Posted on 05/26/2025 8:33:16 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
"A hypothetical small town regarded as typically dull or insignificant."
That's the definition Google assigns to the word "Podunk." For many it's a mythical place filled with country bumpkins and nothing to do.
As it turns out, Podunk actually exists and it's right in Upstate New York.
There are no official signs to let you know you've arrived, other than map coordinates and the nod of a street sign reading "Podunk Road," but one can actually visit the hamlet of Podunk, New York. The tiny no-stoplight-town, made up of a handful of houses, is inside the town [township] of Ulysses, nestled within the village of Trumansburg.
There is the Podunk Cross Country Ski Center, but even that is in Covert, north of Podunk itself. And, as if to keep itself a mystery, Covert is sometimes listed as Trumansburg or Interlaken.
Map coordinates will take you to the heart of Podunk and you leave almost as soon as you arrive. The hamlet's Pennsylvania Ave. is decidedly less grand, though possibly more scenic than the nation's capitol avenue of the same name, as it is sandwiched between Bolter Creek and Taughannock Creek.
The tiny town is a six minute drive from picturesque Taughannock Falls State Park and 20 minutes away from downtown Ithaca.
While taking photo evidence that I was in Podunk, a local man leaving his house said, "You should see this place in the fall, it's really colorful."
...This Tompkins County dwelling is not alone. There is a Podunk in Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Michigan...
The word itself was traced back to Algonquin origins, according to NPR, though no one is exactly sure what it means.
(Excerpt) Read more at syracuse.com ...
Upstate New York is a great place; too bad it is overshadowed by NYC and Albany. Elise Stefanik would make a wonderful governor.
How provincial. We have a stop light AND a couple of four way stops! Of course, a good percentage of our citizens have no teeth, but you can’t have everything...(dental care is a luxury in much of the south).
My entire county has just one redlight.
Mine, too! We’re the County Seat, all 3,000 of us.
LOL, that’s near my house!
Robert H. Treman State Park is my neighbor across the road from my house. In fact, my property used to be part of the 100 acres of park land directly across the road. It had been sold off before the rest was bequeathed to the State.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Robert+Treman+park&ie=UTF-8
My little part of paradise.
People who have always lived in a city have no idea of the pace of life in a rural area. And, the freedoms we enjoy. Our sheriff doesn’t believe in getting in your business unless you are causing trouble. The zoning officer (one man office) doesn’t drive around looking for people to mess with. It’s nice!
Wow, you must live in a big city! :D
It’s kind of a dump, actually. 😢 But it’s quiet, and at our stage in life, that’s important to us.
My gramp’s attended a boys and girls school in Hastings.
Was it the Indian school?
Nope, the place was called Graham School For Boys but then later they added girls. It was in Hastings on the Hudson just north of Yonkers. It was founded in 1803 and lasted until 2023 when it closed for good. Liberals destroyed it. The school was based on the English model of boarding schools, you lived there.
Ironic that living now in a city, I’ve seen more deer since we moved here 19 years ago than I ever saw in the countryside where I grew up...Here they stroll in the street as if they own the place...not a very busy street - day or night! Maybe 20 or so cars in a days time - mostly delivery trucks or trucks related to some form of home maintenance - HVAC/electrical/plumbing etc..
How large is your city?
Oh, I thought you meant Hastings Kansas. My husband is a Seneca from New York, but though he lived there a while as an adult, he was adopted as a two year old and grew up in Wichita.
Sorry, I was thinking you were from NYC area.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Podunk+Massachusetts
What does Podunk mean in Native American?
Podunk is of Algonquian origin, meaning “where you sink in mire”, or a boggy place, in the Nipmuc dialect. The Podunk people called their homeplace Nowashe, “between rivers.”
Actually, we now live in Oklahoma, where my husband’s parents grew up.
You have me beat! I live in a town in Ct. that has no stoplights at all and I love that.
I remember when I was little (maybe five or so) and we had relatives in Middletown, CT., that we’d visit. Shortly after we did our escape from New York and wound up in WA. Nice.
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