TheTalented Mr. Frauenberger of Rochester

George Frauenberger Leaves His Mark

A  history Rochester's notable people mentions the talented Mr. Frauenberger in the section on engravers of wood and copper.  Both Briggs & Bro. and Vick's used his services.

Autumn of 1866, Vick's Illustrated Catalogue of Hardy
Bulbs and Floral Guide included one brightly hand-colored,
 wood engraving "by George Frauenberger,
expressly for Vick's Bulb Catalogue".

"The earliest wood-cut engraver here was Martin Cable. He made a few coarse wood-cuts of our early newspaper offices, for show-bills, etc. He has left no record by which his fame could be perpetuated. V. R. Jackson commenced engraving here about 1835. He engraved on copper and wood; also the first copper-plate map of the city was made by him about the year 1840. He did a large amount of work on wood, and was a man of decided talent in his profession. About 1845 Charles Mix came here and formed a copartnership with John Miller, under the name of Miller & Mix.  This firm for a number of years were the only engravers here. They executed first- class work on steel, copper and wood, and acquired a good reputation as artists. Miller moved away, and Mix continued the business for a time, when he was succeeded, in 1850, by George Frauenberger, who, as engraver on wood or copper, as a draughtsman in mechanical drawing, and as a horticultural draughtsman from nature, has acquired an enviable reputation. George D. Ramsdell and E. M. Sasseville are also good engravers, with plenty of work on hand."

Semi-centennial History of the City of Rochester: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers -William Farley Peck, 1884

From a snippet return on a Google search I read -"George Frauenberger (b. Hildburgshausen, Germany, 1829; d. Rochester, New York, April 18, 1899), "Wood Engraver," advertised in the Rochester city directory, 1861, that he was a "Designer and engraver on wood..."

 ‎Read the above...it is an interesting magazine to explore.

George Frauenberger had an office at #60 in the Arcade.  The Reynold's Arcade was a big deal in Rochester.

 from City Building on the Eastern Frontier: Sorting the New Nineteenth-Century City - By Diane Shaw

Below is the 1877 interior of the Arcade.

More History of the Arcade

Abelard Reynolds purchased two lots near the bridge in 1812. 

He brought his family from Pittsfield, MA to the 100 Acre Plot in February 1813 and became the first person to complete a frame house. He ran a saddlery and the first tavern on the west bank on the site and with the help of Colonel Rochester became the settlements first postmaster, a position he held for nearly 17 years. 
In 1828, backed by capital from Albany and New York City, he moved the house 150 feet to the rear of the plot and built the 4 ½ story Reynolds Arcade.

It was built of brick, fronted 99 feet on Buffalo Street and had 86 rooms. The building was divided through the middle by a lofty skylighted corridor. Shops and offices were on the ground floor and a second balconied gallery level. The post office was at the rear of the hall. It had six large stores facing Buffalo Street, hotel rooms on the upper floors and on the roof an observatory 89 feet above the street. It was remodeled in the 1880's and rebuilt in the Art Deco style in 1933.                               from Walking Tour of Rochester's One Hundred Acre Plot

This engraving was done in 1840.






The bustling street below in the photograph is 1920s Rochester.

The building has been changed a bit but still looks good but dated. Not to mention, short.  It was torn down in 1933 for a grand Art Deco building of, I think, 12 floors.   It looks stumpy now.

The Art Deco Building is a little down on its luck.  A pizza place is a featured renter.