Henrietta Highlights
New York Museum of Transportation
Located on East River Road in West Henrietta, the New York Museum of Transportation is a nonprofit organization that aims to collect, preserve, and operate artifacts and provide information about the transportation history of upstate New York. It operates the only trolley ride in New York with restored cars originally built for the Philadelphia and Western Railroad in the 1920s. The museum is home to 14 full-size trolley cars, a steam locomotive, a caboose, and horse-drawn vehicles. Learn about the history of New York transportation and ride on historic trolleys.
Eastman Theatre
Welcome to Kodak Hall, a prominent space for music performance as well as dance and silent film. Kodak Hall was first opened in 1922 and features the extravagant décor of the 1920s, making the hall feel tastefully elegant and magnificent. Primarily it is used for concerts of orchestras, wind and jazz ensembles, as well as chorale. Full-fledged operatic productions take place in the spring, and a new wing was built recently as an expansion to the hall.
High Falls
One of the region’s most stunning natural sights can be found right in the heart of downtown. Once key to both the city’s settlement and early industrial development, High Falls now makes for some fantastic photos and scenic tours. Set along the Genesee River, the waterfall reaches almost a hundred feet in height with a massive gorge lying at its foot. While gushing waters formerly used to feed flour mills and factories, they now instead generate hydroelectric power for the city and its suburbs. Learn more about the history and its importance to Rochester at its adjoining museum and visitor center.
The History of Henrietta
Henrietta, part of Northfield Ontario County when it was first settled, became a town in 1818. The town of Henrietta today is bordered on the east by the towns of Pittsford and Mendon, and on the west by the Genesee River. Land speculation and natural resource possession disputes were the motivations of early land ownership here. Even though New York state was inhabited by Europeans as early as 1614, western New York was not safe for settlement due to disease-harboring swampy land along the Genesee River, and fighting during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. The town of Henrietta is in south central Monroe County.
