10 Amazing Facts About Ontario County, NY. You Won’t Believe #2!!

This is a continuation of our "snapshot galleries" of Upstate New York's counties.  Today we look at Ontario County.

This county has about 112,000 residents and is a vastly rural and agricultural county.  In this gallery we take a quick look at ten people, places, and things that make Ontario County a special place.  Not all of the items in this gallery are "big deals" but each entry has quite a story to tell!

On this list you will meet a nationally famous home which has nine formal gardens, including one that boasts 125,000 rose bushes.  What a sight when in full bloom.  You will visit the grave of a Continental soldier who received the first Purple Heart award, given to him personally by General George Washington!  You will also learn about an unusual and delicious food festival that really could only be held in Ontario County.

And why is a small town in the county known as "The Bandstand of the Finger Lakes?"  You will also discover one of the most unusual museums perhaps in the whole United States.  It is a museum to one man's dedication to the collection of a fairly ordinary item.  What is it?  Read on, you won't believe it.

And, then there is my favorite on this list (#2).  I have visited it many times, written about it in books and magazine articles, and have told countless people all over the state that you "really, really must go and see this thing!"  You will see the photo in this gallery.  Awesome!

So here is to you, beautiful, historic, and (sometimes) wacky Ontario County.  We love you and encourage all of our readers to read the list and then get in the car and go and visit.  It is a pretty cool county!