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Building, Rochester, since 1880

Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator

Still standing, photographed 2012

Griggs Brothers Grain Elevator Rochester MI, 2011 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1880
Style
Gambrel roof elevator
Standing
146 years

Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator has stood on East University Drive in Rochester since 1880, 146 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator

Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator, 2012 Photo: Kayura Mendonza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator, 2012 Photo: Kayura Mendonza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 24, 2026. Nothing new at this address in the last two years.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator opened in 1880, as railroads, lumber and farm money built the region's main streets.

It was built in the Gambrel roof elevator style, and it still reads that way from the sidewalk.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 2010.

Go see it at 303 East University Drive. Photos never get the scale right.

The Rochester Grain Elevator, formerly the Griggs Brothers Grain Elevator, is a grain elevator located at 303 East University Drive in Rochester, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Most of the structure was demolished in 2023 to make room for construction of condominiums.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1880 Built Gambrel roof elevator
  2. 2010 Listed on the National Register December 13, 2010
  3. 2026 Today 146 years and still standing

Where it is

303 East University Drive, Rochester

On this map

  1. Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator This place
  2. Western Knitting Mills 0.1 mi
  3. Rollin Sprague Building-Old Stone Store 0.2 mi
  4. Milo Prentice Newberry House 0.7 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Around the block

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. Griggs Brothers Grain Elevator Rochester MI, 2011 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator, 2012 Photo: Kayura Mendonza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Griggs Brothers-Rochester Elevator Company Grain Elevator, 2012 Photo: Kayura Mendonza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.