IFWTWA Media Trip

The Unique Art & History of the Southern Finger Lakes FAM

When you are the birthplace of one of the world’s premiere wine regions, the hometown where early American aviation “grew up and went wild,” the epicenter for glass innovations that have revolutionized the world for nearly a century-and-a-half . . . you have some unique and rather remarkable stories to tell. Steuben County is known for glass, wine, Keuka Lake, and aviation history. Steuben is a destination of innovation, and its history is long and impactful. Chemung County also has a long and storied history as the Soaring Capital of the World; Elmira is also where Mark Twain spent twenty summers writing his classic books with his wife and her family on a hillside overlooking the Chemung River. It’s also where Twain is buried. Elmira is also home to fugitive slave John Jones, who helped 800 fugitive slaves find their way to freedom.

“The Finger Lakes stretch like narrow north-south slashes across western central New York. Their names evoke the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy that dominated this area for more than two centuries. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Finger Lakes became a land of dreamers and doers. Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at his summer home in Elmira. Glenn H. Curtiss put Hammondsport on the aviation map by flying his June Bug just under a mile in 1908. This rich history spawned institutions of higher learning and of the arts that continue to thrive: Rochester’s world-famous Eastman School of Music, Ithaca’s Cornell University, Syracuse University, and the Corning Glass Works (and Steuben Glass), and the Corning Museum of Glass, to name a few.” — Fodor’s

Immerse yourself in the unique and remarkable history that has left its mark on many parts of the world, and discover the wonderful art that is a vibrant and indelible part of the culture and heart of the Finger Lakes region.