Clinton County, New York

Clinton County Courthouse
administration
US state :	new York
Administrative headquarters :	Plattsburgh
Foundation :	March 7, 1788
Made up from:	Washington County
Area code :	001 518
Demographics
Residents :	82,128  (2010)
Population density :	30.6 inhabitants / km 2
geography
Total area :	2,893.1 km²
Water surface :	206.3 km²
map
Website : www.clintoncountygov.com

Clinton County is a county in the state of New York in the United States . At the 2010 census , the county had 82,128 people and a population density of 30.6 people per square kilometer. The county seat is Plattsburgh .

geography

Clinton County is in the extreme northeast of New York State. It has an area of ​​2,893.1 square kilometers, of which 206.3 square kilometers are water surface (primarily parts of Lake Champlains). Clinton County is bordered by Canada to the north, Vermont to the east, Essex County to the south, and Franklin County to the west .

Lake Champlain forms the eastern border of the county, the southern border largely follows the Ausable River , which flows into Lake Champlain. The shoreline of the lake is about 30 m above sea level. and represents the lowest point of the county. Foothills of the Adirondack Mountains , which are also the highest mountain range in New York State, reach the county in the southwest. The highest peak in the Clinton Counties area is Lyon Mountain at 1164 m.

Surrounding areas

Québec (Canada)	Québec (Canada)	Québec (Canada)
Franklin County		Grand Isle County
Franklin County	Essex County	Chittenden County

history

Little can be said of the original inhabitants of what is now Clinton County; Finds of stone tools and fireplaces have been discovered around Lake Champlain and date back to around 8000 before the New Age. But almost nothing can be said about the people behind it. It was only with the arrival of the Europeans in the areas north of the lake, today's Canada, that writing and the transmission of names began. We know from researchers and missionaries that the areas west of the lake were inhabited by a tribe of the Abenaki who were at war with a tribe of the Iroquois .

The first Europeans saw the area in 1609. At that time, Samuel de Champlain, on his exploratory voyages on the Saint Lawrence River , advanced from the north into Lake Champlain , the west bank of which was largely formed by what is now Clinton County. For a few years there were small French forts and a Catholic chapel on at least some of the islands and on the eastern shore of the lake, but these were abandoned at a time that was not exactly known, probably until around 1620. Their remains were discovered by the Dutch, who explored the lake from the south from 1709 and who crossed the Hudson River, which runs a few kilometers south of Lake Champlain. The settlement of the fertile plains west of Lake Champlain was slowly but continuously continued by French colonists until the British took over Canada (1760). After that, they were not expelled from their countries, but officially integrated. In reality, however, the aim was to displace the French settlers; for example various land sales to British colonists who ignored the borders of the lands of French colonists speak for this. The end of the French colonization was sealed with the advance of Bourgoynes from Canada into the American territories (1777) during the War of Independence . The first successful attempts at settlement by the British began on the south side of the lake in 1709. They primarily followed the course of the Hudson River as a natural traffic route, so that the areas around Lake Champlain were settled only hesitantly and initially in the south of the lake shore.

The unresolved territorial claims between France, Great Britain and Spain (only in the south of North America) deterred many settlers from plowing the land because it was not possible to ensure that military protection could be given against raids on the displaced indigenous population. Only after the end of the Seven Years' War and the agreements of the Paris Peace of 1763 did the areas on Lake Champlain become attractive for settlers. The first land sales occurred, but only in exceptional cases lead to settlement attempts. In what is now Clinton County, there were four major land sales during this period:

• May 7, 1765: Friswell's patent (3000 acres , approximately 1250 hectares ) to John Friswell
• May 7, 1765: Steward's patent (2000 acres, approximately 830 hectares) to Peter Steward
• March 27, 1769: Beekmantown Patent (30,000 acres, approximately 12,500 hectares) to William H. Beekman
• July 11, 1769: Dean's patent (30,000 acres) to Elkanah Dean

For comparison: the size for newly established townships in the New England states was around 64,000 acres, or around 26,000 hectares.

Bridge at the falls of the Ausable River

In addition, with the "Old Military and Refugie Tract", large areas were planned for soldiers released from the War of Independence and refugees from the British areas of Canada and Nova Scotia, some of which were located in what is now Franklin County: 640,000 acres (approx Hectares) for former soldiers, 131,420 acres (approximately 53,100 hectares) for refugees. Indian reservations, however, were not provided, in contrast to the western areas of New York.

During the War of Independence (1775 to 1783) the settlement of the area stalled again. On October 11, 1776, the Battle of Valcour took place in Lake Champlain . Only after the end of the War of Independence was the military situation so consolidated that the area was included in the administration of the USA. It was initially assigned to Washington County , which was responsible for the administration of all northeastern parts of the state of New York and was divided accordingly as the number of settlers increased. Thus, on March 7, 1788, Clinton County, named after George Clinton , came into being. At the time of formation, it also included the areas of Essex County , which was split off on March 1, 1799, another part on March 3, 1802 in the reorganization of St. Lawrence County and Franklin County , on March 11, 1808 as independent administrative unit was set up. The current borders of these areas largely correspond to those of those times.

The original area of ​​Clinton Counties also included areas east of Lake Champlain, the so-called New Hampshire Grants , which were controversial at that time and were claimed by the Vermont Republic , the predecessor of today's state of Vermont . After the unification of these areas and the subsequent establishment of Vermont in 1791, these areas were added to Vermont.

During the British-American War (1812–1814), both sides tried to use military means to change the border with Canada in their own way or to regain power over the "renegade colonies". Most of the military action involving New York took place further west on Lake Erie and the Niagara River, but Lake Champlain also became a war zone when a British and American navy clashed on September 11, 1814 at the Battle of Plattsburgh . The Americans remained victorious in this battle, but the result of the war was only a consolidation of the previous situation. The calming of the situation - these were the last acts of war in that area to this day - but subsequently led to continuous settlement and reclamation of the area.

