Honeoye Lake is one of the 11 Finger Lakes of western New York. Its shores are bordered by the towns of Richmond and Canadice. At the north end of the lake is the hamlet of Honeoye, the center of commercial business and services for both towns. The area is rich in history with evidence of the Point Peninsula people (c. 1000 bc), the Owascos and the Senecas, residing there before the early white settlers came in the late 1700s. Troops who had served under Gen. John Sullivan, on his march through the area, returned to their New England homes with high praise about the land they had seen. They were among the early settlers to come into the area, to farm, establish businesses, and build homes. Honeoye Lake is no longer the pristine lake surrounded by wooded hillsides that it once was. Today it hosts year-round recreational activities, and more than 900 homes are located on its shores.