with tenure similar to that of other civil servants under the civil service laws. Dr. McKelvey wrote this book. Within the larger unity of the Water-Power City's development five successive stages appeared. Thus it was on a retarded frontier, surrounded by deep forests, penetrated only by rough roads and hazardous waterways, that the village was born in 1812.