Hayward’s United States Gazetteer (1853) page 549

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IN THE UNITED STATES.    549

Robertson County, Te., c. h. at Springfield.
Bounded N. by Kentucky, E. by Sumner co., S.
by Davidson, and W. by Montgomery co. Wa-
tered by Sycamore Creek and branches of Red
River.

Robertson County, Ts., c. h. at Franklin. E.
central. On the E. side of the Brazos.

Robeson County, N. C., c. h. at Lumberton.
Bounded N. by Cumberland co., E. and S. E. by
Bladen and Columbus counties, S. W. by South
Carolina, and N. W. by Richmond co. Drained
by Lumber River and other head branches of the
Little Pedee.

jRobeson, Pa., Berks co. Drained by Alleghany
and Hay Creeks, branches of the Schuylkill
River, which bounds it on the N. E. Surface
hilly; soil gravelly and poor.

Robinson's, Is., c. h. Crawford co.

Robinson, Pa., Alleghany co. This town is
bounded N. by the Ohio River, S. E. by Char-
tier's Creek, and W. by Montour's Run. Surface
hilly; soil loam. Situated 6 miles N. W. from
Petersburg.

Robinstoyon, Me., Washington co. On the St.
Croix, opposite St. Andrews. 16 miles N. N. W.
from Eastport. It is largely concerned in the
lumber trade.

Rochester, la., c. h. Fulton co., lies a little S.
from Tippecanoe River, and 95 miles N. from
Indianapolis.

Rochester, Ms., Plymouth co. This is a large
township on the N. W. side of Buzzard's Bay. It
was called
Seipican by the Indians, and signifies
a
resting-place. The location of Rochester for
navigation and the fisheries is exceedingly favor-
able, it having 2 excellent harbors, Mattapoiset
and Sippican. Mattapoiset River, which rises in
Snipatuit Pond, a large sheet of water in the
town, Sippican, and Weweantic Rivers afford
a good water power. The surface is pleas-
antly varied ; some parts are rocky and unfit for
cultivation, while other parts vary from a tolera-
ble soil to the very best. The 2 principal vil-
lages are Mattapoiset and Sippican. Part of
Rochester has been incorporated as the new town
of
Marion. 9 miles E. from New Bedford.

Rochester, Mn., Oakland co. Near the junction
of Paint Creek with Clinton River, both streams
affording good hydraulic power. 128 miles N. W.
from Detroit.

Rochester, N. H., Strafford co. Salmon Fall,
Cocheco, and Isinglass Rivers are in this town.
The two former afford valuable mill sites. The
principal village stands on the Cocheco, and is
called Norway Plains. There is another village,
about 2 miles S. W. from this, called
Squamana-
gonnick,
the Indian name of the falls in the Co-
checo, at that place. Much of the soil is good;
the surface is uneven, with several swells, the
principal of which is Squamanagonnick Hill, on
which are valuable farms. In the W. part is a
large tract of oak land, which is hard and stony,
and has a deep, rich soil. 10 miles N. W. from
Dover by railroad.

Rochester, N. Y., city, port of entry, and seat
of justice for Monroe co., is situated on both sides
• of the Genesee River, 7 miles S. from its en-
trance into Lake Ontario, 250 miles W. of Alba-
ny by the railroad, and 75 miles by railroad E. by
N. from Buffalo. In 1810, this place had not an
existence, and was not incorporated even as a
village until 1817. Population in 1820, 1502;
in 1830, 9269 ; in 1840, 20,191; in 1850, 36,561.

Rochester owes its rapid growth and present
flourishing condition to the peculiar advantages
of its location upon the falls at this place in the
Genesee River, furnishing an amount of hydrau-
lic power which is equalled by that of very few
localities in the United States; and at a point so
easily accessible, by every means of transporta-
tion and travel in use, from the west, from Can-
ada, and the most important places in the Atlan-
tic States. The Genesee River is navigable for
schooners and steamboats from Lake Ontario to
the landing at Carthage, 2J miles below the cen-
tre of the city, to which point a railroad has been
constructed. The great Erie Canal, uniting the
waters of the western lakes with the Hudson at
Albany, here crosses the river, and passes through
the centre of the city. The Genesee Yalley Canal
is in progress to connect it with Olean on the
Alleghany River, and thence, by that river, with
the Ohio at Pittsburg. The chain of railroads
from Boston and New York to Buffalo passes
through this city, making it a great thoroughfare
of travel between the eastern and western sections
of the country, and giving it a ready access to
the most important intermediate places.

The falls in the Genesee River, at Rochester,
have an entire descent of 268 feet, consisting of
3 perpendicular pitches and 2 rapids. After
passing over one of the rapids, the stream plunges
down the first great cataract, perpendicularly, 96
feet. Owing to the peculiar configuration of the
ledge here, which recedes up the river from the
centre to the sides, the water is poured over
the precipice in 3 distinct sheets, giving an ex-
ceedingly picturesque beauty to this splendid
waterfall. From a rock, called
Table Rock, in
the centre of this fall, the notorious Sam Patch
made his last and fatal leap. Below the first
cataract the river flows broad and deep for a mile
and a half to the second, where it makes a per-
pendicular pitch of 20 feet; and thence pur-
sues a noisy and rapid course for about 25 rods,
to the third and last fall, over which it pours its
volume down a perpendicular descent of 105 feet.
Through the entire distance from the upper to the
lower fall, the river flows through a narrow ra-
vine of more than 100 feet in depth. The river
is here flowing N., and the railroad passes about
100 rods S. of the first fall; so that passengers in
the cars are not apprised, by any thing which
attracts their notice, of the interesting natural
curiosity to which they are approaching.

The depression of the stream commences con-
siderably above the first cataract, and in a dis-
tance of about 500 yards gives a fall of 12 feet,
available for hydraulic purposes. Canals have
here been excavated on each side of the river for
the mills. On the W. side the water is again
taken out below the rapids for the same purposes.
Another power of considerable amount is created
by the feeder for the Erie Canal, which comes
from the river nearly 2 miles above. The falls
at Rochester afford a water power estimated
equal to 1920 steam engines, of 20 horse power;
which would amount, according to the valuation
of steam power in England, to the great sum of
$9,718,272, for its annual use. The leading pur-
pose to which a portion of this immense power
has been applied is the flouring business, which
is carried on here on a very large scale, and which
succeeds, legitimately enough, to the first business
ever established at Rochester — that of a grain
mill, erected by a solitary pioneer, then ‘many











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