The Corn Hill Name

Written by Rob Goodling

A reader of our CHNA Web Site recently posed the questions, "Why is our neighborhood called Corn Hill and what is the origin of this name? In reading through the various articles posted on the Web Site's History Page, he noted that the name of "Corn Hill" is not clarified or even addressed! According to Cynthia Howk, Architectural Research Coordinator for the Landmark Society, there is no "one" definitive answer to this interesting "name" question but three possible suggestions have been offered over the years:

First-Early Native American inhabitants may have grown corn crops on this area elevated above the Genesee River, which possibly created the name, "Corn Hill." To those traveling northward on the river, a "hill of corn" would have been visible on the left banks of the Genesee. Ms. Howk dismisses this explanation as rather implausible, however, since Native Americans did not actually live in much of what is now Monroe County. They considered it an unhealthy climate due to mosquitoes and because of what they referred to as "Genesee fever." They did have summer settlements as near as what is now the town of Greece, but their nearest permanent settlement was at Ganondagon, just south of Victor.

Second-The name Corn Hill might have come into usage after our early Rochesterville forefathers settled this largely undeveloped area. They built their residences here and maintained agricultural plots, which would have included crops of corn on these elevated banks. One longtime neighborhood resident, Cora Russell, recalled "being told as a girl in the 1890's that the hill in the center of the ward was called Rattlesnake Hill by the first settlers and then became known as Corn Hill once the rattlers were killed off." Following the completion of the Erie Canal, which ran along what is now Rochester's Broad Street, travelers on the Canal as well as on the Genesee River could have seen "hills of corn" as they navigated these waterways. This explanation seems more plausible than the first.

Third-The earliest actual appearance of the term was probably the one-word, "CORNHILL," on an early "Third Ward" city land tract, which included the area now known as Atkinson Street. Cornhill had been a fashionable section of London, England at this time and since Rochester was a new, small, just-developing town, the name may have been used in an attempt to give some prestige or glamour to this neighborhood, where early mayors and dignitaries were building grand homes.

In further research, Ms. Howk was able to locate the "cornhill" name in pre-1600 "Great Fire of London" references as "a wealthy area" of London. Another "Pre-Roman" reference stated that "before the Romans, the site where the city of London was to be located (on the north side of the Thames River) was a particularly favorable site, as it featured two hills: Ludgate & Cornhill, and faced south." Clearly there was historic prestige in the name given to this land tract, which would later become known as Rochester's " Ruffled Shirt Ward" or "Silk Stocking District." This English influence could have been the source of our name.

Another explanation of the "CORNHILL tract" name is given in a 1984 pamphlet, The Third Ward and its CORN HILL HISTORIC PRESERVATION DISTRICT. In this collection of writings, remembrances and recollections, compiled by Corn Hill churches on the occasion of Rochester's 150-year celebration, the following is written: "The Corn Hill Tract was a farm purchased in 1825 by Josiah Bissell. Since he was one of the first three merchant-millers to arrive from Massachusetts in 1814, his friends knew he didn't intend to become a farmer. He had seen the danger of being involved in only one scheme for making money. He told his friends he intended to cut it up into lots and sell them as village lots. He gave the name CORNHILL and described it as the CORNHILL Tract in his deeds of sale. At the time he bought it, it was a large cornfield, and he continued to raise corn on his land, which could be seen clearly for some distance from the river by travelers coming from further south to the growing community by the Falls of the Genesee." Perhaps Mr. Bissell was responsible for our name!

Just when did we more recently and more popularly become known as "Corn Hill?" In the 1960's, neighborhood residents and local RIT students like Steve Baldwin, would have explained that they lived in the historic "old" Third Ward area. Any reference to it being called Corn Hill would have been puzzling and would probably have been assumed to be a mistaken reference to Cobb's Hill-a completely different section of Rochester. Most probably we owe the now-common usage of our Corn Hill name to the early days of the Arts Festival.

In 1968 a group of Greenwood Street residents and artists held a "Greenwood Street Art Show" as a way of selling their art and supporting the renovation of their homes. The show was a modest success and was expanded the next year to include more streets of the neighborhood and, in particular, Action for a Better Community-which co-sponsored the 1969 Arts Show. According to Wayne Frank, Chairperson of the first Art Shows, a new name for this show became necessary in order to be more inclusive of the expansion. The well-known "Third Ward" designation was ruled out due to negative recollections and perceptions of the riots, which had recently occurred here in 1964. But Mr. Frank had recalled seeing the "Corn Hill" name on the deed of his Atkinson Street property and it was pointed out that the sign on the brownstone tower of the church at Plymouth Circle proclaimed it to be the "Corn Hill" M.E. Church, dated 1853. (This property is now home to the End Time Deliverance Ministry and is located at what is now named Lunsford Circle.) In an 1834 city directory, it was discovered that eight Third Ward addresses also included the words "Corn Hill" as part of their address and Corn Hill brand sausages and Corn Hill whiskey were exported to other cities at this time. Clearly here was a historically appropriate name and in 1969 the Corn Hill Arts Show was held.

By 1976 it had become the Corn Hill Arts Festival and ever since the 1970's the thirty-five streets of our neighborhood-bordered by highway 490 to the north, Ford Street to the west, and the Genesee River to the east and south-have become popularly and widely known as historic "Corn Hill." As to the true origin of the name-well, you are free to choose your own favorite explanation!

Selections from "Third Ward Traits" by Charles Mulford Robinson, 1899:

Corn Hill's Third Ward Past
Coming Home to Corn Hill
Friendliness in Corn Hill
Holidays in Corn Hill