Dundee, NY

Dundee is a Yates County village in the Finger Lakes, four miles west of Seneca Lake and about halfway between Watkins Glen and Geneva. It sits in the Town of Starkey along Big Stream. The village began as Plainview before residents adopted Dundee, a name tied to Scotland through James Gifford. The early community had to compete with nearby Eddytown, but Dundee held onto its place and became the village that lasted.

The local map still gives Dundee a nice mix of water, buildings, and small-village history. Seneca Lake brings fishing and shoreline recreation into the orbit, while Big Stream runs through the village. The Dundee Village Historic District and other National Register properties keep the older commercial and residential streets readable. Dundee was also the original home of Seneca Foods, a reminder that the village's story is not only about summer visits. It is a Finger Lakes place with a Scottish name, a stream through town, a lake a few miles east, and a main-street history that outlasted its early rival.