Over the last year, we’ve had our share of artsy pleasure seeking in the South Wedge. Jill Gussow’s Crow and Jordan’s aquatic animals in lava lamps.
A Pub Crawl, an impromptu poet slam at Lux, an 80s night at Lux and a dance party at Buta Pub. And things got a little over the top at a deflowering at the Cinema.
Some scrumptious cheesecake and even some food for thought with Jake’s trivia and the Wedg-ucationals.
Today, George Payne reminds us what makes the South Wedge such an appealing neighborhood in which to live, work and visit. It’s the progressive vibe woven into the fabric of the Wedge.
Except where noted, photos by George with links to related article by him and others,
History
The neighborhood we know as the South Wedge began in the 1820s as a series of small houses owned by families tied to the Erie Canal trade. The Old Stone Warehouse, the oldest commercial building in Rochester, was built here in 1822. The area was actually part of Brighton until Rochester annexed it in 1834 as a buffer region for future growth. In the 1840s George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry of Ellwanger and Barry fame founded their nursery on what was then Grand Avenue (South Avenue today). By the time Frederick Douglass moved to South Ave in the 1860s, the area was flourishing, with the city’s first street railway, a plank road, and a hospital. Douglass’s house still stands at the corner of Hamilton and Bond Streets.
After World War II, however, the Wedge began a slow decline as residents moved to the suburbs. Businesses closed until the Wedge hit rock bottom in the 1970s. Nearly 200 homes and over 25% of all housing units were vacant and prostitution was “rampant” on South Avenue. Still, long-time residents took a stand against the decay and founded the
South Wedge Planning Committee in 1973. The Wedge was first published five years later to document the neighborhood’s fight against crime, blight, and vacancy. By placing an emphasis on safety and neighborhood pride, the SWPC brought about a gradual but highly successful renaissance.

Gandhi Earth Keepers International article in The Wedge
Revitablization work continues to the present. In 2006 neighborhood groups transformed a vacant lot populated by drug dealers into Nathaniel Square Park. A sculpture of city founder Nathaniel Rochester was unveiled in 2008 as the park’s centerpiece. The sculpture, which shows Rochester sitting in reflection, was the work of Pepsy Kettavong.
The Linden-South Historic District, comprised of 81 properties on South Avenue and Linden Street, was named “significant in history, architecture, design, archeology and culture” by the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Taken from rocwiki.org/South Wedge

Sign next to Nathaniel Rochester Square

Photo: David Kramer from Cheese, pepperoni and hope in Nathaniel Rochester Square; last Pizza-in-the-Park is this Saturday
see Cheese, pepperoni and hope in Nathaniel Rochester Square; last Pizza-in-the-Park is this Saturday
The The Historic German House & Auditorium is an historical building in the South Wedge. It was originally a parish hall for St. Boniface Church but has served as a restaurant since 1924. Today it serves as a banquet hall for wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, lectures, parties, concerts, and neighborhood gatherings.
see Bringing wisdom and beer to the masses with Jake Kwiatkowski

The Coffee Connection
The Coffee Connection provides employment training and job creation for women in recovery from addiction and as a not-for-profit business sells fair trade, organic coffee to retail and wholesale customers. In partnership with Project Empower, we provide comprehensive, continuous support for women on their journey toward sustainable recovery.
Ourcoffeeconnection.org
The Linear Garden: An island of peace and beauty in the North Winton Village
“A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy.”
― Theodore Roosevelt, New Nationalism Speech by Teddy Roosevelt
“Fame is fun, money is useful, celebrity can be exciting, but finally life is about optimal well-being and how we achieve that in dominator culture, in a greedy culture, in a culture that uses so much of the world’s resources. How do men and women, boys and girls, live lives of compassion, justice and love? And I think that’s the visionary challenge for feminism and all other progressive movements for social change.”
― bell hooks
The New Deal is not Dead: Bearing Witness to the Fight for Economic Justice in Rochester

Needle Drop Records

Swift Water Brewery see To where does the South Wedge compare?
To where does the South Wedge compare?
Nineteenth-century grass-roots populism made twentieth-century progressivism possible. — Jill Lepore

Bernie Sanders fundraiser at the German House On seeing my first Trump supporters outside the Bug Jar and Citizenship in action at the corner of Culver and Parsells
On seeing my first Trump supporters outside the Bug Jar and Citizenship in action at the corner of Culver and Parsells

Mary Lupien has appeared on the Broken Spear Vision on three occasions. see Would America elect a democratic socialist? We already have. Think FDR.
Listen here The Broken Spear Vision see Would America elect a democratic socialist? We already have. Think FDR

The Wedge is known its boutiques and shops
Cheesecake is good for you at National Cheesecake Day at Cheesy Eddie’s

Orgs such as reconnect Rochester are interested in the Wedge. It is a natural destination for young people looking for commonsense urban dwelling

Natural Awakenings Magazine was distributed all over the Wedge

Street art in the Wedge see Flower City Street Art
Pop Quiz at the South Wedge-Ucation

Rev. Matthew Nicoloff joined the Broken Spear Vision to talk about his work as a pastor in the South Wedge.
Listen here The Broken Spear Vision
South Wedge Mission
We are beloved children of God, and no one can tell us otherwise. We are proud forgiven sinners, neither ashamed of our brokenness, nor obsessed with our failures, boasting only in the foolishness of the Cross of Christ. We strive to be practitioners of resurrection, seekers of wonder, and daredevils of delight.
Our vocations are many: we are teachers, social workers, scientists, nurses, mercenaries, veterans, addicts, artists, activists, entrepeneurs, programmers, unemployed, underemployed and overemployed too. We are gay, straight, old, young, single, married, parents, children, the un-churched, re-churched, non-churched, anti-church, and everything in between. We are the church in this place. Because the Gospel is for us, and for all.

Photo: David Kramer from A weekend celebrating the 75th anniversary of St. Joseph’s House. And remembering Tanny in Washington Square Park.

TRU Yoga
see Yoga on and off the mat with Mel Thomas

Not quite in the Wedge, but it’s totally their neighborhood theater
Budding scientists make cinematic splash at East

A welcoming and affirming neighborhood
“Nepali refugee assaulted, seized”
A FAMOUS SOUTH WEDGE RESIDENT
Frederick Douglass in Rochester: a gallery of images and words
ON HIGHLAND PARK
Warner Castle & the Sunken Garden: Two Public Gems in Highland Park
AND THIS YEAR TWO PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES RAN FOR THE LEGISLATIVE SEAT REPRESENTING THE SOUTH WEDGE