Ellwanger Barry Neighborhhod (Rochester, New York)

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Neighborhood on the sight of the old Ellwanger Barry Terraced Gardens.

George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry, for whom this neighborhood is named, were owners of one of the largest nurseries Rochester, helping it to be known as “The Flower City. Their first site, the Mount Hope Garden and Nurseries, grew to 43 acres by 1843 and was the basis of an extremely profitable wholesale business. By 1860 Ellwanger and Barry would control over 500 acres in the area.

Ellwanger and Barry invested in the first horse-drawn streetcar line, the Rochester-Brighton Street Railroad. Their property on Cypress and Linden streets was subdivided and turned into home lots, primarily for their workers. Other Rochester nurseries would soon follow their lead. They were early advocates of public parks. Besides the Cypress and Linden neighborhood, Ellwanger and Barry land would form the basis of Highland Park..

As cities in the American west matured, a major market for Rochester's nursery products declined. In addition, the founding generation of nurserymen began to pass around the turn of the century and their leadership was not replaced. George Ellwanger would die in 1906. Patrick Barry's son, the company's president, died in 1912. The company began subdividing their holdings and selling them off piece by piece. The last new planting was 1912.

Patrick Barry's house on Mount Hope Avenue is now owned by the University of Rochester. Among the neighborhood landmarks is Peace Lutheran Church, which began as a Sunday School Mission to German immigrants in 1884. In 1886, a white frame structure at the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Caroline Street was built, and Friedenskirche became an official congregation in 1890. A larger brick church was constructed in 1928. As of 2014, this church has become The South Wedge Mission.

The Ellwanger Barry neighborhood is now considered part of the Highland ParK neighborhood. The Ellwanger & Barry Park Playground on the corner of Linden and Meigs Streets has grown into a multi-purpose unofficial neighborhood center. Within walking distance of the neighborhood are the commercial districts of the South Wedge and Swillburg with a variety of restaurants, boutiques and pubs.