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DTSTART:20210417T170000Z
DTEND:20210417T183000Z
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SUMMARY:Rochester's Rich History: Rochester's District Steam Heating System
DESCRIPTION:REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED (see below). Registrants will receive 
 the Zoom link in an email one hour before the talk begins.\n\nThe last half 
 of the Nineteenth Century saw the introduction of public utility services 
 in Rochester\, such as public water\, electricity and gas. Not as well 
 known was the idea of delivering steam to individual buildings for space 
 and water heating\, power\, and even cooking. This was known as district 
 steam or district heating\, and the first commercial system had been built 
 in Lockport in 1877 by Birdsill Holly of water works fame. A group of 
 Rochester business men visited Lockport in October 1878 and formed the 
 Rochester Steam Heating and Power Company the following April of 1879. This 
 company did not build a system\; two other companies proposed district 
 heating systems in 1887 and 1888\, but neither moved forward.\n\nThe Edison 
 Electric Illuminating Company had been organized in 1886 to promote 
 Edison's incandescent lamp\, and their steam-powered plant began service on 
 Edison street in early 1887. The exhaust steam from the engines was used to 
 heat adjacent buildings\, but this plant was later converted to use 
 waterpower from the Fitzhugh and Carroll race and the steam engines were 
 abandoned. A group of local businessmen in 1894 installed underground pipes 
 to deliver steam from Rochester Gas & Electric's new station #2 to their 
 nearby factories. In 1904\, the Rochester Railway and Light Company 
 acquired RG&E and in 1907 they provided steam to a new garbage reduction 
 plant. Steam service expanded rapidly\, and new stations were built in 1925 
 and 1926 to serve the downtown area and industries at Lincoln Park. By the 
 1960s the system was the fourth largest in the country\, but urban 
 renewal\, more stringent air pollution regulations\, and increasing fuel 
 cost resulted in more than half of their customers leaving the system. RG&E 
 sought permission to abandon it\, but the City\, County\, and other 
 customers resisted and ended up forming the Rochester District Heating 
 Cooperative\, which acquired the system in 1985 and continues to deliver 
 reliable and economical steam service to more than 40 buildings in downtown 
 Rochester. \n\nMorris A. Pierce is the retired Energy Manager for the 
 University of Rochester\, where he has also taught the History of 
 Technology\, History of Rochester\, and American Military History for three 
 decades. He is currently preparing a Documentary History of American Water 
 Works that includes detailed information on over 800 water systems\, 
 including Rochester.
LOCATION:Central Library
ORGANIZER;CN="Local History Central":MAILTO:lochist@libraryweb.org
CATEGORIES:Department - Local History & Genealogy, Online Event, Local History
CONTACT;CN="Local History Central":MAILTO:lochist@libraryweb.org
STATUS:CONFIRMED
UID:LibCal-6939608
URL:https://calendar.libraryweb.org/event/6939608
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