An amateur historian uncovers Rochester’s lost history

Rochester, New York – As the hours, days, and minutes pass, history moves forward. Geoffrey Zeiner’s research starts at that point.

“There is something in every neighborhood that has vanished from everything except maps and newspaper articles,” Zeiner, the creator of the “Gonechester” blog, stated.

Regarding his time spent working on the site, Zeiner remarked, “When my kids were asleep.” “I began doing some research on my own neighborhood, starting with places like my house and street. And there was a lot more there than I had anticipated.

Discovering stories about people and places that once were part of Rochester, but now are no longer with us.

“I began gathering as much photographic data as I could,” Zeiner stated. We used to have this on our block, and I could say, ‘Hey, look. Did you have knowledge of this? And they would say, “Oh my god, I can see it, I can imagine it.”

Using original documents, newspaper stories, and photographs, Zeiner creates a portrait of these abandoned sites and the people who used to reside and work there.

Zeiner claimed that the Joe Wood story was the most fascinating to examine. And he was a six-foot-tall wooden baseball figure (like a statue). From the time it arrived in Rochester to its journey to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I was able to follow its history.

Zeiner’s blog, Gonechester, compiles his work, and his first public presentation at Pittsford Community Library recently drew fans and history buffs. We get a peek of the past world from Zeiner.

Zeiner stated, “I hope they just get an appreciation for just how deep history is.” “For example, you may see a building and not consider when it was constructed, what was there before, or the hundreds of years of history that have transpired.”

Visualizing history’s impact on society and how the past has created the present.

“Identifying and bringing to the fore those who kind of got lost in the archives,” Zeiner added. “I suppose all I can hope for is that someone will do that for me at some point, to bring me back to life when I’m just words on a page.”