Starting in the late 1950s, the Third Ward became a target for urban renewal and highway planners. By 1972, Route 490 cut through the northern end of Clarissa St. separating it from downtown. Even though untouched by the highway path, bulldozers had demolished nearly every home and business along 8 blocks toward the south.
People lost intergenerational investments in their homes. Businesses and cultural institutions—from jazz clubs to civic clubs and community centers—were displaced while most had to close entirely. Nearly 900 families were uprooted and dispersed, mostly toward the 19th Ward and Plymouth/Exchange (PL/EX) neighborhood, and some families moved to Henrietta.
Was urban renewal a “rebirth” or a “big, big steal”?
Family photos courtesy of Sprague family in front of their home at 26-28 Clarendon Street. Today a mound in an expanse of empty grass sits where their house once stood.
The Spragues are one of the oldest families in Rochester, arriving in the 1820s. Frederick Douglass’s daughter Rosetta married Nathan Sprague in 1863.
What is the value of home?
Second Acquisition Appraisal, Project No. NYR 144, Third Ward, Rochester, New York, Book 10, Blocks No. 31-32-33-35, Genesee Appraisal Service, Lucien Agnew Curre. On loan courtesy of the City of Rochester.
What do you notice between how the story of urban renewal is framed in The Rochester Voice in comparison to this Democrat and Chronicle story?
Democrat & Chronicle, October 24, 1962, pg. 1
Written by Arthur Deutsch
Edited and published by Howard W. Coles, The Rochester Voice newspaper served the Black community for more than 60 years, from 1933 until 1996. The paper changed names over the years (the Frederick Douglass Voice and simply The Voice), but filled a void in stories and perspectives that were not coming out of traditional newsrooms during the same era.
The Rochester Voice, September 1966, Vol XXXII, No. 12, pg. 1
Between his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, George Fontenette’s family owned five businesses in the Third Ward: Vallot’s Tavern, Fontenette Grocery, Stamps Cleaners, Victor’s Barber Shop, and The Gibson Hotel. Several of these were listed in the Green Book–a national travel and vacation guide for Black people’s safe and enjoyable travel (Published 1936-1967 by Victor Hugo Green).
When his family members were trying to negotiate with the City’s Department of Urban Renewal and Economic Development, George was in the Army serving in Vietnam. He learned for the first time about a reported fire in his house when he saw this record for his family home on Favor Street.
George’s friend, Henry Harring, who was sitting with his own family records nearby, shared that his family was encouraged to move and board up their house for “safekeeping” while the City decided the price they would pay the Harring family to take their property (“acquisition”). His house on Bronson Avenue also caught fire during that time.
Fontenette Acquisition folder: Notes and letter signed by Charles P. Connors, Real Estate Consultant.
Vallot’s Tavern: First Acquisition Appraisal, Third Ward, Project No. NY R-144, Rochester, New York, Book Ten, Blocks 31-32-33-35, Michael F. Quinn, Appraiser. On loan courtesy of the City of Rochester.
An installation from the Clarissa Uprooted Exhibit juxtaposing videos from before (1965), during (1982), and after (2022) urban renewal in the Third Ward. The videos were played at the same time, with audio from the next video playing each time it looped. The videos are linked below for your viewing.
WROC-TV reporter Bill Haley interviews Third Ward neighbors, urban planners and community activists about “urban renewal” plans to knock down the community and relocate.
Produced by and courtesy of WROC-TV
Wilson Magnet School students interview Corn Hill neighbors and the developer for Mark IV as the company bulldozes and erects houses on a portion of the land where Clarissa Street families’ homes had stood 10 years prior near Bronson Avenue (now called Dr. Samuel McCree Way) between Clarissa and Ford Streets.
Produced by Wilson Magnet School Videographics Class
Courtesy of Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) Film/Video Collection (VSW.org)
For the first time since the early 1970s, elders got to see images of the homes and businesses that made up their childhood world around Clarissa Street. The photos were stapled in binders and folders used to assess the value of their families’ properties in preparation for the City of Rochester’s then Department of Urban Renewal and Economic Development to take them to be demolished through a policy called “eminent domain.” Elders reflect on their memories of that time and what these urban renewal records reveal to them all these years later.
Edited by Rashaad Parker
bobby johnson’s interviews with old friends appeared in the annual Clarissa Street Reunion Journal. This one was for the 4th Annual Reunion in 1999.
What are words that bobby and Vivian McNeil Lyles use when they talk about what was done to their community?
Courtesy of Clarissa Street Reunion Committee
This interactive map shows just how much Rochester has changed pre-1940 to today. Some of the most dramatic changes have been in the former Third Ward.
To view how different the Clarissa Street area is today:
Pay attention to what you find between Adams Street./Mt. Olivet Baptist Church (141 Adams Street) and where the historic Memorial AME Zion Church stands today below (549 Clarissa St.).
What do you notice?
You can look up any current city address.
Created by City of Rochester (fair use)
