page_title: Finger Lakes
section_title: Notable places
hierarchical_section_title: Finger Lakes / Notable places
caption_attribution_description: English: Spring rain storm blowing over the south end of the lake.
context_page_description: The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes in an area informally called the Finger Lakes region in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional edge, known as the Finger Lakes Uplands and Gorges ecoregion, of the Northern Allegheny Plateau and the Ontario Lowlands ecoregion of the Great Lakes Lowlands.
  The geological term finger lake refers to a long, narrow lake in an overdeepened glacial valley, while the proper name Finger Lakes goes back to pre-Columbian America. According to "Life in the Finger Lakes", "Native American legend tells the story of the Great Spirit looking down favorably on our region and offering his blessing by placing his fingers upon the land. The impressions left behind filled with water – forming pristine lakes dotting the sacred ground. In a perfect world, there would be 10 Finger Lakes. But there are 11 Finger Lakes...."
  Cayuga and Seneca Lakes are among the deepest in the United States, measuring 435 feet and 618 feet respectively, with bottoms well below sea level.
context_section_description: The Finger Lakes region, together with the Genesee Country of Western New York, has been referred to as the burned-over district. There, in the 19th century, the Second Great Awakening was a revival of Christianity; some new religions were also formed.
  The region was active in reform and utopian movements.  Many of its Underground Railroad sites have been documented.  For example, 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.  An annual outdoor drama, The Hill Cumorah Pageant, produced by the church, draws thousands of visitors each year.
  Hammondsport was the home of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, and 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 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 European-style gardens. Many buildings and historic districts of the Finger Lakes region are notable, other than these historic houses.
  Implemented in August 2010, the Hemlock-Canadice State Forest covers 6,684 acres (27.05 km²) that encompass the two western Finger Lakes, Hemlock and Canadice. These lakes have provided drinking water for the City of Rochester for more than 100 years. To protect water quality, the city acquired much of the property around the lakes. Over the decades, the land reforested, but a few traces of its past, such as stone walls or cottage foundations, remain. Today these two lakes, with their steep, forested, largely undeveloped shorelines and deep clear water, provide visitors a glimpse of the Finger Lakes of the past. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) manages this State Forest for compatible public access for recreation, including fishing, hunting, nature study, boating and hiking. Activities in Hemlock-Canadice State Forest are subject the DEC's Rules and Regulations for the Use of State Lands, 6 NYCRR Part 190, as well as any other applicable state statutes, rules and regulations. These are sensitive areas because they protect public drinking water.
  The 584 mile (939.9 km) Finger Lakes Trail and its branch trails run through the southern portion of the Finger Lakes region and also constitutes a portion of the 4,600 mile North Country National Scenic Trail.
  Hemlock Lake is home to the state's oldest nesting bald eagle site, dating back to the early 1960s.  The nesting bald eagles of Hemlock Lake have fostered a resurgence of bald eagles throughout New York State.  Hemlock Lake, originally known as 
caption: Hemlock Lake, one of the western Finger Lakes
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