USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Rochester and Monroe County: A history and guide > Part 22
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The route leaves Penn Yan on State 54.
The PENN YAN MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC AND WATER SERVICE PLANT, 1.1 m. (L) (open to the public by permission), makes available to Penn Yan unusually low rates for electricity and water, and besides, frequently makes a gift to each citizen of receipted bills for a month's service.
For 7 miles S. of Penn Yan the route is bordered by the lake shore (L) and hillsides planted to vineyards (R).
AT 4.8 m. (L), facing the lake, stands KEUKA COLLEGE, an educational institution for women. It includes in its curriculum preparation for the major professions and teacher training, and confers the B.A. and B.S. degrees. The buildings are constructed of red brick. In the SYLVAN THEATER, SE. of the main group of buildings, outdoor plays are given by the students.
At BLUFF POINT SETTLEMENT, 5.8 m. (920 alt., 130 pop.), the route turns L. on Bluff Point Road, which at 8.3 m. forks (R) at the school house and makes a gradual ascent to the apex of the long point of land dividing the two branches of the lake. From the highest point Keuka
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can be seen lying in a dish of low hills, beyond the rim of which fold upon fold of blue hills roll away in all directions into seven counties.
The road makes a swift descent to where, about a third of the way down the slope, the GARRETT MEMORIAL CHAPEL, 12.8 m. (L) (open to the public), stands on a narrow shelf of land high above the lake. Called "The Little Chapel on the Mount," well known as an architectural gem, it was erected by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Garrett in memory of their son. The building, designed by Mortimer H. Freehof of New York City is in the Gothic style with flying but- tresses and a general effect of lightness and grace. It is con- structed of Pennsylvania seam-faced granite, varied in coloring. Each detail of decoration and design is symbolic: the first floor or crypt of the building represents childhood, the stained glass windows illustrating nursery rhymes and favorite poems; the upper floor or chapel proper represents the ideals of youth, the windows picturing Scriptural scenes. The exterior is decorated with carved designs of birds, oak leaves, myrtle, and pine cones, a reflection of its forest surroundings. The Angel of Eternal Life is carved above the entrance. Surmounting the whole is a weather- vane, "The Ship of Adventure," gallantly unfurling its sails to the lake winds.
Retrace to Bluff Point Settlement, 19.8 m. The route turns L. on State 54.
At 23.9 m. in a field (L) 5 rods from the road, is a boulder marking the GRAVE OF RED JACKET'S MOTHER. Near this spot once stood a cabin in which Red Jacket is said to have spent his boyhood. He was a Seneca chief, born near Seneca Lake in 1752. His Indian name was Sagoyowatha: he was called Red Jacket because during the Revolutionary War he wore the redcoat of the English soldiery as a symbol
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of his sympathy with the British. In the War of 1812, how- ever, he gave valuable service to the United States. He died in 1830.
HAMMONDSPORT, 37.7 m.
SECTION D. HAMMONDSPORT-PENN YAN. STATE 54A. 22 m.
The concrete road follows the shore of Lake Keuka closely all the way, affording attractive views of the lake and its vineyards and tree-clad hills.
HAMMONDSPORT, 0 m. (740 alt., 1,063 pop.), fringing the southern point of Keuka Lake, lies in the narrow neck of a valley with hills rising abruptly from the very edge of the town. The vineyards climbing the hills make Ham- mondsport a center of wine production. The LARGEST WINE CELLAR in New York State, excavated from natural rock, is in Hammondsport (visitors welcome; free samples). It is a huge tunnel leading back through the solid rock of the hill. Its cool damp depths make an ideal storage place for aging wine.
Hammondsport was the home of the pioneer aviator and inventor, Glenn H. Curtiss, when he conducted his early experiments and developed his flying boat. The SITE OF THE CURTISS AIRPLANE FACTORY is now occupied by the new high school building.
From the high school an unmarked road leads (R) to PLEASANT VALLEY, 1 m., where a roadside sign marks "The Cradle of Aviation," the field over which on July 4, 1908, Curtiss piloted the "June Bug" in the first kilometer flight ever made.
