The National Bicentennial of Marquis de Lafayette’s Farewell Tour will “arrive” in Rochester on Saturday, June 7, 2025 as part of a four-stop tour in Monroe and Ontario Counties. This stop is part of the 13-month, 24-state tour that kicked off on August 16, 2024 in New York City and will end with a great celebration on September 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Exactly 200 years ago, Lafayette’s Farewell Tour saw the 67-year-old last surviving major general of the American Revolution triumphantly return to the America he loved.
The reenactment of Lafayette’s 1825 celebrated return visit begins on June 7 at 11:30 a.m. as Lafayette disembarks from a boat at the Corn Hill Marina on the Genesee River. There will be a small brass band to welcome the general as he greets local dignitaries and citizens alike. He’ll next make a brief stop during the afternoon in the Hamlet of Mendon where the Rochester Committee will hand off the “Nation’s Guest” to the Canandaigua Committee just as it did two hundred years ago, as members of the community look on. The Canandaigua Committee is slated to host a parade and a dinner ball later in the evening. Finally, a morning reception at Pulteney Park in Geneva is scheduled for Sunday morning, June 8, 2025 to see “Lafayette” off as he travels east en route to further bicentennial celebrations.
Welcoming Lafayette at these events will be representatives from veterans’ groups, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, members of the local Masonic community, and elected officials. They will be joined by re-enactors of notable dignitaries of the era. Several of the events will feature school and community bands playing music from the 1825 era to honor the last living general from the American Revolutionary War. In addition, there will be a few short, historical speeches to highlight the importance of this 200-year anniversary. The entire community is invited to attend and greet Lafayette as our “Hero of Two Worlds.”
“As we begin to anticipate the 250th birthday of America, we are thrilled and delighted to share with our communities a taste for things to come with that celebration by celebrating General Lafayette’s historic tour through our region,” says Catherine Blind, DAR coordinator of the events. “This will allow everyone to embrace and remember the French General’s contribution to fighting for our nation’s independence, just like American citizens did in 1825. His visit represented a heartwarming capstone to the ‘Era of Good Feelings.’ We look forward to offering more of this fascinating history in the months to come.”
For more information, visit the Farewell Tour website at lafayette200.org or call 585-290-7985.
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