Mount. Hope-Highland Historic District (Additional Documentation)

On the east bank of the Genesee River in Rochester, this district of about 200 acres combines Highland Park, the older part of Mt. Hope Cemetery and the houses along Mount Hope Avenue. Much of the land once belonged to the Ellwanger and Barry nursery, among the largest in the world in its day. The two nurserymen shaped the area's character, hiring leading architects. In 1854 A.J. Davis designed their stone nursery office, and Warner Castle, modeled on a Scottish castle, was built the same year. Later additions include the Patrick Barry House of 1857, an 1876 Ellwanger house, four cottages for nursery employees, and Claude Bragdon's shingled houses on Castle Park. The cemetery, laid out in 1838, has a Gothic chapel, gatehouse, gazebo and elaborate mausoleums reflecting Victorian attitudes toward death. Highland Park grew from a 1887 gift of land by Ellwanger and Barry. Together these elements preserve a landscaped nineteenth-century environment with notable architecture.