Tobacco tycoon William Smith Kimball made his cigarettes in the fortress-like Peerless Tobacco Works. Built in 1881 on the Genesee River in Rochester, NY, this large factory's smokestack featured a sculpture of mythological Mercury that dominated Rochester's skyline until 1951. Kimball's brother-in-law designed the magnificent 21 foot tall, 700 pound copper statue. Placed 182 feet above street level in 1885, this winged messenger of the Gods was considered Rochester's greatest art project at that time.