In a city known for its follies, identifying the biggest mistake is a project for the obsessive.
That’s why I signed on.
Anyway, you’ve heard all about the damn highways, the segregation, the mismanagement at Kodak, the oppressive taxes, and whatever it is that city council does.
But the biggest mistake Rochester, New York, ever made—by far—has nothing to do with any of that. It has everything to do with a questionable roster decision, one that gets worse every year, and one the region would love to have back—the shortsighted release of a certain Joseph Smith.
In 1826 (the year after the Erie Canal opened), somewhere in Upstate New York, Smith was arrested for pretending to find lost treasure.
The next year, Smith retrieved golden plates from a hill in Manchester, New York, a measly 25 miles from Rochester. He had been directed there, of course, by the angel Moroni. The plates were inscribed in “reformed Egyptian,” mandating a translation by Smith himself into English.
That work would come to be known as the Book of Mormon, a tale of an ancient tribe from Jerusalem that made its way to the New World, where it would interact with a post-Resurrection Jesus. After being witnessed, the plates were returned to the angel, meaning the originals are not exactly available for viewing.
Smith, it could be said, was ahead of his time. Two hundred years before President Trump, he knew that inventing the truth is what true American patriots do. (The rest, as you know, end up as bloggers.)
In any event, not all locals were on board with this strategy, making Smith and his new followers somewhat uncomfortable. One of those followers was a resident of Mendon, New York—just minutes from Rochester—named Brigham Young.
The clan slowly moved west, where love and affection weren’t forthcoming either. In 1844, Smith launched a presidential campaign, only to be jailed for destroying a printing press and later killed by an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois.
After the obligatory power struggle, Mr. Young led the bulk of the clan further west, ultimately founding his own city, Salt Lake City, Utah.
For decades, Rochesterians, in their characteristic smugness, felt comfortable with the circumstances. They formed iconic companies like Western Union, Bausch & Lomb, the aforementioned Kodak, French’s, Xerox, Gannett, Champion, and Ragù and even had an NBA team. In 1950, the population of Rochester was 332,488, while Salt Lake City had a paltry 182,121.
But as Rochester—the home of Fredrick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony—continued to insist it was the seat of tolerance, the ghost of Joseph Smith began to remind the city of its biggest mistake: golden-plate intolerance.
Based on 2024 estimates, Rochester now has 207,274 residents compared to Salt Lake City’s 217,783. The Rochester metropolitan area has plateaued at just under 1.1 million, while Salt Lake City is at 1.3 million and growing.
Rochester claims that despite losing its NBA team, the presence of Triple A baseball, AHL hockey, and a lacrosse team makes it a great sports town.
Meanwhile, Salt Lake City boasts teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLS. It is also considered a frontrunner for MLB expansion.
And what of the ghost of Brigham Young? It, too, has had the last laugh.
While Rochesterians are stuck in Division III purgatory, the university Young founded—Brigham Young University—participates at the Division I level in all sports.
And if not for our biggest mistake, a Brigham Young University in Upstate New York could have meant our list of local celebrities would include:
- Ken Jennings
- Mitt Romney
- Stephenie Meyer (think Twilight)
- Steve Young (the famous quarterback)
- Dan Reynolds (the Imagine Dragons guy)
Instead, as Rochester tries to rebuild itself, it is searching—make that begging—for a new generation of crazy young people to do exactly what it once shunned: believe in something outrageous.
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