2026 Sloan Lecture Series-The Making of Flower City-On-line Only

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January 15 @ 6:30 PM- The Making of Flower City: The Erie Canal, American Empire, and the Horticultural Transformation of the Country

Born of the Erie Canal, Rochester, New York exploded from a small village into a boomtown. Developing into a prominent hub for flour-milling, Rochester was an icon of America’s market revolution. But when the Panic of 1837 struck the region, the economic foundations of the city collapsed. In the wake of collapse a new group of horticulture reformers sought to reform the city, region, and their residents. By the middle of the decades of the nineteenth century, they city became home to a group of plant nurserymen and seed dealers whose transnational reach remade the North American landscape and transformed Rochester from the Flour City into the Flower City.

Presented by Erie Canal Museum