Finger Lakes: Map

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The Finger Lakes are a chain of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York that are a popular tourist destination. The lakes mainly are linear in shape, each lake oriented on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake

and Seneca Lake

, are among the deepest in America. Both are close to 40 miles (64 km) from end to end, but never more than 3.5 miles (5,600 m) wide. Cayuga is the longest (38.1 miles, 61.3 km), but Seneca the largest in total area. Seneca is the deepest (618 feet, 188.4 m), followed by Cayuga (435 feet, 132.6 m), with the bottoms well below sea level. These largest lakes resemble the others in shape, which collectively reminded early map-makers of the fingers of a hand. Oneida Lake

is generally not considered one of the Finger Lakes, but it is sometimes called the "thumb".

Wine

The Finger Lakes area is New York's largest wine producing region. Over 100 wineries and vineyards are centered around Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua, Keuka, Conesus and Hemlock lakes. Because of the lakes' great depth, they provide a lake effect to the lush vineyards that flank their shores. Retaining residual summer warmth in the winter, and winter's cold in the spring, the grapes are protected from disastrous spring frost during shoot growth, and early frost before the harvest. The main grape varieties grown are: Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Vidal Blanc, Seyval Blanc and many vitis labrusca (native American) varieties or cultivars. With the passage of the Farm Winery Act in 1976, numerous wineries have opened their doors to visitors from all over the world. Wineries are a major growth industry of the region, not merely contributing to the economy through production, but increasingly because they attract large numbers of visitors who support other components of tourism.

History

The Finger Lakes region contains evidence of pre-Iroquois habitation, such as The Bluff Point Stoneworks

, but little is known about who may have constructed these enigmatic works.

The Finger Lakes region is a central part of the Iroquois homeland. The Iroquois tribes include the Seneca and Cayuga tribes, for which the two largest Finger Lakes are named. The Tuscarora tribe lived in the Finger Lakes region as well. The Onondaga and Oneida tribes lived at the eastern edge of the region, closer to their namesake lakes, Lake Oneida

and Onondaga Lake

. The sixth Iroquois tribe, the Mohawk, lived farther east. During colonial times, many other tribes moved to the Finger Lakes region, seeking the protection of the Iroquois. For example, remnants of several tribes of North Carolina, collectively called the Tutelo, moved to the town of Coreorgonel at the south end of Cayuga Lake near present-day Ithaca. Major Iroquois towns in the Finger Lakes region included the Seneca town of Gen-nis-he-yo

(present-day Geneseo), Kanadaseaga

(Seneca Castle, near present-day Geneva), Goiogouen

(Cayuga Castle, east of Cayuga Lake), Chonodote

(Cayuga town, present-day Aurora), and Catherine's Town

(near present-day Watkins Glen).

As one of the most powerful Indian nations during colonial times, the Iroquois were able to prevent European colonization of the Finger Lakes region for nearly two centuries after first contact. By the late 18th century Iroquois power had weakened, relative to the European-Americans, and internal strife eroded the political unity of the Iroquois Confederacy. During the American Revolutionary War some of the Iroquois sided with the British and some with the Americans, resulting in civil war among the Iroquois. In the late 1770s, British-allied Iroquois attacked various American frontier settlements, prompting counter-attacks, culminating in the Sullivan Expedition of 1779, which destroyed most of the Iroquois towns and effectively broke Iroquois power.

After the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois and other Indians of the region were assigned reservations. Most of their land, including the Finger Lakes region, was opened up to purchase and settlement.

Roughly the western half of the Finger Lakes region comprised the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1790. The region was rapidly settled at the turn of the nineteenth century, largely by a westward migration from New England, but to a lesser degree by northward influx from Pennsylvania. The regional architecture reflects these area traditions of the Federal and Greek Revival periods.

The Finger Lakes region, together with the Genesee Country of Western New York, has been referred to as the Burned-Over District, where, in the 19th century, the Second Great Awakening was a revival of Christianity, and some new religions were also formed. The region was active in reform and utopian movements. Many Underground Railroad sites have been documented. The Harriet Tubman Home at Auburn recalls the life and work of the African-American "Moses of her people."

On the northern end of the Finger Lakes are also Seneca Falls

, the birthplace of the Women's suffrage movement; Waterloo

, the birthplace of Memorial Day; and Palmyra

, the birthplace of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. An annual outdoor drama, The Hill Cumorah Pageant, produced by the Mormons, draws thousands of visitors each year.

Hammondsport

was the home of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, and the favorable air currents make the area a popular spot for glider pilots. Elmira

, just to the south, was the home of Mark Twain in his later life, and the site of an infamous Civil War prison. Corning

is most noted as the home of Corning Glass Works and the Corning Museum of Glass

. Hornell

, just southwest of the Finger Lakes was a major railroad center. Locomotives were repaired there until recently. Conesus, New York remains the home of the oldest producer of pure grape sacramental wine in the Western hemisphere.

Notable among the historic buildings of the region (most linked below) is the Granger Homestead

(1816), a large village house in Federal Style at Canandaigua, New York. Another example of the Federal Style is the Prouty-Chew House (1829) at Geneva, portions of which were altered at various times in new fashions. Three Greek Revival mansions are situated near three lakes: The Richard DeZeng House, Skaneateles (1839), Rose Hill, Geneva (1839), and Esperanza, Penn Yan (1838). The latter two are open to the public. The Seward House in Auburn, a National Historic Landmark, is a mansion more characteristic of the Civil War era, virtually unchanged from the nineteenth century. Belhurst Castle

, Geneva, a stone mansion in the Romanesque Revival style, now serves as an inn. Sonnenberg

mansion at Canandaigua is later nineteenth-century residence in the Queen Anne style, known for its restored period gardens. Geneva on the Lake

is a villa (1910-14) that recalls those on Italian lakes. Now an inn, it has exceptional gardens in the European manner. Many buildings and historic districts of the Finger Lakes region are notable, other than these historic houses.

Educational institutions

The area is also known for education, with the largest institution being Cornell University

in Ithaca, the state land grant institution. Its alma mater begins "Far Above Cayuga's Waters", because it is on the hills overlooking the city of Ithaca

and the southern end of Cayuga Lake. Elmira College

, founded in 1855 in Elmira, has the distinction of being the first exclusively women's college to grant degrees equal to men in the country and is the final home of Mark Twain's study where he created his most famous characters: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. There are several other private colleges in the area. They include Ithaca College

in Ithaca, Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, Wells College

in Aurora, also on Cayuga Lake, Keuka College in Penn Yan

, and New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls

. There are also the State Universities of New York at Geneseo and Cortland

, and four community colleges: Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua; Cayuga Community College in Auburn; Corning Community College in Corning; and Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden. There are also four statutory colleges at Cornell. These include: New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (which includes the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva), the New York State College of Human Ecology, the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, and the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Museums

The Finger Lakes region is also home to a number of museums. These include the Corning Museum of Glass

, the Strong National Museum of Play

, Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Museum of the Earth, National Soaring Museum the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford and the Samuel Warren Homestead of the York Historical Society, birthplace of NYS' first successful commercial winery. The Women's Rights National Historic Park [1353] is located in Seneca Falls. The park includes the home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Wesleyan Chapel where she held the first convention on women's rights in 1848.

References

Thompson, John H., ed. Geography of New York State (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1977)
Engeln, O. D., von. The Finger Lakes Region: Its Origin and Nature (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1961, 1988)
Finger Lakes Tourism Statistics [1354]

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