On State 54A, at 1 m., an unobstructed shore line reveals a view of the entire length of the lake. Along the landward side of the shore road, frequent glens, carved by erosion in the shale rock, lead back between the hills. Many of the
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larger glens conceal mineral springs, fern-lined grottos, and shady pools.
At 9.4 m. (L) Bluff Point and the Memorial Chapel stand out conspicuously in the middle distance across the lake.
At 18.2 m. Keuka College appears just across the end of the lake.
At 22 m. the route re-enters Penn Yan.
SECTION E. PENN YAN-GENEVA. STATE 54, 14. 20.5 m.
This section of the route follows a historic road from Keuka Lake to the shores of Seneca Lake.
Out of Penn Yan the route continues NE. on State 54.
DRESDEN, 6.9 m. (516 alt., 278 pop.), has one claim to fame. In the center of the village, surrounded by a tangle of bridal wreath and lilac bushes, stands the INGERSOLL HOUSE (L) (opento public), in which Robert G. Ingersoll was born on Aug. 11, 1833. It contains two stories, with a story- and-a-half wing. The furniture used by the Ingersoll family is still in the house. Robert G. Ingersoll was a prominent lawyer, a politician, and a skeptical writer and lecturer on religious topics. He wrote The Gods, Ghosts, Some Mistakes of Moses, and various other works. He died in 1899.
At 7 m. the route turns R. on State 14.
At 11.7 m. a marker, one of a series, indicates the line of march followed by Generals Sullivan and Clinton in 1779 on their expedition against the Indians. This expedition, sent out by Washington to punish the Six Nations for their massacres in the Mohawk, Hudson, and Susquehanna val- leys, broke the power of the Iroquois and opened western New York to white settlement.
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GENEVA, 20.5 m. (462 alt., 16,053 pop.). (see Tour 10, Section c.)
SECTION F. GENEVA-CANANDAIGUA. STATE 5 (US 20). 18 m.
The route from Geneva to Canandaigua passes through a characteristic New York State rural section.
In Geneva the route turns L. (W) on State 5.
FLINT, 7.4 m. (820 alt., 97 pop.), is the center of a famous cabbage-growing section, as evidenced by the aroma of several sauerkraut factories in the vicinity.
At 14.6 m. a high point offers a view of the city of Can- andaigua (W) and Canandaigua Lake (SW).
ROSELAND PARK, 16 m. (L), is a summer resort on the lake. During the summer months a carnival atmosphere is created by a Ferris wheel, a ship, a merry-go-round, a dance hall, and other forms of amusement.
CANANDAIGUA, 18 m. (see Tour 8, Section d).
SECTION G. CANANDAIGUA-ROCHESTER. STATE 332, 15. 28.5 m. (see Tour 8, Section d).
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TOUR 10
SENECA LAKE AND WATKINS GLEN
Rochester, Geneva, Watkins Glen, Montour Falls, Water- loo, Rochester. State 15, 332, 5, 14, 414, 15A, 5, 15. Rochester-Rochester, 181.8 m.
The New York Central R. R. parallels the highway from Geneva to Watkins Glen; the Lehigh Valley follows the eastern side of Seneca Lake from Watkins Glen to the northern end of the lake. Bus lines Rochester to Geneva and Geneva to Watkins Glen. Roads paved throughout, nearly all concrete; open throughout the year.
The feature of this route is the scenery-winding streams, lakes, glens, and waterfalls-of the Seneca Lake district.
SECTION A. ROCHESTER-CANANDAIGUA. STATE 15, 332, 28.5 m. (see Tour 8, Section d).
SECTION B. CANANDAIGUA-GENEVA. STATE 5 (US 20). 18 m. (see Tour 9, Section f).
SECTION C. GENEVA-WATKINS GLEN. STATE 14. 38.5 m.
Between Geneva and Watkins Glen the route follows the W. shore of Seneca Lake, the hills rising to a height of 2,000 ft. and the scene constantly changing.
