The Rochester Button Company was located here at 300 State Street, in a structural grid factory building designed by Charles Crandall. In 1904, it was hailed as the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of buttons. The buttons were made from "vegetable ivory" designed to imitate pearl. They were made by processing certain types of nuts imported from South America using a “secret” treatment. Some buttons were then used by Rochester’s clothing manufacturers.
Button production ended here in 1990. The building was renovated, but employees occasionally find a button which worked itself free from cracks between the floorboards. It is now home to LaBella Associates, a nationally recognized design firm, headquartered here in Rochester, with more than 20 office locations throughout the country.
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