The Plattsburgh City Hall (2012) is on the National Register of Historic Places entered (NRHP).

The proximity of Lake Champlain made it easy to supply the settlers by water; Plattsburgh, like its counterpart Burlington on the opposite lakeshore, developed into the commercial center of the area. Since Lake Champlain was connected to the Canadian (and thus enemy-British) Saint Lawrence River and not to the American Hudson, the coast with the large centers, especially New York City, remained out of reach. With the construction of the approximately 100-kilometer-long Champlainkanal , which was opened on September 10, 1823, this shortcoming was eliminated and also led to an upturn in trade in the region, but industrial development proceeded along the Eriekanal , which was opened almost at the same time , which in Parts of it were navigable from 1821, completely from 1825 and formed an additional connection to the economic centers on the Great Lakes, the Niagara and the American part of the St. Lawrence River in the west.

Large iron ore deposits, which were discovered around 1800 in the area of ​​the Towns Au Sable, Black Brook and Dannemora, made Clinton County at times one of the most important ore and iron producers in the United States, especially since the deposits on the eastern side of Lake Champlain were used up in the meantime. The ore was smelted on a large scale in various towns of the counties and in neighboring Essex County until about 1900; the newly built Plattsburgh & Montreal Railroad transported iron and ore production to the economic centers and ports on the east coast and the great lakes and to the port of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. Because the ores had to be extracted from ever greater depths, extraction gradually became unprofitable. In the Great Depression from 1929, the remaining mines and smelters were then closed because the sales markets also collapsed. The current economic structure of the county is primarily formed by small and medium-sized handicraft businesses and farms. The port of Plattsburgh has emerged as an economic center. There is also an international and a national airport; a location of the State University of New York is also located there.

Plattsburgh Bay (2012)

Two places have the status of a National Historic Landmark , Plattsburgh Bay and Valcour Bay , which commemorate battles from the American War of Independence and the British-American War. A total of 67 buildings and sites in the county are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (as of February 18, 2018).

Population development

Census Results - Clinton County, New York

year	1700	1710	1720	1730	1740	1750	1760	1770	1780	1790
Residents										1614
year	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890
Residents	3916	8802	12,070	19,344	28,157	40,047	45,607	47,947	50,897	46,437
year	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990
Residents	47,430	48,230	43,398	46,687	54.006	53,622	72,722	72,934	80,750	85,969
year	2000	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060	2070	2080	2090
Residents	79,894	82.128

cities and communes

In addition to the independent municipalities listed below, there are four villages in Clinton County that are co-administered by the respective higher-ranking towns : Champlain Village, Dannemora Village, Keeseville Village in Au Sable and Rouses Point in Champlain.

Locality	status	Population (2010)	Total area [km²]	Land area [km²]	Population density [inhabitants / km²]	founding	Specialty
Altona	town	2,887	262.4	261.4	11.0	0Dec. 2, 1857
Au Sable	town	3,146	113.5	101.2	31.1	29 Mar 1839
Beekmantown	town	5,545	180.3	156.4	35.4	Feb 25, 1820
Black Brook	town	1,497	347.8	336.4	4.4	29 Mar 1839
Champlain	town	5,754	152.3	132.6	43.4	07th Mar 1788
Chazy	town	4,284	163.9	140.2	30.6	20 Mar 1804
Clinton	town	737	173.7	173.6	4.2	May 14, 1845
Dannemora	town	4,898	170.4	153.0	32.0	Dec 14, 1854
Ellenburg	town	1,743	278.2	275.9	6.3	Apr 17, 1830
Mooers	town	3,592	227.6	226.9	15.8	20 Mar 1804
Peru	town	6,998	239.2	204.2	34.3	Dec 28, 1792
Plattsburgh	City	19,989	17.0	13.0	1537.6	1902	County Seat
Plattsburgh	town	11,870	176.6	118.9	99.8	0Apr 4, 1785
Saranac	town	4,007	300.2	298.5	13.4	29 Mar 1824
Schuyler Falls	town	5,181	95.3	94.5	54.8	0Apr 4, 1848

literature

• John Homer French: Gazetteer of the State of New York . RP Smith, Syracuse, NY 1860, pp. 232 ff . ( archive.org [PDF; 63.8 MB ; accessed on January 1, 2016]).
• Franklin Benjamin Hough: Gazetteer of the State of New York . tape 1 . A. Boyd, Albany, NY 1873 ( archive.org [PDF; 58.3 MB ; accessed on January 1, 2016]).

Web links

Commons : Clinton County, New York  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• Official website of the county
• Clinton County listing on New York State Official Website

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clinton County (New York) ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved February 22, 2011.
2. ↑ John Homer French: Gazetteer of the State of New York . RP Smith, Syracuse, NY 1860, pp. 49 ff .
3. ↑ John Homer French: Gazetteer of the State of New York . RP Smith, Syracuse, NY 1860, pp. 53 .
4. ^ Franklin Benjamin Hough: Gazetteer of the State of New York . 2nd volume. A. Boyd, Albany, NY 1873, pp. 574 ( archive.org [PDF; 58.3 MB ; accessed on January 1, 2016]).
5. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: New York . National Park Service , accessed February 18, 2018.
6. ↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed February 18, 2018.
7. ↑ Population 1790–2010 according to the census results
8. ↑ Population data from the 2010 US Census in the American Factfinder
9. ↑ John Homer French: Gazetteer of the State of New York . RP Smith, Syracuse, NY 1860. (unless otherwise noted)

Coordinates: 44 ° 44 ′  N , 73 ° 41 ′  W