Trivia & Fun Facts

There are some pretty interesting tidbits of information on Ontario County, its attractions, its people, and its unique features. For instance, did you know that in Phelps, NY there is a two story brick outhouse? Can you guess how many grape pies are made each year in the Naples area? Well, believe it or not, we've researched some of these trivia and fun facts and have found that people really enjoy them. Here's a list of several tidbits of information. We share this information with our industry, our guests, and the media. You never know when a little bit of trivia will hit the right spot in someone's presentation. Perhaps you know something to add to the list. If you do, just contact us and let us know. In the meantime, enjoy!

• The Finger Lakes is the largest U.S. wine producing region outside of California.
• Ontario County farmers are credited as one of the largest producers of cabbage, worldwide. The cabbage harvester was invented here.
• There are a total of eleven lakes in the Finger Lakes Region.
• Seneca Lake is the deepest of the Finger Lakes (618 ft. depth).
• Honeoye Lake's maximum depth is approximately 30 feet.
• Geneva is known as the "Lake Trout Capital of the World." It is also the host site for the Seneca Lake Whale Watch – even though there are no whales in Seneca Lake.
• The Ring of Fire is an annual tradition of lakefront residents who light flares around the western Finger Lakes signifying the end of harvest season and the conclusion of the summer season on the lake. This is reputed to have started with a Native American tradition, but continues today on Canandaigua Lake, Honeoye Lake, and Keuka Lake.
• Humphrey Bogart used to spend his summer vacations on Canandaigua Lake.
• Susan B. Anthony was tried for treason in the Ontario County Courthouse (Canandaigua). The women's rights leader was fined $100 for voting in the 1872 Presidential Election. She refused to pay the fine.
• There are ten public golf courses in Lake Country. Bristol Harbour is a Robert Trent Jones course, and Ravenwood (Victor) was selected as the 5th best new public golf course in America in 2004.
• It is estimated that nearly 70,000 grape pies, a Finger Lakes specialty, are sold annually in Naples, NY.
• The Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center (Canandaigua) is known as the summer home of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
• During its active time, the Sampson Naval Training Station (on Seneca Lake) was the country's second largest Naval Training Station -- processing 411,429 recruits between October 1942 and August 1945.
• Myron Clark (of Naples) became the first Republican governor of the State of New York. He was the father of Mary Clark Thompson, founder of Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua.
• Milk is the official New York State beverage. New York is the third largest dairy producing state in the United States.
• Over 1200 horses are stabled at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack during the thoroughbred racing season.
• Gideon Granger of Canandaigua was the first U.S. Postmaster General of the United States. He served under Presidents Jefferson and Madison. His home is open today as Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum.
• Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens is one of only five New York State Historic Parks sites, after receiving this designation from New York State in October 2004.
• Ganondagan of Victor is the only State Historic Site in New York State dedicated to Native Americans.
• Geneva On The Lake, located in Geneva on Seneca Lake, is a four diamond historic European style hotel. From 1949 to 1974 it served as a Capuchian monastery.
• Hobart College (Geneva) has a storied tradition in the sport of Lacrosse. Its men's Lacrosse team won a record 13 NCAA Division III championships, before moving up to the Division I-A level in 1994.
• The Phelps Sauerkraut Festival is one of the oldest ongoing festivals in New York State.
• The Lady Bug is the official New York State insect, the Bluebird the official state bird, the Rose is the official flower. The NYS Bluebird trail runs along Routes 5 and 20 and the Mary Frances Bluebird Haven is on County Road 9 in Victor.
• Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to be awarded a medical degree. She received it from Geneva Medical College, which is now Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
• Despite its Native American translation meaning "Long Lake," Canadice Lake is the smallest of the Finger Lakes - measuring under 4 miles long.
• Wizard of Clay's Bristoleaf line, pottery designed with impressions from real indigenous leaves, is made and sold in one place in the world, on Route 20A in Bristol. The potters at Wizard of Clay are unique among only 200 potters in the world to produce a line of crystalline glazed porcelain.
• The average annual snowfall in Ontario County is 99 inches.
• The last surviving combat veteran of the Civil War was James A. Hard (of Victor). Mr. Hard died in 1953 at the age of 111.
• Bristol Mountain (Canandaigua) has the largest vertical ski drop (1200') of any winter resort between the Adirondacks and Rocky Mountain Ranges.