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ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY
GENEVA, 0.0 m. (462 alt., 16,053 pop.).
Railroad Stations: N. Y. Central, 279 Exchange St .; Lehigh Valley, Sherrill St.
Bus Lines: Greyhound Lines, Geneva-Lyons, Geneva-Bath; Gen- eva-Watkins Glen Coach Line; Martz Lines; Castle and Exchange Sts.
Airport: Geneva Aerial Service Corp., 2 m. W. on State 5.
Taxis: 25 cents within city limits.
Tourist Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 473 Exchange St .; Geneva Auto Club, Main and Seneca Sts.
Accommodations: Three hotels, 500 rooms; many tourist homes. Tennis Court: Brook St. between Castle and Lyceum Sts.
Golf: Geneva Country Club and Lakeside Country Club, Lake Rd. Swimming: Municipal Bathing Beach east side of lake.
Annual Events: Speed Boat Regatta, Seneca Lake, first week in July; Flower Shows (chrysanthemum display), sponsored by State Experimental Station, about Nov. 1.
The first dwelling on the present site of Geneva was a log cabin built in 1787 and inhabited by a man named Jennings. Afterwards enlarged to become the FIRST TAVERN IN GENEVA, it stood a little S. of what is now the junction of Washington and Exchange Sts. on what was then an Indian trail leading southward to Kashong. Within a year several log houses were built along this street or trail.
PULTENEY PARK, the original village green, was laid out by Capt. Williamson in 1796 just above the cluster of houses and the tavern built on the shore. Around the green were the business houses of the village, the post office, and the original land office of the Pulteney Estate.
By 1805 Geneva had grown to 68 houses and 325 in- habitants and in 1806 was incorporated as a village. Con- spicuous in its early days for its large number of retired clergymen and spinsters, it was called "the saint's retreat and the old maid's paradise."
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The present PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Main St., is the third to occupy the site, the first having been erected in 1797. The bell is from the original building. The adjoining parish house stands on the site of the GENEVA ACAD- EMY, which began in a small building in 1796, was char- tered by the Board of Regents in 1813, and was taken over by Geneva College in 1821.
On Main St., just beyond Pulteney St., is HOBART COLLEGE (R), founded in 1822 by Bishop Henry Hobart of the Protestant Episcopal Church in order to increase the teaching functions of the church in the new territory of western New York. A gift for construction purposes was made by Trinity Church, New York City. GENEVA HALL, the original building, now used as a dormitory, is a severe three-story structure of cut stone. Other buildings on the shaded campus are English Renaissance, Victorian Gothic, and Georgian.
Adjoining the college's 40-acre tract on the west, is the 24-acre tract of the WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, founded in 1906 by a bequest of William Smith, a resident of the city. Both colleges have the same faculty. There is a combined student body of 500.
The LAFAYETTE INN stands on the NW. corner of the intersection of State 5 and the Old Preemption Road; in this building Lafayette stayed when he visited Geneva in 1825, and on the grounds, in a building known as the Elmwood Priory, originally designed as a boys' school, is the coach in which General Lafayette rode from Canandaigua to Geneva.
The LAFAYETTE TREE (L) is an unusually large balm of Gilead. The legend is that Lafayette, resting on his cane at the spot, left the cane imbedded in the soil, and from this sprang the stately tree of today.
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The OLD PREEMPTION ROAD is built along the orig- inal line surveyed in 1788 from the 82nd milestone along the Pennsylvania-New York boundary line north to Lake Ontario. By the Hartford agreement rights to the land W. of this line belonged to Massachusetts. Criticism of the accuracy of the original survey led to a new survey which placed the new Preemption Line farther E. and produced the historic "Gore" which was added to the Massachusetts lands and consequently to the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The new line ran almost directly down the middle of Seneca Lake, so that Geneva lay entirely in the "Gore," its E. and W. city limits almost coinciding with the lines of the two surveys.
