Chittenango

Chittenango (population 4,812 per 2020 Census) is a village in Madison County. The name derives from the Oneida phrase for “where waters run north” (Chittenango Creek, beside which the village was founded, flows north into Oneida Lake). Chittenango grew rapidly after 1825 with the opening of the Erie Canal. A feeder canal and three-bay dry dock (now an impressive canal museum) made it a prosperous canal town.

Chittenango is best known as the birthplace of author and freethinker L. Frank Baum. Today the village boasts an Oz museum, Wizard of Oz–themed local businesses, and even faux yellow-brick sidewalks. An Oz festival is held each June.