McCurdy & Co. records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 2015-007

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The collection concerns the McCurdy & Co. and B. Forman department stores, headquartered in Rochester, New York. Materials include some office documents and photographs but primarily blueprints, specifications, videotapes, reel-to-reel tapes, and cassette tapes.

Dates

Creation: ca. 1923-1995

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained in writing from the Rochester Public Library Local History & Genealogy Division.

Historical Note

John C. McCurdy founded McCurdy's in 1901 and operated a department store at 285 Main Street East. His son, Gilbert McCurdy later took over the business, expanded it and attracted fame by co-developing the Midtown Plaza with Maurice Forman and making McCurdy's Department Store a key player in the plaza along with B. Forman's.

McCurdy and Co. owned Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester. Downtown already was losing shoppers to the suburbs, and McCurdy's and the B. Forman Co., led by Maurice Forman, pushed for the innovative mall to breathe new life into the center city retail world.

Midtown Plaza opened to great fanfare in 1962. Midtown Holdings Co., the company that built and ran the mall, was a McCurdy's venture. McCurdy's bought B. Forman in 1968 and ran that business for years. McCurdy sold the store to May Departments Stores in 1994, but a federal judge temporarily prohibited them from acquiring it on anti-trust grounds in November of that year. In 1995 the May Company sold the store along with three others to Bon-Ton to avoid the legal issues. McCurdy's closed in 1994.

Extent

4.0 Cubic Feet (6 boxes; 680 blueprint sheets)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The contents of the collection remain as they were originally arranged and foldered when received by The Strong.

Custodial History

This collection was part of a donation of McCurdy & Co. materials to The Strong by Lynda McCurdy Hotra in 2002 and 2003. The collection was transferred to RPL from The Strong in May 2015.