Rochester City Map Poster

About Rochester

Rochester is the seat of Monroe County, and lies on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in upstate New York. The city's population was 210,565 at the 2010 census; a Census estimate of July 1, 2012 indicated that Rochester's population had increased to 213,536. This makes it third-largest metropolitan area in New York State (behind only New York City and Buffalo) as well as one of the largest cities in Upstate NY. The Rochester area has been inhabited for over a millennium by indigenous peoples: Iroquois have lived near what is now Rochester since their confederacy was based there prehistorically; they founded several villages before continuing west along Lake Ontario to settle around modern Toronto.[6] In 1788 "Squatters" came from Connecticut and claimed land on both sides of the Genesee River but were forced out by local tribesmen.