About

About This Project

Churches of Rochester is a comprehensive encyclopedia documenting the Catholic churches and chapels of the Diocese of Rochester, New York. The diocese encompasses twelve counties in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions of New York State.

Original Work

This project is based on the extensive research and documentation originally created by James Sarkis on dorchurches.com. That website served for years as the definitive reference for Rochester area Catholic church history, featuring detailed information about over 250 parishes, missions, and chapels.

Preservation Effort

When the original website faced an uncertain future, this project was created to preserve and modernize the valuable historical content. The information has been carefully extracted from the Internet Archive and restructured for better accessibility and searchability.

What You'll Find

Each church entry may include:

• Parish History — When the parish was founded, the ethnic communities it served
• Building Information — When churches were built, architectural details, renovations
• Pastor History — Lists of priests who served each parish
• Photographs — Historical and contemporary images of church buildings
• Status — Whether the church is active, closed, or merged with another parish

The Diocese of Rochester

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester was established in 1868, carved from the Diocese of Buffalo. It covers approximately 6,612 square miles across twelve counties:

• Cayuga County

• Chemung County

• Livingston County

• Monroe County

• Ontario County

• Schuyler County

• Seneca County

• Steuben County

• Tioga County

• Tompkins County

• Wayne County

• Yates County

Contributing

If you have additional information, corrections, or photographs to contribute, please contact us. We especially welcome:

• Historical photographs of churches
• Corrections to dates or pastor information
• Information about closed or demolished churches
• First-hand accounts of parish history

Disclaimer

This website is an independent historical documentation project. It is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester or any individual parish. All information is provided for educational and historical purposes.