Finger Lakes - Lakes, Region

A group of 11 long, narrow, finger-like lakes in W New York State, USA; includes (W–E) Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, and Skaneateles lakes; a wine-making centre.

The Finger Lakes are glacially formed lakes in upstate New York, mainly linear in shape, each lake oriented on a north-south axis. The longest, Cayuga Lake, is 40 miles (64 km) from end to end, but never more than 3.5 miles (5,600 m) wide and not atypical in shape, reminding early map-makers of the fingers of a hand.

Lakes

The 11 Finger Lakes from east to west:

Otisco Lake Skaneateles Lake Owasco Lake Cayuga Lake Seneca Lake Keuka Lake Canandaigua Lake Honeoye Lake Canadice Lake Hemlock Lake Conesus Lake

Oneida Lake, to the northeast of Syracuse, New York, is sometimes included as the "thumb," although it is shallow and somewhat different in character from the rest. Onondaga Lake, though located just north of the Finger Lakes region, is not considered one of the Finger Lakes. Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, and Otisco are considered the minor Finger Lakes. Other, smaller lakes, including Silver, Waneta, and Lamoka Lakes, dot this region.

Region

Roughly the western half of the Finger Lakes region comprised the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1790, the largest land purchase in the world to that date. 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 Finger Lakes region is an important agricultural belt of New York. 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. Cornell also maintains the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and horticultural gene bank at Geneva on the north end of Seneca Lake.

The rolling land between the lakes is occupied with dairy farms, many of them owned by Amish and Mennonite families.

Most of the area was originally forested with oak, hickory,maple, chestnut, ash, hemlock, and beech trees, but the Iroquois maintained, by annual burning, the land between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes as prairie, with herds of bison, normally thought of as a western animal. Today the Finger Lakes area is still known for fishing and hunting.

The southern ends of the lakes are characterized by steeper hills and glacial hanging valleys which are tributaries that drop steeply to the lake, often with waterfalls. Hornell, just southwest of the Finger Lakes was a major railroad center.

On the northern end of the Finger Lakes is 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.

Wine

The Finger Lakes is New York's largest wine producing region. Numerous wineries and vineyards are located in the region, prinicipally centered around Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua, and Keuka Lakes.