13 Fun Facts about the Finger Lakes Region You May Not Know

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see the affiliate disclosure for details.

Did you know the Finger Lakes region is the birthplace of the ice cream sundae, at least two religions, Memorial Day, and so, so much more?

As I’m exploring this amazing part of New York, I keep coming across interesting facts that surprise and delight me — cool Finger Lakes attractions, firsts, important historical events, Guinness World records, notable individuals from the Finger Lakes, and the occasional quirky roadside attraction.

So I’m using this post to kick of a series of fun facts articles, organized by county. You can find them all here:

It’s rather humbling, really. I mean, wow, how little did I know about the Finger Lakes! Even after having lived here more or less for a decade and a half.

I love how these random facts give us glimpses into centuries of lived lives. What a colorful tapestry of individuals, communities, farmsteads, businesses, cities…

Those rich stories are all around us if we just remember to pay attention!

I, for one, am really excited to keep exploring and learning. 

Make sure you subscribe to the Finger Lakes Family Fun email list or follow on Instagram, where I’ll be sharing my latest discoveries.

I know what I’ve collected so far only scratches the surface, so please tell me interesting things to add! You can comment below or send me a message.

By the way, the eleven Finger Lakes themselves will get their own page, so keep an eye out for that post.

And now, without further ado, some fun and random facts about the Finger Lakes region.

1. You can visit the world’s largest pancake griddle

The world’s largest pancake griddle (28′ 1″ diameter) hangs at Penn Yan’s Birkett Mills (Yates County). It was used in 1987 to cook the world’s largest buckwheat pancake, which was mixed in a cement mixer and flipped with the aid of a crane. Topped with 15 gallons of syrup and 68 pounds of butter, it could feed 7,200 people.

2. The first female detective foiled a presidential assassination

Born in 1833 in Erin (Chemung County), Kate Warne is known as the first female detective. Widowed by age 23, she responded to an ad by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and walked into the office in Chicago. Warne proved herself in a prominent embezzlement case and became the head of the new Female Detective Bureau in 1860. In 1861 she played a key role in foiling the Baltimore Plot, a planned assassination of President Lincoln, and she conducted intelligence work during the Civil War.

3. Jell-O was invented in LeRoy

At the Jell-O Gallery in LeRoy (Monroe County), you can learn all about “America’s Most Famous Dessert.” The wobbly treat was created by Pearle Wait in 1897 and named by his wife Mary. It took a few more years and the business savvy of several more people for Jell-O to finally take off.

4. The insanity plea was used for the first time in Auburn

In 1847, the insanity plea was used for the first time in a U.S. court in Auburn (Cayuga County). Lawyer William H. Seward, who later served as New York governor as well as U.S. senator and later Secretary of State, represented William Freeman, a Black and Indigenous man who had been previously abused in prison, in a murder case. The first judge refused to let a medical expert testify to support the plea and Freeman was found guilty. An appellate court reversed the decision and granted a new trial, but Freeman died soon after the decision. Seward’s former home in Auburn is now the Seward House Museum.

5. The Fox Sisters started a religious movement – with a hoax

In the mid-19th century, the Fox Sisters of Hydesville (which no longer exists, now Arcadia, Wayne County) became famous for being able to communicate with spirits through “rappings.” They later confessed to it being a hoax, but by that point, their public seances had already started the Spiritualism movement that has adherents to this day.

Finger Lakes-based author Jeanne Mackin explored the Fox Sisters’ story in a novel, The Sweet By and By.

6. The oldest comic book fan club is going strong

The Comic Book Club of Ithaca (Tompkins County) was started in February 1975 and is the oldest active comic book fan club in the United States. It holds regular club meetings and shows such as Ithacon, the second-longest-running comic convention in the country.

7. Glenn Curtiss completed the first U.S. long-distance flight

Motorcycling and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss was born in Hammondsport (Steuben County) in 1878. He is considered the founder of the U.S. aviation industry. Other feats include winning the first international air meet in France in 1909 and completing the first long-distance flight (from Albany to New York City) in the United States in 1910. Learn more at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.

8. Memorial Day was born in Waterloo

Waterloo was recognized as the Birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Since 1866, residents of Waterloo (Seneca County) have remembered those who have died in service of their country. The tradition began when local druggist Henry C. Welles noticed a lone widow laying flowers on the grave of her deceased husband, a Civil War soldier. He organized the first Memorial Day for the next year.

9. The Grateful Dead played at the largest pop festival ever

Opened in 1956, Watkins Glen International (in Schuyler County) is the only NASCAR track in New York State. It also hosted the 1973 Summer Jam, which featured The Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead and held a Guinness World Record for “largest audience at a pop festival” (estimated at 600,000). Two Phish festivals took place in 2011 and 2015.

10. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

The famous Mary Poppins phrase “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” first appeared in print (albeit in very slightly different form) in an article in Syracuse University’s student newspaper, the Daily Orange, on March 10, 1931 (Ontario County). It was written (and the phrase likely coined) by Helen Herman, who graduated in 1933 with a degree in speech. She reflected on the small number of male writers at the paper: “The general atmosphere puts me in mind of one of my pet phrases. Several years ago, I concocted an expression which, to me, includes all words in the category of something wonderful. ‘Supercaliflawjalisticeexpialadoshus’ is the word to which I refer.”

11. You can play at the country’s oldest minigolf course

You can still play at the country’s oldest miniature golf course, Whispering Pines Miniature Golf, in Irondequoit (Monroe county). Opened in 1930, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

12. Dry breakfast cereal made its debut in Dansville

James Caleb Jackson invented the first dry breakfast cereal in 1863. Born in 1811 in Manlius, NY (Onondaga County), Jackson was an active abolitionist and, having recovered from longterm ill health, a proponent of hydropathy or water cures. He took over a spa in Dansville (Livingston County) and turned it into one of the largest in the world, “Our Home on the Hillside.” Believing that diet played a key role in health, he promoted vegetarianism and a focus on fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed grains. He turned graham flour dough into large sheets that were baked, broken into pieces, and later reconstituted overnight for breakfast. Jackson called this “granula.” He died in 1895 in Dansville and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery.

13. There’s a two-story brick outhouse in Phelps

Howe House at 66 Main Street in Phelps (Ontario County) boasts one of few two-story outhouses and the only existing two-story brick attached outhouse in the country. Built in 1869, the structure now houses the Phelps Community Historical Society. (I plan to visit. Because my first question and that of everyone I’ve spoken to is ‘and how does this work?’)

14. We have the longest-running wine trail

Adding one more, because this is interesting: Established in 1983, the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail is the first such wine trail to be organized in the country, and also the longest-running. It includes a dozen wineries along Cayuga Lake, most which are on the west side.

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER:

Page header photo: Lake Canadice, VisitFingerLakes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.