Canandaigua Lake is the fourth largest of the
Finger LakesThe Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
, in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of
CanandaiguaCanandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...
is located at the northern shore of the lake and the village of
NaplesNaples is a village in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 1,072 at the 2000 census.The Village of Naples is in the Town of Naples. Naples is in the center of an important grape-growing region.- History :...
is just a few miles south of the southern end. Travelling west to east in the Finger Lakes region, it is the first of the major, or larger Finger Lakes (or coming from east to west, it is the last major Finger Lake). The name Canandaigua is derived from the
SenecaSeneca is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. About 10,000 Seneca live in the United States and Canada, primarily on reservations in western New York, with others living in Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario.-Phonology:Seneca words are written with...
name spelled variously Kanandarque,
GanondaganGanondagan State Historic Site also known as Boughton Hill is a New York State Native American historic site in Ontario County, New York in the USA. The historic site is in the Town of Victor, southwest of the Village of Victor...
, Ga-nun-da-gwa, or in a modern transcription,
tganǫdæ:gwęh, which means "the chosen spot", or "at the chosen town".
Canandaigua Lake is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) long, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, and has a shoreline of 35.9 miles (57.8 km). Near the northern end is Squaw Island. About fifty percent of the surrounding land is in forest, but most of the remainder is under agriculture. Of 35.9 miles of shoreline, 34.7 miles (55.8 km) (97%) are private and 1.2 miles (1.9 km) (3%) are public.
Canandaigua Lake State Marine Park is located in the City of Canandaigua on the north end. It offers a boat launch for powerboats and fishing access from May to mid-October.
History
The first
steamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
in the Finger Lakes region was the
Enterprise, which was launched in 1825 . Canandaigua Lake's steamboat era ran from 1827 with the launching of the
Lady of the Lake and ended in 1935 when the
Idler discontinued passenger service. There were fourteen major boats that provided commercial service on Canandaigua Lake. Today, the Canandaigua Lady, a 19th century replica of a double-decked paddleboat, continues this tradition.
The
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and white settlers signed the
Treaty of CanandaiguaThe Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington representing the United States of America....
just north of the lake. This parchment, which is in the Memorial Museum, has the names of a number of famous Indian chiefs including
Red JacketRed Jacket was a Native American Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan...
,
CornplanterGaiänt'wakê was a Seneca war-chief. He was the son of a Seneca mother, Aliquipiso, and a Dutch father, Johannes Abeel. He also carried the name John Abeel after his fur trader father...
,
Handsome LakeHandsome Lake was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was also half-brother to Cornplanter....
, Farmer's Brother, and Fish Carrier.
The lake is a popular second home destination for families from nearby
Rochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, as well as other parts of the northeast.
Squaw Island
Squaw Island is located at the north end of the lake. It is the smallest
Fish and Wildlife Management AreaNew York State owns and maintains more than 85 Wildlife Management Areas , with a total area of more than .The Wildlife Management Areas Program is administered by the Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources of the Department of Environmental Conservation...
in New York State and one of only two islands in the eleven Finger Lakes. The
SenecaThe Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
recall that the island was used to hide the Seneca women and children during the
Sullivan ExpeditionThe Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, was an American campaign led by Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton against Loyalists and the four nations of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War.The...
against the
Six NationsThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
of the Iroquois in 1779. The island exhibits an extremely rare form of carbonate of lime forms deposits on
pebbleA pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimetres based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered to be larger than granules and smaller than cobbles . A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate...
s (
conglomerateA conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
). It is a feathery light
rockIn geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
which is calcified from
algaeAlgae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
filtered by sand and pond scum. The rock, locally called "water biscuits", is hard in the water but crumbles if allowed to dry out. In recent years the island has been eroding rapidly from the forces of ice, wind,
water currentA current, in a river or stream, is the flow of water influenced by gravity as the water moves downhill to reduce its potential energy. The current varies spatially as well as temporally within the stream, dependent upon the flow volume of water, stream gradient, and channel geometrics...
s and development changing the wave patterns.
In 1977, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation installed a cedar log buffer around the island to help preserve it. Its size, approximately 2 acre (0.809372 ha) in 1853, shrank by 75% in 162 years, to about 0.25 acre (0.1011715 ha) in 1971. Today only 55 feet (16.8 m) by 145 feet (44.2 m) of the island remains. A newly formed group called the Squaw Island Preservation Society has raised citizen support to protect the island and its unique place in science and local history, after state officials said they would no longer maintain it. Work on the preservation was completed in Summer 2001.
Points of interest
- Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park
Sonnenberg Gardens, also known as Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park, is a state park located at 151 Charlotte Street, Canandaigua, New York, USA, at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York...
, at the north end of the lake.
- County Road 12 into Naples (town), New York
Naples is a town in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 2,441 at the 2000 census.The Town of Naples contains a village, also called Naples...
at the South end of the lake, which is known for its beautiful views of the lake and is a favorite of fall travelers. Also along the road is the new South Bristol Overlook.
External links