Rochester: The Lilac City and Its Shoe Factories
Rochester sits north of Dover along the Cocheco River in Strafford County and has about 30,000 residents. The city earned the nickname "Lilac City" after the New Hampshire state flower, purple lilac, which was adopted in 1919 partly in recognition of the flowering bushes planted across Rochester by early settlers. The designation stuck and is still used on city seals and street signs.
Shoemaking defined the local economy for roughly a century. The Spaulding family's Spaulding and Frost Cooperage and, more significantly, the E. G. and E. Wallace shoe factory and the Rochester Shoe Tree company made the city a regional center for footwear manufacturing from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. When shoemaking moved overseas, the large brick factories along North Main Street emptied, and the city has gone through waves of reuse and demolition since.
The Rochester Opera House, opened in 1908 inside the city hall building, is one of the last working examples of a level-floor theater, where the entire auditorium floor can be raised or lowered hydraulically to switch between theater seating and a flat ballroom. The Rochester Fair, started in 1875, remains one of the longest-running agricultural fairs in New Hampshire and is held each September. The Spaulding Turnpike, NH 16, runs through the city and serves as the main route to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains.
Escortservice.com reviews and indexes escort websites operating in Rochester and the Strafford County area. It functions purely as a directory and does not arrange appointments, confirm any regulatory status, or mediate between parties. Use is restricted to individuals at least 21 years of age.
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Rochester sits north of Dover along the Cocheco River in Strafford County and has about 30,000 residents. The city earned the nickname "Lilac City" after the New Hampshire state flower, purple lilac, which was adopted in 1919 partly in recognition of the flowering bushes planted across Rochester by early settlers. The designation stuck and is still used on city seals and street signs.
Shoemaking defined the local economy for roughly a century. The Spaulding family's Spaulding and Frost Cooperage and, more significantly, the E. G. and E. Wallace shoe factory and the Rochester Shoe Tree company made the city a regional center for footwear manufacturing from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. When shoemaking moved overseas, the large brick factories along North Main Street emptied, and the city has gone through waves of reuse and demolition since.
The Rochester Opera House, opened in 1908 inside the city hall building, is one of the last working examples of a level-floor theater, where the entire auditorium floor can be raised or lowered hydraulically to switch between theater seating and a flat ballroom. The Rochester Fair, started in 1875, remains one of the longest-running agricultural fairs in New Hampshire and is held each September. The Spaulding Turnpike, NH 16, runs through the city and serves as the main route to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains.
Escortservice.com reviews and indexes escort websites operating in Rochester and the Strafford County area. It functions purely as a directory and does not arrange appointments, confirm any regulatory status, or mediate between parties. Use is restricted to individuals at least 21 years of age.
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