Rochester, Indiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
City of Rochester, Indiana
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Rochester business district
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| Motto(s):
"The City of Friendship and Pride"
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Location of Rochester in Fulton County, Indiana
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| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Fulton |
| Settled | 1835 |
| Incorporated Town | June 11, 1853 |
| Incorporated City | October 11, 1909 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.68 sq mi (14.71 km2) |
| • Land | 4.57 sq mi (11.84 km2) |
| • Water | 1.11 sq mi (2.87 km2) 19.14% |
| Elevation | 784 ft (239 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 6,270 |
| • Density | 1,311.02/sq mi (506.19/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code |
46975
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| Area code | 574 |
| FIPS code | 18-65214 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2396394 |
| Website | http://www.rochester.in.us/ |
Rochester is a city in, and the county seat of, Fulton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,270 at the 2020 census.
Contents
History
Rochester was laid out in 1835. The founder Alexander Chamberlain named it for his former hometown of Rochester, New York. The Rochester post office was established in 1836.
The Potawatomi Trail of Death came through the town in 1838.
Rochester was incorporated as a city in 1853.
The Lyman M. Brackett House, Fulton County Courthouse, Rochester Downtown Historic District, and John W. Smith House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The formerly listed Germany Bridge was located nearby. The Wideman-Gerig Round Barn is in use at the Round Barn Golf Club in Rochester.
In 1967, the most complete known specimen of the extinct bear Arctodus was found in a cornfield.
On May 11, 1938, Irene Ray and her husband Charles were driven from the town of Rochester, Indiana due to allegations that Irene was a practitioner of witchcraft and had hexed several town folk. It was alleged that her hexes had caused personal property damage, serious illness, and even death. Irene and Charles had moved to the town six years prior to this unfortunate episode along with their daughter, Iloe, and their cat (a strange fact that many of the newspaper stories were sure to include).
In early April, 1974 Indiana was one of the states that were impacted by the super outbreak. On a Sunday, sometime in April, 1974, an F4 tornado formed a few miles outside of Rochester. The tornado reportedly hit multiple houses in Rochester, Also damaging Riddle Elementary, the tornado continued and killed a couple people before dissipating.
Geography
According to the 2010 census, Rochester has a total area of 5.801 square miles (15.02 km2), of which 4.69 square miles (12.15 km2) (or 80.85%) is land and 1.111 square miles (2.88 km2) (or 19.15%) is water.
Climate
| Climate data for Rochester, Indiana (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1904–1916, 1924–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 69 (21) |
73 (23) |
86 (30) |
93 (34) |
96 (36) |
105 (41) |
109 (43) |
102 (39) |
103 (39) |
91 (33) |
81 (27) |
70 (21) |
109 (43) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 54.8 (12.7) |
57.2 (14.0) |
70.7 (21.5) |
79.8 (26.6) |
87.7 (30.9) |
92.2 (33.4) |
92.7 (33.7) |
91.6 (33.1) |
89.8 (32.1) |
82.3 (27.9) |
68.2 (20.1) |
57.3 (14.1) |
94.7 (34.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 31.9 (−0.1) |
35.8 (2.1) |
47.1 (8.4) |
60.0 (15.6) |
71.3 (21.8) |
80.2 (26.8) |
83.2 (28.4) |
81.5 (27.5) |
76.0 (24.4) |
63.5 (17.5) |
48.9 (9.4) |
37.0 (2.8) |
59.7 (15.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 24.6 (−4.1) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
37.7 (3.2) |
49.3 (9.6) |
60.6 (15.9) |
70.1 (21.2) |
73.0 (22.8) |
71.2 (21.8) |
64.6 (18.1) |
53.0 (11.7) |
40.5 (4.7) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
50.2 (10.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.3 (−8.2) |
