Upstate New York can be wild and wonderful...and just a little bit weird. Here is a baker’s dozen list of locations that might fall into the weird category.
Kathe Harrington | NYup.com
1. World's Largest Pair of Pants (Homer)
Homer is a small village of about 4,000 residents in Cortland County. The Homer Men and Boy clothing shop has been here since 1951. It takes up the better part of a full downtown business block. Years ago, Wrangler Jeans came into town with a promotion. Guess how many stitches are in a big pair of pants and win a prize. How big were the pants? How about 8-feet tall! Nobody remembers what the prize was or how many stitches were actually in the pants. But the company left them behind and they have been kind of a sentimental icon of the store ever since. Come and see for yourself...this is a BIG pair of pants!
Photo: The Barber Block in the center of the village includes the Homer Men & Boys store, family owned for more than 50 years.
Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com
2. The only two-story outhouse in New York State (Phelps):
Talk about the luxury of the day! Yes, a two-story outhouse (brick no less) attached to a grand Victorian mansion on Main Street in Phelps (Ontario County). Known as The Howe House, the home was built in 1869 for one of the village's most prominent families. At the back of the residence is a graceful two-story brick addition featuring a flared hipped roof and a finial on top. The addition holds New York's only two story outhouse, one of the earliest upgrades in indoor plumbing. For inquiring minds, it is a three-holer both up and down. The house is open for tours.
Photo: The last remaining two-story attached brick outhouse, at left, in the United States at The Howe House Museum, Phelps, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 5, 2016.
Gary Walts | Syracuse.com
3. Crows on the loose! (Omar)
Don't blink or you might miss this weird murder of crows along busy I-81. The crows are not real. Sculptor William Salisbury has crafted three enormous metal black crows and placed them near a wooded area, easily seen from motorists whizzing past this northern terminus of Interstate 81. The crows can only be viewed by those traveling south in the west lanes of the highway
Photo: Sculptor Will Salisbury and his steel crows in Omar, NY. The giant birds can be seen from the South bound lane of RT 81 in Alexandria Bay, NY. Sunday, November 15, 2015.
4. The world's oldest trees (Gilboa)
This is a weird one. How many people would have ever guessed that the world's oldest known trees would be in rural Schoharie County? Don't come looking for towering, majestic leaf canopy's of green here. These trees, certified to be at least 380-million years old, are as hard as a rock. Fossils, actually, not living trees. Their story is told in the nearby Gilboa Historical Society. The "trees" are on public display by the roadside with plaques describing their discovery and their history.
Al Campanie | The Post-Standard
5. The smallest church in the world (Oneida)
The church is so small is can only hold three members of a wedding party; the happy couple and the preacher. And the church can only be reached by rowboat as it sits in the middle of a large pond. The church, known as the Cross Island Chapel, measures just 29 square feet and was built in 1989. And yes, there is a busy schedule of weddings lined up for the couple who wants a little something "weird" to remember their special day by.
Photo: The Cross Island Chapel in Sconondoa Road near Oneida was once in the Guinness Book of Records for being the world's smallest wedding chapel. It sits on June 5, 2005 in the center of a pond and has a capacity for two seated people.
hapzydeco via flickr
6. Copper John (Auburn)
There are some pretty grim prisons located across Upstate New York. The towering walls of Auburn Correctional facility (a maximum security prison) are very intimidating. But look, up on the roof above the entrance to the prison compound. "Copper John" is a life-sized statue of a Revolutionary War soldier, in full uniform, and he has stood guard over the prison since 1821. He was originally made of wood but was refashioned into a copper statue around 1848. There is a great story which has been around for a century about Copper John's, um, manhood proportions. This talk became so distracting that he was taken down from his post and "re-proportioned" in the prison carpentry shop about 20 years ago.
