[3] Like many towns around Pittsburgh, Rochester was a former industrial hub, home to the H. C. Fry Glass Company, and was a major junction on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

What eventually became Rochester was originally a Lenape village called Sawcunk.

The area was settled in 1799 in what was then the American frontier by white settlers and was known as East Bridgewater, Fairport, and Beaver Point.

[4] Many of the streets that run through Rochester today had different names based on wild animals.

Deer Lane, which still exists today, is the last remnant of the original naming scheme for the street grid in the borough.

[7] At its height, the National Glass Company of Rochester employed over 1000 people but its bankruptcy during the Great Depression began a long decline in the town's population which continues up to today.

37.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.