George Eastman Museum

 In 1877 when George Eastman was 23 and working as bank clerk, he became interested in photography. What started as a hobby became an obsession to find a better way of developing photographs. After three years of experimenting he patented a dry-plate coating machine which meant photographers no longer needed to carry toxic chemicals because the glass plates could be developed later in a darkroom. Eastman founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881 with Henry Strong as a backer and partner. The company continued to make improvements and created the first flexible film and a camera that was loaded with a 100 exposure roll. After all the photographs were taken the entire camera was mailed to Kodak where the camera was loaded with another 100 exposure roll and mailed back to the customer along with the 100 newly developed photos.

Kodak's most popular camera was the easy to use and inexpensive Brownie that was introduced in 1900 and cost $1.00. Millions of Brownies were sold. Letters and numbers were added to the model names as improvements were made. The last camera to be called a Brownie, the Brownie Flash II, was made in 1962. 

The museum has two parts - George Eastman's mansion which was previously used for exhibits but has been restored with the original furnishings and decorations; and the 1989 addition which has galleries with changing exhibits. We were disappointed because there isn't much about Eastman or the Kodak company but it looks like that may be included soon. 

The museum is accessible. Some of the Discovery Room exhibits weren't accessible due to the nature of the exhibits. An elevator accesses the second floor of the mansion. It's small and a staff member must operate it. The terrace garden is accessible. 

The far south end of the lot is the best spot for large vehicles which can be parked through the spaces. Museum  43.15217, -77.58141