• Scientists at Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, "birthed" five of the east's most popular apple varieties: Cortland, Empire, Macoun, Jonagold. The Northern Spy was reputedly discovered in Bloomfield and then perfected at the NYS Experiment Station.
• Combining fertile soils, lake-moderated climate, innovative transportation (of steamships and canals), this region became the primary "food basket" to New York City's growing population.
• Ontario County, once called the "Mother of Counties," was the first and largest settlement in Western New York dating back to 1789. It included all the area from Geneva, west to Buffalo between Lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania state line.
• Seneca Lake is Ontario County's waterway connection to the world, due to its accessibility from the Erie Canal, St. Lawrence Seaway and the Atlantic Ocean.
• The entire Sampson Naval Training Station (Seneca Lake) was built in 270 days. It included: 498 training and administration buildings, roads, rail lines, infrastructure for sewage and water, fire station, 300 dwelling units and dormitories for 250 civilian workers.
• Hill Cumorah (Ontario County) and nearby Palmyra are celebrated as the birthplace of the Mormon Religion.
• The Smith Opera House, a turn of the century theatre, has been the site for many famous performances, and noted by Itzhak Perlman as one of the finest acoustical theatres in the United States.
• Clifton Springs Water Cure is the original name of the facility that was promoted for its healing waters. Today, the sulphur springs are a noticeable part of any visit – and are being revived and used in a healing spa., The Springs at Clifton.
• In order to meet the shortage of farm hands during World War II, over four thousand German and Italian prisoners of war were allocated to the New York State Agriculture Department - many of these prisoners were sent to farm the fields of Geneva and surrounding areas. They manned local processing plants and harvested grapes, carrots and cabbage.
• Traminette is a grape that was developed at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station. Arbor Hill Grapery was the first to produce the Traminette wine.
• Phelps, NY is the home of a unique architectural facility – a two story brick outhouse.
• The annual NYS Department of Environmental "shocking" of the fish takes place in Naples Creek, just a few weeks before the opening of trout season on April 1. The shocking involves bringing fish to the top of the water so they can be analyzed, tagged, and counted.
• Port Gibson is the only area in Lake Country that is accessible from the original Erie Canal. The Cayuga Seneca Canal connects the Erie Canal to Seneca Lake.
• The Finger Lakes were formed by glacial activity over 100 million years ago, during the Ice Age. Glacial activity also formed the Bristol Hills and its surrounding valleys. These geological features are clearly visible from Jump Off Lookout at the Ontario County Park.
• Lake Country is home to a unique phenomenon of nature - a Burning Spring. The spontaneous water-turned-fireball eruptions are actually a result of pent-up natural gases that escape into the air.
• Routes 5 and 20 converge in certain parts of New York State, including Ontario County. The roads were originally Indian trail paths and then stagecoach paths across New York State. Route 20 is one of the first transcontinental highways, running from Boston, through New York State, to the west coast (Oregon).
• Over one hundred and fifty artists live in Naples and the Bristol Hills, drawing inspiration for everything from entrepreneurial food artists to traditional painters, glass blowers, sculptors, wine makers and more!
• In the 1800s, Clifton Springs became a magnet for men and women seeking a healthier life. Visitors were drawn by the natural sulphur springs - which were thought to have curative powers through drinking and bathing. The baths closed in 1956, but are being reopened today for integrated health and wellness treatments
• Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech from the platform of his railroad car at the Victor station in 1898. Robert Kennedy was in Naples and enjoyed the festival when he was Attorney General of the United States.
• Frost Hill in Naples is the highest point in Ontario County. It has an elevation of 2280 feet.
• Bloomfield is older than Rochester (formed in 1817 as Rochesterville).
• Nathaniel Rochester, founder of the city which bears his name, once lived in Bloomfield, as did Abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
• The crossroads of Bloomfield's Main Street and today's Route 444 were first built around factories and a 19th-century rail head.
• The famous Northern Spy apple, one of New York's most prominent varieties originated from a seedling brought from Connecticut that was planted in East Bloomfield, New York.
• In 1870, a company in Bloomfield, New York bored pine logs and banded them together with iron, creating the industry's first natural gas pipeline. It stretched 25 miles to Rochester, New York.
• One of the larger Mastodons ever found in New York State was found in East Bloomfield, New York in 1994.