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The wall commemorating 11,908 Jewish victims of the Shoah from Frankfurt.
Börneplatz Memorial
Entrance to the munitions area of the lower part of the bunker
Simserhof
Carlos Calderón Yruegas calls the villa his personal playground.
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Apples and pears, Spitalfields Market.
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The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
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Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
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Longwood House, where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final years.
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 Fenway Park at night
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The Atlas Obscura Guide To Rochester

25 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Rochester, New York

Updated May 5, 2023

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Unusual Attractions in Rochester

Rochester, New York

International Center for the History of Electronic Games

Comprehensive gaming collection of over 30,000 electronic games and consoles.
White Lady’s Castle

Rochester, New York

The White Lady's Castle

An old dining hall now serves up ghost stories for lusty locals.

Rochester, New York

The National Toy Hall of Fame

A collection of the best toys ever made, The National Toy Hall of Fame is filled with kids, fun, and for some reason, a bird preserve.
The Susan B. Anthony (left) and Mary Stafford Anthony (right) graves covered in voting stickers in 2020.

Rochester, New York

Susan B. Anthony's Grave

The gravestone of the suffragist leader attracted extra visitors during the 2016 election.
ARTISANworks.

Rochester, New York

ARTISANworks

The floor-to-ceiling collection in an old factory is a unique alternative to stuffy galleries.
The taxidermed elephant head that’s on display in the main room.

Rochester, New York

The George Eastman Museum

The home, museum, and death site of Kodak's influential founder.
The table on display at the Rochester Historical Society

Rochester, New York

The Table That Could Talk To The Dead

The Fox Sisters, America's leading mediums in the mid-19th century, possessed a table they claimed helped them "communicate" with the dead.
Entrance to the Secret Room

Rochester, New York

Central Library's Secret Room

A room hidden behind a swinging shelf in the children's section.
See All 25 Things To Do in Rochester

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Rochester

Garbage Plate

Rochester, New York

Garbage Plates at Nick Tahou Hots

Rochester's signature culinary delicacy.
The Playhouse Swillburger

Rochester, New York

The Playhouse Swillburger

A bar, burger joint, and arcade housed in a late 19th-century church building.
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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

The Resilience of New York in 10 Remarkable Sites

New York has been described as a playground for the rich and powerful, but the state's history is full of ordinary people who have overcome extraordinary struggles. What if Seneca Falls, the village that launched the fight for women's suffrage, were as famous as Niagara Falls? What if Weeksville, the historic free Black community in Brooklyn, were as well-known as Williamsburg? From immigrant sanctuaries to the Survivor Tree, here are sites where New York has shown its resilience.

View Itinerary
The Museum at Eldridge Street Synagogue has a past full of stories and struggles.

Explore Rochester, New York

A
25
Collections 5
Art 4
Sculptures 3
Women 3
Graves 3
Politics 3
Cemeteries 3

Rochester Leaderboard

Places Added

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Add an unusual place to Rochester.

Places Edited

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Places Visited

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Recent Rochester Activity

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    wants to go to 1872 Monument

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    wants to go to The National Toy Hall of Fame

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Stories About Rochester

Ian Kurtz and Reese Salen (pictured) built the bookwheel with fellow RIT engineering students Matt Nygren and Maher Abdelkawi.

How Students Built a 16th-Century Engineer's Book-Reading Machine

The bookwheel helps readers browse eight texts at once. The only problem? It weighs 600 pounds.
by Claire Voon
July 1, 2020
This 1920 Eagle toy stove by Hubley Manufacturing Company features a working damper and came with a waffle iron.

Before the Easy-Bake Oven, Toy Stoves Were Beautiful and Deadly

They burned real fuel and caused real damage.
by Anne Ewbank
April 10, 2019

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