1. Left on the Old Preemption Road at the W. city limits is the site of the log STOCKADE, 1.3 m., built by order of Sir William Johnson in 1756 to defend the district against the French and to re- tain the allegiance of the Senecas during the French and Indian War.
Just across the Lehigh Valley R. R. is an Indian BURIAL MOUND (L), which marked the center of the Seneca village of KANA- DESAGA. In it is buried GRAHTA, the Old King, or Old Smoke, as he was disrespectfully called by the early settlers, the most famous Seneca sachem of his day. His name in the Seneca dialect meant he carries the smoke; he had the sole responsibility of carrying the brand by which the council fires of the Senecas were lighted. Although probably present at the Cherry Valley mas- sacre, he opposed the participation of the Senecas in the Revolu- tionary War. He was the chief sachem probably from about 1760 until his death about 1779. For years, just as the leaves were be- ginning to fall, a band of Indians came regularly to this mound to meditate silently for hours.
Two hundred feet (R) at 1.4 m., is the large stone SULLIVAN- KANADESAGA CAMPAIGN MONUMENT, the inscription on which is a vivid historical description of the nearby locality. Kanadesaga, the chief village of the Senecas from about 1750 on, was destroyed by Sullivan's army on Sept. 7th, 1779. Col. John Butler's buildings at the mouth of Castle Creek, used by British troops during 1779, were burned the same day.
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At PREEMPTION, 1.5 m., the intersection of Castle Road with Old Preemption Road, the road turns R. to the NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 2 m. (visitors welcome), established by the state in 1882 and operated in connection with Cornell University in Ithaca. The station carries on research in fruit and vegetable culture, entomology, dairying, agricultural bacteriology, chemistry, and other fields. The staff consists of a director and about fifty scientific investigators, to- gether with the necessary clerical and labor force.
2. Right, at the Lafayette Inn on the Old Preemption Road is White Springs Farm, .8 m., the site of GANECHSTAGE, the old, well- organized main village of the Senecas. By the time of Sullivan's campaign the village had disappeared, the population evidently having removed to Kanadesaga. As late as 1842 several of the village mounds were leveled and wagon loads of bones and relics removed and scattered by people of the neighborhood, proving that the bitterness of the Indian wars lasted in the East long after the fighting had ceased.
The WHITE SPRINGS crop out along a mile or more on the brow of the hill. They determined the location of the Indian village and provided Geneva's first water supply.
Out of Geneva the route follows State 14 south along the western shore of Seneca Lake.
SENECA LAKE, 6 m., the largest and deepest of the Finger Lakes, is 36 m. long with a maximum width of 31/4 m. and a maximum depth of 632 ft. The surface is 444 ft. above sea level. It has been known to freeze over only twice. It has a long boating history: first came the birch canoe, then the bateaux of the fur traders; the sloop of Louis Philippe of France sailed the lake in 1797; as late as the Civil War period a number of steamers made regular trips; thereafter the traffic gradually declined as the result of railroad competition.
KASHONG, 8.1 m., is a summer colony on the lake shore, mostly patronized by Genevans. Out of season the place is practically deserted.
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DRESDEN, 15 m. (526 alt., 276 pop.), is the birthplace of Robert G. Ingersoll (see Tour 9, Section e).
CAMP PIONEER, 19.6 m. (L), is a large Boy Scout camp on the shore of the lake. To this camp, for 8 weeks every summer, come hundreds of boys from Rochester and the Finger Lakes district. When in operation, the camp con- tains five separate village units, each with an Indian name.
At 30 m. the highway crosses Big Stream, which flows through GLENORA GLEN and plunges to a lower level over GLENORA FALLS.
ROCK STREAM CREEK, 30.4 m., is spanned by one of the long bridges characteristic of the Finger Lakes region. The view of the gorge is impressive.
At 38 m. the route passes the head of Seneca Lake and enters the village of Watkins Glen.
