Building date: 1839, demolished in the late 1930's
Original use:
Corner structures:
Mortar application and content:
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building: Alonzo Bradley
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°09'36.11"N 77°33'59.22"W.
City of Rochester NY and Monroe County Maps
The Schanck house on Culver Road at the corner of East Main Street was built by Alonzo Bradley in 1839 for Hendrick Schanck, son-of Captain Schanck of Monmouth, County, New Jersey. That same year Mr. Schanck went to New Jersey and brought back a load of peach trees, the first to be planted in this vicinity. He also planted a large cherry orchard. His house is a two-story gable front of field cobblestones which were not selected for color, size or shape. These were laid four courses to the corner quoin, giving a pleasing mottled effect. The timbers are of oak, hand hewn and fastened together with wooden pegs and hand-forged nails. Excerpt from "The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", 1941, compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazel B. Jeffrey, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt.
From: Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Archives
This cobblestone house at the north west corner of Culver Road and Main Street East in Rochester was built in 1839 by Alonzo Bradley for the Hendrick vanBrunt Schanck family on the family farm on Schanck Avenue in Brighton. Mr. Schanck was the eighth son of Capt. John Schanck of Monmouth Co., New Jersey, a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
The house was built of stones gathered on the farm and the timbers were all oak, hand-hewn and fastened with wooden pegs and hand-forged nails. The cellar walls were three feet thick, to support this massive superstructure. Both the original oak floors and the cobblestone walls are in perfect condition. The Schanck home was built in the center of the east line of the farm which extended north to the old Glen Haven Railroad and south nearly to the New York Central Railroad. Mr. Schanck made a trip to New Jersey in 1839 and brought back a wagon load of young peach trees, which were the first to be planted in this vicinity, and also planted a large cherry orchard.
The last heir of the Schanck family to occupy the homestead was a grandson of Hendrick vanBrunt Schanck, Chester Dewey Urr Hobbie, who sold it. Alonzo Bradley married Mr. Schanck's oldest daughter Sarah on Dec 25, 1843. Of late the homestead has been sold for a filling station. (copied from a newspaper article by Kate Ward Reid in 1924.) Richard Palmer blog and email 31MAY2019.
Alonzo Bradley's obituary in the Monroe County Mail of Thursday, August 12, 1897, stated he died August 4 at his home in Avon at the age of 84. He had formerly lived in the towns of Irondequoit, Victor and Henrietta. He and his wife had one son, C.S. Bradley. "Mr. Bradley, in his younger days was a stone mason, and many of the houses in Monroe county known as cobble stone are the work of his hands. About 20 years ago the family moved to a large farm in Avon. Mr. Bradley married a second time, and his wife, son, and four grandchildren, survive him. The funeral was held at Mt. Home chapel on Friday Morning. Richard Palmer blog.
"Cobblestones Still Intrigue", by Arch Merrill, "Arch Merrill's History" column, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 10/30/1960
The house located on the NW corner of Main St. East and Culver Rd. is said to have been demolished in the late 1930s. Carl Schmidt. The location is currently occupied by a Dollar Tree store.
Former cobblestone residence, 800-block Culver Rd/NW corner of E. Main Street, city of Rochester, Monroe Co. - this Greek Revival house was built on a location that was originally in the town of Brighton - but, by the early 20th century - had been annexed into the city of Rochester. The house featured a front-gable-and-side-wing plan and was built in the Greek Revival style. An early 20th-century, one-story Colonial Revival porch was added c. 1900 (per photos of this property). The house was demolished c. 1940, when a gas/service station was built on this site (the service station was demolished about a dozen years ago, for the construction of an Eckert's Pharmacy - that's now used as a "Dollar Store"). Cynthia Howk email 6/30/2020
- "Cobblestone Architecture", 1944, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Schanck House
- Page 22, Page 37, Page 52
- Three Fieldstone Types of Walls, Schanck House, Rochester, N.Y., Page 79
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 93
- Three Fieldstone Types of Walls, Schanck House, Rochester, N.Y., Page 79
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Schanck - McDonald House
- Pages 40 - 41, Page 229, Page 255, Comparison of Cobblestones and Quoins Page 260
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 270, Main Entrance Page 277, Mantel in Front Parlor Page 292
- Interior Details Page 301
- Four Windows from Cobblestone Houses Page 270, Main Entrance Page 277, Mantel in Front Parlor Page 292
 1858 Monroe Cty Map Schanck-McDonald House.jpg ¹ |  Roc-2 Schanck-McDonald 2.jpg ² |  Schanck house.jpg ³ |  Roc-2 Schanck 1.jpg 4 Pease Collection 1940-41 |
¹ Excerpt from 1858 Map of Monroe County, courtesy of the Emily L Knapp Museum and Library of Local History Brockport NY. Note highlighted areas: The Hendrick vanBrunt Schanck cobblestone residence location on Culver Road. In the upper left corner is East Main Street, prior to being extended to Culver Road.
² Image courtesy "History of Monroe County, New York", by Prof. W. H. McIntosh, p 245, by Everts, Ensign & Everts, 1877.
³ Courtesy Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Archives
4 Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.