19.7 (−6.8) |
28.3 (−2.1) |
38.6 (3.7) |
49.9 (9.9) |
59.9 (15.5) |
62.8 (17.1) |
61.0 (16.1) |
53.3 (11.8) |
42.5 (5.8) |
32.2 (0.1) |
23.2 (−4.9) |
40.7 (4.8) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −3.8 (−19.9) |
1.0 (−17.2) |
12.4 (−10.9) |
24.6 (−4.1) |
35.7 (2.1) |
46.0 (7.8) |
50.8 (10.4) |
50.5 (10.3) |
40.1 (4.5) |
29.1 (−1.6) |
18.8 (−7.3) |
5.3 (−14.8) |
−7.3 (−21.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −24 (−31) |
−21 (−29) |
−7 (−22) |
8 (−13) |
24 (−4) |
35 (2) |
36 (2) |
35 (2) |
28 (−2) |
14 (−10) |
−4 (−20) |
−30 (−34) |
−30 (−34) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.83 (72) |
2.28 (58) |
2.62 (67) |
3.87 (98) |
4.40 (112) |
4.27 (108) |
4.44 (113) |
4.13 (105) |
3.20 (81) |
3.20 (81) |
3.08 (78) |
2.43 (62) |
40.75 (1,035) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 10.7 (27) |
8.0 (20) |
3.3 (8.4) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.3 (3.3) |
6.3 (16) |
30.1 (76) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9.7 | 7.8 | 9.3 | 10.7 | 11.4 | 10.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 112.0 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 4.6 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 12.7 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1850 | 283 | — | |
| 1860 | 651 | 130.0% | |
| 1870 | 1,528 | 134.7% | |
| 1880 | 1,869 | 22.3% | |
| 1890 | 2,467 | 32.0% | |
| 1900 | 3,421 | 38.7% | |
| 1910 | 3,364 | −1.7% | |
| 1920 | 3,720 | 10.6% | |
| 1930 | 3,518 | −5.4% | |
| 1940 | 3,835 | 9.0% | |
| 1950 | 4,673 | 21.9% | |
| 1960 | 4,883 | 4.5% | |
| 1970 | 4,631 | −5.2% | |
| 1980 | 5,050 | 9.0% | |
| 1990 | 5,969 | 18.2% | |
| 2000 | 6,414 | 7.5% | |
| 2010 | 6,218 | −3.1% | |
| 2020 | 6,270 | 0.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 6,218 people, 2,702 households, and 1,650 families living in the city. The population density was 1,325.8 inhabitants per square mile (511.9/km2). There were 3,211 housing units at an average density of 684.6 per square mile (264.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 95.9% White, 0.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.4% of the population.
Of the 2,702 households 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.9% were non-families. 33.8% of households were one person and 16.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.84.
The median age was 41.6 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.9% were from 25 to 44; 26.6% were from 45 to 64; and 19.5% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.9% male and 52.1% female.
Parks and recreation
Located on the east side of Rochester, Lake Manitou is a popular place in the summer for boating and other water-related activities. City Park is located on the western side of Rochester, near the high school.
Education
Rochester has a public library, a branch of the Fulton County Public Library. The Rochester Community School Corporation is housed in Rochester, operating two elementary level schools (Columbia, PK-grade 1 and Riddle, grades 2–4), Rochester Middle School (grades 5–7) and Rochester Community High School (grades 8–12). (Rochester Learning Center)| zebras.net
Historic structures
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Fulton County, Indiana
- Rochester Downtown Historic District
- Fulton County Courthouse (Indiana)
- Lyman M. Brackett House
- John W. Smith House
Notable people
- Nicole Gale Anderson, actress
- Jorge Argüello, 2011-13 Ambassador of Argentina to the United States
- Margret Holmes Bates (1844-1927), author
- Otis R. Bowen, fourth United States Secretary of Health and Human Services; born nearby
- John Angus Chamberlain, sculptor
- Thurman C. Crook, one-term U.S. congressman
- Gene DeWeese, science fiction writer; born in Rochester
- Ron Herrell, former member of the Indiana House of Representatives
- Elmo Lincoln, film actor and subject of the biography My Father, Elmo Lincoln: The Original Tarzan
- Ray Mowe, shortstop for the 1913 Brooklyn Dodgers
- Clyde Short, Chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party, 1934-1936
See also
In Spanish: Rochester (Indiana) para niños
