A Chocolate View of Rochester

By Sandra Scott

Rochester, New York, may have changed over the years but one thing that has remained since 1946 is Stever’s Candies. The Stevers have been making delicious confections for over half a century. Douglas Stever, the founder, learned the art of candy making near Philadelphia after his service in World War II. In 1946, he and his wife Hilda opened their first small shop in Rochester. Despite chocolate shortages and postwar sugar rationing, their pure chocolates and candies gained a loyal clientele and business began to grow. Today people bring their grandchildren telling them about when they visited the store as a child.

Kevin, Douglas and Hilda’s son, entered the business full-time upon graduation from college. These days, Kevin and his wife Leslie continue making candy in the same location with the same honest, simple insistence on quality. John and I stopped by at the end of the day and Kevin Stever was nearly finished for the day but showed us where the chocolate is made. I was impressed with the equipment that obviously had been in use for years but maintained with the same care they take with making their chocolate. They make their chocolate and other confections fresh every day. The one major improvement was an elevator that eliminated the need to lug the ingredients up the stairs and carry the finished products down.

I was impressed with their dark chocolate and milk chocolate Rochester bars, which show the skyline of the city.

John and I decided that the best non-chocolate view of the skyline of Rochester would be from the Genesee River. That meant a ride on the Mary Jemison, a tourist canal boat named to honor the legacy of "the white woman of the Genesee," who chose to remain with her adopted Seneca family after being taken captive as a child during the French and Indian wars. She lived for many years along the banks of the Genesee with her adopted people, in what is now Letchworth State Park.

The Mary Jemison departs from the trendy Corn Hill area, Rochester's newest waterfront development. The ride gave us many views of Rochester. As we headed for the Erie Canal the boat went under several bridges and the scene changed. We passed by historic Mount Hope Cemetery, the resting place of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his good friend, the suffragette, Susan B. Anthony.

On the return trip we had great views of the Rochester skyline and the new bridge, officially known as the Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge. It was completed in 2007. I recalled Kevin Stever saying, “I should probably change the design of the Rochester Skyline Chocolate Bar to show the skyline the way it is today, but people like the old design.”

John and I agreed. Stever’s makes chocolate in the same caring way and some things are best unchanged. People can look at his Rochester Skyline Chocolate Bar to see what was and take a ride on the Mary Jemison and see what is. Two great views of Rochester.

Visit www.steverscandy.com.

Sandra Scott is a frequent contributor to travel publications and to Creators Syndicate
and has co-authored two books on local history. She lives in Mexico, NY.

Photos by J. J. Scott.

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