Since the height of the pandemic in 2020, the central region of New York State has experienced a significantly renewed interest as an area in which to vacation, relax, explore and relocate from distant visitors and New Yorkers alike. For those of us who grew up around the lakes and casually claim one as our own (like we do with our most frequented Wegmans location), it may seem strange when visitors so revere that which we take for granted. The Finger Lakes have hosted human activity across cultures and generations since their creation more than 10,000 years ago. There is much to revere and much to explore here. So for those who might be thinking now is a good time to visit, here’s a primer for newcomers and old pros alike, to make the most of your first (or thousandth) time in this storied region of New York State.
WHO
Officially, there are 11: Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles and Otisco. Geologically and historically, there were more, then less and then more again — adjacent lakes Silver, Onondaga and Cazenovia were formed similarly to the 11 and shared in the Lake Ontario watershed. Oneida Lake also shares in the watershed and was formed by glacial retreat, yet is shallow by New York lake standards, at 55 feet deep. Waneta and Lamoka lakes were also carved like the 11 and are just south of Keuka Lake, but belong to another water network (making them more like distant cousins than siblings). The largest lakes were originally on their own as the six Finger Lakes, and the five smaller lakes joined them after 1955. The changes in definition are murky to track down — and the reasoning even more so — but we know it did change. Reviewing the geological survey, and looking from above, there’s evidence of other ancient Finger Lakes that once joined the party: one to the east of Canandaigua Lake, a couple more south of Syracuse and another “crooked lake” between Honeoye and Canandaigua Lakes. Canandaigua Lake once resembled Keuka as a split lake, Hemlock and Canadice were once one and almost every current Finger Lake was at one time significantly longer. Why are only 11 deemed official? It’s more tradition than anything technical.
WHAT
The Finger Lakes are freshwater bodies that were formed when the Laurentide Ice Sheet started receding northward over 14,000 years ago. They were originally northward-flowing streams (which is how the Genesee River started) and through glacial activity were widened, deepened and naturally dammed to form lakes. Various aquifers and rains continuously run into the lakes as they feed various creeks and rivers that flow into Lake Ontario — or, in the case of Hemlock and Canadice Lake, supply most of Monroe County’s water.
WHERE
In the Empire State, there is passionate debate as to how certain areas are categorized — upstate, downstate, Western New York, Central New York, North Country, Southern Tier — even the New York State government’s regional maps by Empire State Development and NYS tourism department are not consistent. But coincidentally, Rochester is placed within the Finger Lakes region for both. The 11 official Finger Lakes are located south of Rochester and almost as far east as Syracuse.
WHEN
The 1950s brought confirmation of the Finger Lakes as both a region and a formal group of 11 small lakes (compared to the nearby Great Lakes). This is in line with the rise of automobile travel and increased leisure time, when vacations were starting to become an established part of culture and destinations were being marketed to lure automobile owners to seek them out. The lakes themselves are 14,000 years older (as mentioned before), but interestingly, there is geological evidence that lakes existed in this area before the last glacial activity. These paleolakes weren’t so much created by the Laurentine Ice Sheet receding, merely revealed by it. Glacial Lake Nanette watched over the area where Cayuga Lake is now, roughly 50,000 years ago, and was re-buried in ice about 30,000 years ago.
WHY
The earliest record of the name Finger Lake, that we know of, is from a scientific paper published by Wisconsin-born Thomas C. Chamberlin, who was enamored by glaciers and their geological sculpting of our American continent. His writing for the U.S. Geological Survey in 1883 is cited as the first official use of the name Finger Lake. He chooses not to elaborate on his choice of words (or cite them), though it may be that he was continuing a convention that was a misunderstanding of cultural tradition at best, and a convenient tokenism at worst.
The Finger Lakes, as an entity, have been known to European and Euro-American settlers for centuries, yet 1883 is the earliest known coining of that name. Native nations have known them for far longer, but never collectively named them (since each nation tended to hold certain ones sacred, and didn’t have the cultural instincts to classify everything as aggressively as other cultures). Early French and English explorers named them sister lakes, small lakes and the chain of lakes, but never attributed them to body parts.
The origin story behind the name of the region was published in 1920 by Seneca Falls historian Fred Teller. It was a retroactive canonization of sorts, legitimizing the term by drawing from the Haudenosaunee myth of the great spirit and his guiding hand blessing the land with his imprint.
The problem is that there is no such Haudenosaunee-based great spirit entity. The Six Nations’ creation myth centers around two brothers, known as Enigorio (the good mind) and Enigonhahetgea (the bad mind), who created everything we experience around us. Their workload was pretty even: Enigorio creating all things good for humans and Enigonhahetgea creating all things bad for humans. When there is talk of a creator in myth, it is Enigorio they’re talking about. Perhaps creator and great spirit could be interchangeable, if creator was ever mentioned in works that call on the popular myth. However, the attributions are so consistent in referencing a great spirit that it appears all the authors never bothered to confirm the story, simply to continue regurgitating.
HOW
From the natural environments the urban-suburban tourists seek for escape and the ever-expanding food scene regional ingredients to the award-winning wine and spirits industry and the history that welcomes all ages to explore, the Finger Lakes region is steeped in places to see and things to do. The “sometime” to see it is now.
Matt Rogers is a Rochester-based artist and storyteller who works to celebrate urban history, culture and pride in as many ways as possible. Follow him @thelostborough.