WATKINS GLEN VILLAGE, 38.2 m. (477 alt., 2,955 pop.), settled in 1788, was early called Salubria, probably because of its therapeutic mineral springs. In the village is one of the richest salt mines in the United States. Along the lake shore there are large camping grounds with all facilities. From the main street the glen extends its great chasm into the mountain between torn and jagged cliffs.
WATKINS GLEN STATE PARK, 38.5m., 547 acres, opens directly from the main street of the village, with a sudden change from a busy, modern business community to the cool and moist recesses of the glen. The visitor enters the glen through a huge door in front of which the flow of the greensward forms a natural amphitheater. Within is a world of cascades and waterfalls, of strange grottos and towering walls of stratified rock. The trail through the gorge crosses the tumbling stream again and again on bridges constructed to blend with the natural beauty of the scene; one bridge
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is swung across the chasm 165 ft. above the swirling water. The trip through the gorge and back, a total distance of about 4 m., can be made either up on foot and down the rim road by bus (fare 50 cents) or up by bus and down on foot through the glen, or both ways by foot.
Prior to the Ice Age, the drainage of the Finger Lakes region was well established in N .- S. streams. The thick, southward-moving ice gouged out the valleys of these streams, ever deepening them and steepening their sides. Dams of glacial debris backed up the water and formed the Finger Lakes. New post-glacial tributaries, which com- menced to flow on the rejuvenated landscape, plunging to the lake levels, cut gorges and gullies in the soft and thinly- bedded Devonian shales. Where the rocks were thick and durable, falls and cascades were formed.
The flood of July 1935, which devastated southern New York, swept through this gorge, destroyed the trails, and even changed the contours of the natural formation. Every- thing has been reconstructed in harmony with the natural scene.
Right from Watkins Glen, State 14 leads to MONTOUR FALLS, 2.5 m. (447 alt., 1,489 pop.), a center from which radiate seven glens with a score of waterfalls. The most noteworthy is Che- quagua (Ind., tumbling waters) Falls, close to the main street of the village and seemingly falling right into it; these falls are 156 ft. high, almost as high as the American Falls of Niagara. Louis Philippe, later King of France, during his sojourn in this country, probably in 1797, made a sketch of these falls which is said to be hanging in the Tuileries.
Montour Falls was once the site of Catherine's Town named for Queen Catherine Montour, famous in Indian legend and tradition. Sullivan's army destroyed the Indian village on the site in 1779, after which the modern town was established by white settlers.
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SECTION D. WATKINS GLEN-WATERLOO. STATE 414, 15A, 5, 15. 47.6 m.
From Watkins Glen the route follows State 414, called the Sullivan Trail, around the head of Seneca Lake.
HECTOR FALLS, 3.3 m. (R), is the site of the first woolen mills in Schuyler County, built in 1801, and of the Samuel A. Seely warehouse, from which in 1833 a large lake vessel departed with a cargo of wheat for New York via the newly constructed Erie Canal.
HECTOR, 9 m. (860 alt., 60 pop.), is a small hamlet built upon a campsite of the Sullivan expedition. The First Presbyterian Church, 9.3 m., was organized in 1809, and the present edifice built in 1816.
At 12 m. is the SITE OF CON-DAW-HAW, an Indian village that, in common with almost all the Indian villages in this region, was destroyed by Sullivan's army, the date here being Sept. 4, 1779.
LODI, 18 m. (1,005 alt., 322 pop.), is a trading center for the rich agricultural region lying between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.
Left from Lodi a macadam road leads to SILVER THREAD FALLS. A car can be driven to a point near the station of the Lehigh Valley R. R. Walk across the railroad and follow it a few steps S. to the bridge which carries the railroad across the chasm just above the falls. A footbridge or walk beside the track provides a vantage point from which to view the canyon and the falls from above. This cleft in the stratified rock forming the eastern shore of the lake is one of the most impressive of the many natural forma- tions on the shores of Seneca Lake. By walking down the slope about 60 ft. from the railroad, one reaches the brink of the canyon and can look down into the depths of the gorge. Silver Thread Falls forms a pillar of water 160 ft. high. When the stream is swollen, the large volume of the falling water adds to the im- pressiveness.
