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Onondaga Lake

Onondaga County Fun Facts

May 18, 2022 by Olivia

Did you know Onondaga County is the birthplace of the modern dental chair and Spongebob's voice? Find out more in this series of Finger Lakes fun facts.

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Contents

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  • Onondaga County Basic Facts
  • East Syracuse
    • Spongebob Squarepants
    • North Syracuse
    • Richard Gere
  • Syracuse
    • 24-second shot clock
    • New York State Fair
    • Reclining dental chair
    • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
    • More famous people…

The Finger Lakes region is chock-full of rich history and culture.

In this series I’m sharing with you all the firsts, important historical events, notable individuals, world records, and occasional quirky roadside attractions I come across in my explorations, organized by county.

Here are some fun facts about Onondaga County. For random facts about the other 13 Finger Lakes counties:

Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates.

I know I’m only scratching the surface of all the cool things to know, so please tell me interesting facts to add! You can comment below or send me a message.

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

Onondaga County Basic Facts

Population: 476,516

County seat: Syracuse

Origin of name: Onondaga people (“People of the Hills”), one of the original Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee. The 9.3 square-mile reservation of the Onondaga Nation is within the county.

Tourism site: visitsyracuse.com

East Syracuse

Spongebob Squarepants

Spongebob Squarepants balloon
(Photo: Tomas Castelazo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Born in 1962, Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants, grew up in East Syracuse and went to Bishop Grimes High School with filmmaker-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait.

North Syracuse

Richard Gere

Richard Gere
(Photo: John Mathew Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Actor Richard Gere, born in 1949 in Philadelphia, grew up in North Syracuse and graduated from the local high school in 1967.

Syracuse

24-second shot clock

24-second shot clock basketball game
(Photo: Gavindow, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone came up with basketball’s 24-second shot clock in 1954. It helped speed up the game and raised fan interest.

New York State Fair

New York State Fair
(Photo: Tiina Toomet, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Great New York State Fair, first held in 1841, is the longest-running and one of the largest state fairs in the country. 

Reclining dental chair

dental chair
(Photo: StockSnap, via Pixabay)

The reclining dental chair was invented by Milton Waldo Hanchett in 1840. 

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Mary Poppins

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. 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.”

More famous people…

Here’s a Wikipedia list of some more famous people with Syracuse ties.

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Onondaga County fun facts

Page header photo: Hotshotfox, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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About Olivia

Olivia is a writer, anthropologist, and accidental Ithacan. After years of living in three different countries and visiting more than 30, she came to the Finger Lakes and ended up staying a little longer than planned. Now she’s sharing her family’s adventures and discoveries in this lovely part of New York State on Finger Lakes Family Fun.

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