George Eastman House Museum, Rochester

George Eastman House Museum, Rochester (must see)

The George Eastman Museum in Rochester is the world鈥檚 oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the most important film archives globally. Opened to the public in 1949 and chartered two years prior, it is housed on the historic estate of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. This Georgian Revival-style mansion designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, was adapted to museum use after being donated by the University of Rochester, which had inherited the estate following Eastman鈥檚 death in 1932.

The museum is dedicated to preserving, studying, and celebrating photography and cinema, with collections that have expanded greatly since its early holdings, including Civil War photos by Alexander Gardner, the Kodak Historical Collection, and Gabriel Cromer鈥檚 19th-century French archive. Today, its holdings include over 400,000 photographs and negatives, 28,000 films, and millions of cinematic artifacts鈥攔anging from scripts and posters to celebrity portraits and early technical equipment. Notable exhibitions like New Topographics (1975) helped define new movements in photographic art.

In addition to being a repository of rare and historically significant works, the George Eastman Museum is a global leader in education and conservation. It hosts the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation鈥攆ounded in 1996 as the first of its kind in the United States鈥攁nd the Mellon Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation. The museum also maintains the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center in nearby Chili, one of only a few U.S. facilities equipped to preserve fragile nitrate film stock.

At the heart of the museum鈥檚 public engagement is the Dryden Theatre, a 500-seat venue for classic, rare, and contemporary screenings. Visitors can also explore Eastman鈥檚 meticulously preserved residence, which includes his private library, correspondence, and personal effects鈥攐ffering an intimate view into the life of one of America鈥檚 most influential cultural and industrial figures. The museum continues to be a vital center for archival research, curatorial innovation, and public appreciation of the moving image and photographic arts.

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Sight Name: George Eastman House Museum
Sight Location: Rochester, USA (See walking tours in Rochester)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Rochester Introduction Walking Tour

Walking Tours in Rochester, New York

Create Your Own Walk in Rochester

Creating your own self-guided walk in Rochester is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Rochester Introduction Walking Tour

Rochester is New York's third-biggest city. The location of the Genessee River helped to establish Rochester as a mill town early in its history. English settlers arrived in the area that would become the city when the Iroquois tribe ceded their territory after the American Revolution.

The Eerie Canal construction in the 1820s helped the city grow into an urban center that would set the... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.9 Km or 3 Miles

Historical Industrial Buildings

Once a major manufacturing center, Rochester, NY went down in history as one of the United States' first boom-towns. Back in between 1860 and 1900 the city's population grew threefold on the back of the inflow of numerous immigrants 鈥� Italians, Germans, Irish and others 鈥� that saw Rochester expand dramatically on both sides of the Genesee River. During that period the city rose to... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.0 Km or 1.2 Miles

Historical Churches

The city of Rochester's community is diverse, with many religious denominations coexisting peacefully within its borders. The spiritual attitude of locals is duly reflected by the historic churches, their congregations and architectural elements. A good number of places of worship found in the city are designated historic sites. Here are some of the most prominent of them.

Downtown United... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles

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