Grove Place

1827

Josiah Bissell, the great Erie Canal engineer, purchases 100 acres and builds a home on a lovely small hill crested by a grove of trees, just to the northeast of Rochester’s new Main Street which ended where the Liberty Pole now stands.  Cattle are the primary residents.

1830’s

Dr. Orrin Gibbs purchases the property, naming its western border for his father, establishing today’s Gibbs Street. Dr. Gibbs sells the property to Judge Samuel Lee Selden, husband of Susan Ward,

1840

Samuel Selden and Dr. Levi Ward, Sr., become the primary landowners and build homes and raise their families in Grove Place. (The Ward family was represented in Grove Place for nearly 150 years.)

1878

Theodore Bacon builds a row of six Tudor Revival townhouses for his family. They are the most architecturally significant surviving examples of 19^th century row houses in Rochester.

George B. Selden invents the gasoline automobile in his uncle’s barn directly behind the townhouses. His patent, never put into production, ultimately produces rich royalties. The Selden car is introduced in 1908. Selden retires in 1911 when the U.S. Circuit Court relieves Henry Ford and other producers from obligations to the Selden patent

1909

The great Gibbs Street blaze damages 70 homes in Grove Place.

1914

The Young Men’s Christian Association builds on the site of Grove Street, a new thoroughfare cut through the Ward/Selden grounds.

1968

Melville C. McQuay, a longtime resident, and the Rev. Walter B. Freed, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation, establish the Grove Place Neighborhood Association.

1970’s

Grove Place Neighborhood Association initiates formation of Grovetown, Inc., a development company which purchases, restores, and sells more than 13 homes dating from the 1850’s. Two modern townhouses, adding a touch of 20^th century flair, are constructed.

1980’s

The new YMCA Metro Center is constructed. On Selden Street, there is an enclave of new townhouses.

Eastman Place, built in 1988, is home to the Sibley Music Library of the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester.

Behind the YMCA is the Eastman School of Music Student Living Center, home to more than 350 students.

1995

Construction of Symphony Terrace commences.