The worst flood in Rochester’s history occurred in March 1865. Buildings and other encroachments in the Genesee River channel in Rochester and further upstream were blamed for inundation, which swept over the Main Street Bridge and undermined the foundations of buildings on both banks. This photograph looks west across the river with Main Street in the foreground. The six-story structure at the far left is the New Red Mill, built in 1822 by Harvey Montgomery and Thomas H. Rochester — a rare and perhaps unique example of one of the original Genesee Falls mills surviving into the age of photography. It would be demolished in 1870 to make way for new construction. (From the collection of the Rochester Public Library Local History & Genealogy Division.)