Rochester Township was created in 1840 from New Sewickley Township, following the development of Rochester village as a canal and river port. The township's history is tied clearly to that of the borough, which incorporated in 1849.
The earliest settler in this region, and possibly in all of Beaver County's east side, was James Moore, who is reported to have operated a ferry across the Beaver as early as 1786 (no doubt in constant fear of Indian harassment.) Rochester's Beaver River front became known as Bolesville, an industrial area where the first steamboats built in Beaver County were produced.
Rochester Township shared in the borough's impressive industrial growth, with the development of the huge Rochester Tumbler Works in East Rochester in 1872 (East Rochester later incorporated as a borough in 1908) and the location of the Fry Glass Company in North Rochester in 1902, for which a railroad spur was laid on a sharply inclined slope from New Brighton.
The township's most popular landmark was Junction Park, built as an amusement center by the Beaver Valley Traction Company shortly after 1900 at the junction of its lines to New Brighton, Rochester, and across the Sharon Bridge, to Bridgewater and Beaver. The bridge is gone, the street cars are gone, but the area, now Elliot's Electric Supply, is still referred to as "the Junction."
Another landmark of significance is Passavant Memorial Home, founded by Dr. William Passavant in 1863 as an orphan's home. While some industry remains, Rochester Township has become a community of homes, rivaling the borough in population.