Trivia Quiz

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Did you know that there are eleven lakes in the Finger Lakes region? Did you know Ganondagan Historic Site is the only state historic site in New York dedicated to Native Americans? Test your knowledge about the Finger Lakes and have some fun!

Click below for your Finger Lakes Fast Facts or if you think you are already in the know, click here and take the Ontario County Trivia Quiz. We're sure you'll learn more than you thought.

Food | History | The Lakes | People | Places & Things | Quiz

Food

The Finger Lakes Region 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.

It is estimated that nearly 70,000 grape pies, a Finger Lakes specialty, are sold annually in Naples, NY.

The Phelps Sauerkraut Festival is one of the oldest ongoing festivals in New York State.

Milk is the official New York State beverage. New York is the third largest dairy producing state in the United States.

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.

Traminette is a grape that was developed at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station.
Arbor Hill Grapery was the first to produce the Traminette wine.

The famous Northern Spy apple, one of New York's most prominent varieties originated from a seedling
brought from Connecticut in 1800 that was planted in East Bloomfield, New York.

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History

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.

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.

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.

Hill Cumorah (Ontario County) and nearby Palmyra are celebrated as the birthplace of the Mormon Religion.

Phelps, NY is the home of a unique architectural facility - a two story brick outhouse.

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).

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.

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The Lakes

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.

Despite its Native American translation meaning "Long Lake," Canadice Lake is the smallest of the
Finger Lakes - measuring under 4 miles long.

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 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.

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People

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.

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.

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.

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to be awarded a medical degree.
She received it from Geneva Medical College, located on what is now the campus of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

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.

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!

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.

Nathaniel Rochester, founder of the city which bears his name, once lived in Bloomfield,
as did Abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

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Places & Things

Geneva is known as the "Lake Trout Capital of the World."

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.

Over 1200 horses are stabled at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack during the thoroughbred racing season.

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.

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.

Wizard of Clay's Bristol leaf 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. Bristol Mountain (Canandaigua) has the
largest vertical ski drop (1200') of any winter resort between the Adirondacks and Rocky Mountain Ranges.

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.

Ontario County 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.

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.

Frost Hill in Naples is the highest point in Ontario County. It has an elevation of 2280 feet.

Bloomfield (1789) is older than Rochester (formed in 1817 as Rochesterville).

The crossroads of Bloomfield's Main Street and today's Route 444 were first built around factories and a 19th-century rail head.

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Take the Ontario County Trivia Quiz.

The answeres will be available at the end.

Food
1. Naples is known for pies made from what ingredient?

a. Apples
b. Grapes
c. Red Raspberries

2. What apple variety did not originate in Ontario County?

a. Cortland
b. Empire
c. Braeburn

3. Ontario county farmers are the world’s largest producers of what?

a. Cabbage
b. Milk
c. Grapes

4. Which of these festivals is among the oldest in New York State?

a. Canandaigua Arts Festival
b. Phelps Sauerkraut Festival
c. Naples Grape Festival

5. Which of these breakfast products can be discovered at Cumming Nature Center?

a. Apple Jacks
b. Oatmeal
c. Maple Sugar

6. In what year were European vinifera vines first planted in NYS?

a. 1860
b. 1934
c. 1953

7. What is the second largest winery in the United States and the third largest in the world?

a. Beringer
b. Canandaigua
c. Gallo

8. What is the largest grape growing county outside of California?

a. Ontario
b. Chautauqua
c. Yates

People, Places and Things
9. The annual tradition of lighting flares around the shorelines of Canandaigua and Honeoye Lakes on the Saturday of Labor Day is known as what?

a. Festival of Lights
b. Real Local Color
c. Ring of Fire

10. The official New York State bird is?

a. Bald Eagle
b. Blue Bird
c. Hummingbird

11. Which famous movie star used to spend summer’s on Canandaigua Lake?

a. Humphrey Bogart
b. Carey Grant
c. Marilyn Monroe

12. Which of these gardens can not be found at Sonnenberg?

a. Blue & White Garden
b. Rock Garden
c. Chinese Garden

13. Which race horse tied the record for most consecutive losses to begin a career at the Finger Lakes Race Track?

a. Elmer’s Hope
b. Going for Broke
c. Zippy Chippy

14. Sonnenberg, named after a small town in Germany, means what?

a. Grassy Knoll
b. Sunny Hill
c. Splendid Slope

15. Canandaigua is known as?

a. The Chosen Spot
b. The Emerald city
c. The Little Peach

16. Which famous major league baseball player played with the minor league Geneva Cubs?

a. Don Mattingly
b. Pete Rose
c. Cal Ripken, Jr.

17. How were the Finger Lakes formed?

a. Giant hand from great spirit
b. Glacial activity
c. manmade

18. Which community in Ontario County has a two story brick outhouse?

a. Geneva
b. Flint
c. Phelps

History
19. Gideon Granger from Canandaigua served in what position for the United States government?

a. Chairman of the Federal Reserve
b. Postmaster General
c. Secretary of State

20. Which women’s suffrage leader was tried and convicted of treason at the Ontario County Court House in Canandaigua?

a. Susan B. Anthony
b. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
c. Hillary Clinton

21. Elizabeth Blackwell made history in Geneva, NY as the first woman to?

a. Receive a medical degree
b. hold public office
c. own private land

22. This document signifies the oldest honored agreement between the United States and the six nations of the Iroquois?

a. Declaration of Independence
b. Declaration of Sentiments
c. Pickering Treaty

23. Who founded the Canandaigua Wine Company?

a. Frederick Thompson
b. John Rose
c. Marvin Sands

24. Which of these famous Ontario County residents became the first Republican governor of New York State?

a. Myron Clark
b. Stephen Douglas
c. Marcus Whitman

25. Which Iroquois nation once occupied the Ganandagan State historic site?

a. Cayuga
b. Seneca
c. Onondaga

26. Which modern day religion can trace its roots to Ontario County?

a. Catholicism
b. Lutheran
c. Mormon

The Lakes
27. In all, how many Finger Lakes are there?

a. 5
b. 7
c. 11

28. The deepest of the Finger Lakes is?

a. Canandaigua
b. Cayuga
c. Seneca

29. The Native American meaning for Canadice Lake is?

a. Short Lake
b. Long Lake
c. Lucky Lake

30. Geneva is known as the “capital of the world” for this species of fish found in Seneca Lake?

a. Carp
b. Trout
c. Bass

31. How deep is Seneca Lake at its maximum depth?

a. 245 ft.
b. 630 ft.
c. 820 ft.

32. What is the name of the shortest Finger Lake?

a. Canadice
b. Honeoye
c. Owasco

33. Ontario County is home to how many Finger Lakes?

a. 2
b. 3
c. 5

34. Which of the Finger Lakes is valued as the most expensive lakefront property in the U.S.?

a. Canandaigua
b. Keuka
c. Skaneateles


Also, you can click here to take our Ontario County Agri-Culture Quiz.

Scroll down for the answers to our Trivia Quiz

Food

1. = b, 2. = c, 3. = a, 4. = b, 5. = c, 6. = c, 7. = b, 8. = c

People, Places and Things

9. = c, 10. = b, 11. = a, 12. = c, 13. = c, 14. = b, 15. = a, 16. = b, 17. = b, 18. = c

History

19. = b, 20. = a, 21. = a, 22. = c, 23. = c, 24. = a, 25. = b, 26. = c

The Lakes

27. = c, 28. = c, 29. = b, 30. = b, 31. = b, 32. = a, 33. = a, 34. = c

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