Provided photo
7. The world's largest roll of Life Savers (Gouverneur)
This has to be the weirdest "welcome sign" in New York State. As you enter the businesses district of downtown Gouverneur (St. Lawrence County), there, at the entrance to the village green, stands an unmistakable confectionary icon. It is a giant roll of Pep-O-Mint Life Savers attached to two tall poles. Can there possibly be a story behind this odd way of saying "Welcome to Gouverneur?" Of course there is. The pack of candy is a tribute to one of the village's most famous citizens, Edward John Noble (1882-1958). A century or so ago, Noble bought the rights to Life Savers candy from the inventor, Clarence Crane. The candy went on to be iconic and Noble made a fortune from it (he also owned famed Boldt Island in the St. Lawrence River at one time). Five large packs of the candy adorned the company's headquarters in Port Chester, N.Y., and when the company moved in 1985, Noble's hometown secured one of the giant rolls as an everlasting tribute to their native son.
8. Hoss's Country Store (Long Lake)
Yes, sure. It is just an ordinary country store tucked into the high peak area (Hamilton County), similar to a dozen others. You know, Moose slippers, a bucket of live bait, homemade cheese, some wool blankets, campfire wood, maple syrup products and more. Lots more. But wait. This has to be the only Adirondack country store that has a tree growing up through the entire building and out through a hole in the wall. Go ahead touch it...it really is a big old live tree growing right there in the camping supply section!
Geneva Historical Society
9. Drain Tile Museum (Geneva)
"Step right up and see the magical world of .....drain tiles." Hey somebody had to do it. And that somebody was a guy named Mike Weaver. This small museum showcases the history of drain tiles going back to the Biblical era. Yup...drain tiles!
Courtesy of Richard Clauss, NY State DEC
10. Scythe Tree (Waterloo)
Weird, yet somewhat moving. The Scythe Tree is located between Geneva and Waterloo. In the days of the Civil War, many young men from this Finger Lakes region walked off the fields of their farms and joined the Union Army. James Wyman Johnson was one of them. On his way to the recruiting office he jabbed his field scythe into the crotch of a tree and told his parents he'd get it when he returned from the war. He was killed in action in 1864 and never returned home. Two men who lived on the farm during World War I also planted their scythes in the tree as they left for their war. They survived. Today, the tips of each of the three scythe blades can still be seen, barely, protruding from the tree. A nearby marker tells the story of the Scythe Tree.
11. World's Largest Garden Gnome (Kerhonkson Ulster)
They are ubiquitous. In every other garden, in TV commercials, on car stickers and fashioned into plush dolls. The garden gnome is everywhere. Here at Kelder's Farms in Kerhonkson (Ulster County) is a giant of a gnome. In fact it once ranked as the World's Largest Garden Gnome by the Guinness Book of World records. Recently it has been surpassed in sized by gnomes in Iowa and Poland.
David Lassman | Syracuse.com
12. Venus Fountain Statue (Wolcott)
There she stands, in all here embarrassed glory, a naked Venus rising from the round ceramic drinking fountain in the middle of downtown Wolcott (Wayne County). Some would say she is beautiful, some would not. She is from a different era, after all, and tastes ran to the exotic when this fountain was created. Many were made but only 8 of them are still around. The townspeople loved her when she arrived. They bought her for $875, raised in small amounts over years. And they still love her today. A naked woman, garish colors, cherubs playing with porpoises at her feet, a round lamp shines over her head. It is titled Venus Rising from the Sea. It is everything...and more.
Stephen D. Cannerelli | syracuse.com
13. World's Largest Pancake Griddle (Penn Yan)
This historic griddle can be seen affixed to the side of the Birkitt Mills manufacturing factory in Penn Yan. It commemorates the first Buckwheat Harvest Festival held on September 27, 1987. The griddle held a certified world's largest pancake, coming in at 28 feet in diameter. Of course it was the highlight of the festival. The flapjack is long gone but the griddle remains as a testament to the village's achievement. The last Buckwheat Festival was held in 1999.
Courtesy of Hunter Mountain
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