Genesee River

The Genesee River's name is derived from the Iroquois meaning good valley or pleasant valley. It flows northward through western New York from its source south of the town of Genesee in Pennsylvania and empties into Lake Ontario north of the City of Rochester, New York. The river drains about 2500 square miles (6,500 sq. km.). Falls along the river are within the gorge of Letchworth State Park (the Grand Canyon of the East) near Portageville, New York and within Rochester, where they provided power to 19th century industry. A dam at Mount Morris is the largest flood control dam east of the Mississippi. It has greatly reduced flood damage in the lower Genesee Valley; its capacity has only been exceeded once, during the great flood of 1972, caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes. Although the floodwaters went over the spillway, the flooding was partly ameliorated below the dam. The dam was completed in 1952.

List of Communities on the Genesee River (north to south)

• Town of Irondequoit
• City of Rochester
• Town of Gates
• Town of Brighton
• Town of Chili
• Town of Henrietta
• Town of Wheatland
• Town of Rush
• Town of Caledonia
• Town of Avon
• Town of York
• Town of Geneseo: Geneseo
• Town of Leicester
• Town of Mount Morris
• Town of Castile
• Town of Portage
• Town of Genesee Falls: Portageville
• Town of Hume
• Town of Granger