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At Ovid, 23.3 m. the route turns L. on State 15A and follows the eastern lake shore.
At 42.4 m. is junction with State 5 (US 20); the route turns R. on State 5.
THE SCYTHE TREE, 44.8 m. (L), is a large balm of Gilead. At the time of the Civil War it was a mere sapling. A young man, son of the owner of the farm, was aroused by President Lincoln's call for volunteers. One morning he came in from the field, placed his scythe in the tree, said, "Let it stand there until I come back," and enlisted. He died in the war and the scythe was never removed. The snathe decayed, the tree grew rapidly, and the blade be- came embedded in the heart of the trunk. Today only about 6 inches of the point protrudes outside the bark.
WATERLOO, 47.6 m. (438 alt., 4,047 pop.), stands on the banks of the Seneca River on the site of the Indian vil- lage of Skoiyase. In the HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILD- ING, Church and William Sts. (open free Sat. 3-5), a collec- tion of Indian relics is on display. At Main and Chapel Sts. stands an immense ELM TREE, nearly 20 ft. in circumfer- ence and believed to be more than 350 years old. The story has been handed down locally that the Indians planted this tree as a guidepost to mark their ancient trail.
SECTION E. WATERLOO-JUNCTION STATE 15 AND 332. STATE 15. 27.7 m.
Out of Waterloo the route follows State 15. At 1.7 m. the road turns sharply L.
FIVE CORNERS, 7.2 m., is the junction of five old roads that has long been a reckoning point for distances to many places in the vicinity. Today it is the junction point of State 14 and 15 and County 291.
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PHELPS, 11.6 m. (542 alt., 1,397 pop.), boasts a large sauerkraut factory. Cabbages are a staple crop on most of the farms in the locality. Much of the stone and sand used in the construction of the highways throughout the Finger Lakes region comes from the vicinity of Phelps. The New York Central, the Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley R. Rs. converge at Phelps.
CLIFTON SPRINGS, 15.8 m. (560 alt., 1,819 pop.), is a town that grew up around its famous mineral springs. Its sanitarium, including hospital and clinic, has completed over 85 years of service in 1937 and is one of the best known institutions of its kind in the eastern states. With more than 20 physicians specializing in all branches of medicine and surgery, and some 200 nurses, it is operated on a non-profit basis. It has 75 acres of private parks, and its springs are available to the public without cost. It adds a transient population of about 500 to the census population of the village.
MANCHESTER, 21.3 m. (590 alt., 1,429 pop.), is largely a railroad town, depending upon the freight yards and car repair shops of the Lehigh Valley R. R.
At 27.7 m. is the junction with State 332.
SECTION F. JUNCTION STATE 15 AND 332-ROCH- ESTER. STATE 15. 21.5 m. (See Tour 8, Section d).
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TOUR 11
CAYUGA LAKE AND ITHACA
Rochester, Canandaigua, Geneva, Seneca Falls, Ithaca, Aurora, Clyde, Lyons. State 15, 332, 5, 515, 16, County Road, State 89, 34, 34B, 90, County Roads, State 5, 414, 31. Rochester-Rochester, 209 m.
New York Central R. R. from Rochester to Geneva; Lehigh Valley R. R., Geneva to Ithaca. Bus lines to Canandaigua, Geneva, and Ithaca. Roads paved, open throughout the year. All accommodations in larger towns; tourist accommoda- tions in villages.
This route circles Cayuga Lake, passing through Ithaca and several of the Finger Lakes state parks.
SECTION A. ROCHESTER-CANANDAIGUA. STATE 15, 332. 26.4 m. (see Tour 8, Section d).
SECTION B. CANANDAIGUA-GENEVA. STATE 5 (US 20). 18 m. (see Tour 9, Section f).
SECTION C. GENEVA-SENECA FALLS. STATE 5 (US 20). 10.1 m.
The route leaves Geneva on State 5 (U S 20), traveling E., skirting the shore of Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes. (see Tour 10, Section c).
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