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| Front facade, Eastman House |
Saturday dawns bright and sunny: the perfect day for the start of our road trip to Upstate New York. I am excited about my first trip to the Finger Lakes District. A popular tourist destination, the district consists of eleven lakes, each long and narrow (resembling fingers), with the two longest lakes, Cayuga and Seneca, also being the deepest in the U.S. (source: Wikipedia).
The lakes originally flowed northwards, but as a result of the Laurentian Ice Sheet (a thin but extensive glacier that started in the Pleistocene period), many of the area's deep valleys and dams were created from the remnants of its debris, resulting in the many lakes. The surrounding uplands, however, show little evidence of glaciation, though the ice's deep scouring of the valleys resulted in tributaries high above the lakes and valley floors (source: Wikipedia).
The lakes' names - Cayuga, Seneca, Otisco, and Skaneateles, among others - refer to the various tribes of the Iroquois nation, a large and powerful one that resisted European colonization up to two hundred years after initial contact. Indeed, other tribes moved to the Finger Lakes district seeking the protection of the Iroqois, forming the Iroquois Confederacy. The Confederacy's power weakened in time, however, due to in-fighting amongst the tribes, resulting in many members fighting alongside the British against the Americans, during the American Revolutionary War of 1775. Post-war, many of the Iroquois' lands were claimed by the Americans and opened for sale, while the tribes were assigned to specific reservations, weakening the Confederacy further (source: Wikipedia).
At the beginning of the 19th century, much of the Finger Lakes District was settled by New Englanders, migrating westward, or by Pennsylvanians, heading north. At this time, a Christianity revival inspired an activist movement, leading to reforms. Initiatives such as the underground railroad, which helped rescue those running from slavery in the deep south, were established and flourished (source: Wikipedia).
The lakes originally flowed northwards, but as a result of the Laurentian Ice Sheet (a thin but extensive glacier that started in the Pleistocene period), many of the area's deep valleys and dams were created from the remnants of its debris, resulting in the many lakes. The surrounding uplands, however, show little evidence of glaciation, though the ice's deep scouring of the valleys resulted in tributaries high above the lakes and valley floors (source: Wikipedia).
The lakes' names - Cayuga, Seneca, Otisco, and Skaneateles, among others - refer to the various tribes of the Iroquois nation, a large and powerful one that resisted European colonization up to two hundred years after initial contact. Indeed, other tribes moved to the Finger Lakes district seeking the protection of the Iroqois, forming the Iroquois Confederacy. The Confederacy's power weakened in time, however, due to in-fighting amongst the tribes, resulting in many members fighting alongside the British against the Americans, during the American Revolutionary War of 1775. Post-war, many of the Iroquois' lands were claimed by the Americans and opened for sale, while the tribes were assigned to specific reservations, weakening the Confederacy further (source: Wikipedia).
At the beginning of the 19th century, much of the Finger Lakes District was settled by New Englanders, migrating westward, or by Pennsylvanians, heading north. At this time, a Christianity revival inspired an activist movement, leading to reforms. Initiatives such as the underground railroad, which helped rescue those running from slavery in the deep south, were established and flourished (source: Wikipedia).
Our first stop, the city of Rochester, New York, located on the western Finger Lakes of Hemlock and Canadice, is part of the protected 6,684 acre Hemlock-Canadice State Forest, and site of some of the most beautiful autumn colours this part of the continent is known for.
An unexpected delay at the U.S.-Canada border, results in loss of time, and we arrive at our first destination later than intended. Even so, the gardens of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, in Rochester is scintillating with colour. We enter through the back, the museum's entrance, and slowly make our way through the modernist addition, taking in the exhibits of 19th century, modern-day cameras and other photography- and film-related ephemera. In addition, there are exhibits of both vintage and contemporary photographs.
Once the private home of the Eastman family (George Eastman was the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company), the non-profit museum opened to the public in 1949. We make our way through the modernist building, added to the main house in 1989, at a cost of $30 million. It houses state-of-the-art archival and research space and galleries. The gardens at the back and sides of the facility have been restored. We note the enormous wealth it would have taken to create the original residence, designed in the Colonial Revivalist style, using the finest of materials, and furnished with the most luxurious late 19th and early 20th century European and American furniture and decorative arts. This is not surprising as, at the height of its success, the Kodak Company employed nearly 60,000 of Rochester's residents.
Click here to see Eastman House Museum slideshow
Click here to see Eastman House Museum slideshow
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