Clinton County History
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History
Clinton County in the north easternmost corner of New York State bordering Canada on the north and Lake Champlain on the east borders the great invasion route, the Kyber Pass of the North American Continent. This north-south route: this depression in the Appalachian Chain between the rich coastal plain of the Atlantic Seaboard and the arterial St Lawrence and Great Lakes giving access to the heart of the American Continent is just one half mile off our shores. Geography predestines the history of an area and our geographical location has given our Clinton County a heritage in historical events that shaped the early United States of America.
In 1609, Canadian Indians using this north-south route had guided the explorer, Samuel de Champlain south to view the lands of a beautiful lake “Caniadere Guarunte” ‘the Gate to the Country,” Lake Champlain.
In 1649, Pierre Esprit Radisson and his Indians captors on their way up the lake, killed a bear while they spent a week in the mile long beach on Lake Champlain. On September 11, 1759, the crew of three French Ships cornered by the British, seeking shelter from the high bluffs of Cliff Haven scuttled their craft, threw their canons overboard just off the western shore of Clinton County at Cliff Haven and in 9 days time walked overland to their homes at St. Johns, Quebec.
In the fall of 1776, the waters of the bay between the Island of Valcour and the mainland became the scene of one of the major battles of the American Revolution between General Benedict Arnold and the British Captain Pringle. The Americans lost, but delayed the British advance for another year.
Throughout the years of 1812 & 1814, unprepared settlers of Clinton County were constantly molested by the armies of the mighty empire of the British from Canada. Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough was sent to Lake Champlain in 1812 and at Vergennes started the building of a fleet for the defense of the area. On September 3rd, the British Army, composed of 11,000 men, crossed the border into the Town of Champlain and began a march to occupy the area of Plattsburgh with the intention of later pushing down to New York and Washington. On September 11, the British Navy descended on Cumberland Bay and began a combined sea and land battle. Two hours later the British were defeated on Lake Champlain and the invading British Army were retreating back to Canada. The Battle of Plattsburgh was fought on September 11,1814 and although overshadowed by victories at Baltimore and New Orleans, Plattsburgh was the most important American success of the War of 1812.
Three months after the Battle of Plattsburgh, in December of 1814, the United States government purchased 200 acres of land which became the OLD FRONTIER POST at Plattsburgh-Up Canada Way. With added acres, this became Plattsburgh Air Force Base which has made way for a Center for the interpretation of the Battle of Plattsburgh and the War of 1812, after it closed in 1995.
The British cannon captured by the French and thrown overboard when the French scuttled their vessels at Bluff Point is on exhibition in the foyer of Clinton Community College. Scuba Divers have in a research project mapped the submerged American Battlefield and documented the presence of artifacts over 63,000 square feet of Valcour Bay. On display at Plattsburgh City Hall is the Anchor of the Confiance, discovered by scuba divers deep in the waters of Plattsburgh Bay. This anchor controlled the positioning of the ship and the loss of which when shot from its housing at the beginning of the battle brought about a totally unexpected victory.
Clinton County, the namesake of Governor George Clinton has a ‘proud spirit’: a tremendous historical heritage derived from this location on this historic north-south- Military Waterway.