NEB&W Guide to Plattsburgh, NY

Last Update: 2008-07-04

Chateaugay Table of Contents
Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• Overview
• Railroads of Plattsburgh
• Depot
• Engine Terminal
• Trinity Park
• Courthouse
• Trinity Church
• Cumberland Hotel
• Margaret Street
• Baptist Church
• Macdonough Monument
• City Hall
• Armour Meat Packing Plant
• Plattsburgh Paper Mill & Bag Factory
• Durkee Street
• Broad Street
• St. John's Church
• South Junction

• Plattsburgh, Not Modeled
• Depot
• Fouquet House
• North Plattsburgh
• Bridge Street
• YMCA
• High School
• Houses
• Witherill Hotel
• Military Reservation
• Peru Street
• Hotel Champlain
• Shoremont Cottages

Overview

• Plattsburgh was incorporated in 1815. An early spelling is to leave off the "H". After the Revolutionary War, a tract of land was granted to Zephaniah Platt and 32 others, Nathaniel Platt was the first surveyor and land agent, and the first three families who settled in the area were those of Charles Platt, Charles McCreedy and Kinner Newcombe. The official website of the city is http://www.cityofplattsburgh.com.
  In the Sanborn fire insurance map for Plattsburgh, drawn in 1927, updated to 1935, it gave a population of 22,000.

• In location, our model of Chateaugay is akin to Plattsburgh, NY. In Plattsburgh, the engine terminal was alongside the Saranac River where it empties into the lake.
  • [1877 panoramic prototype view.]
    
  • [Fictitious map of Chateaugay, with the section actually modeled in green. In Chateaugay, the engine terminal is alongside the mouth of the Chateaugay River.]

• The fire insurance map of Plattsburgh drawn in 1927, revised 1935. (Durkee was called Water back then and didn't even seem to connect with Broad.)
  • [Overall view.]
  • [Bigger.]

• Bird's eye engraving, 1899.
  • [Map.]
  • [Bigger.]

• Aerial view c. 1950. Bridge Street is front and center with the prominent Macdonough Monument on the right. The tracks are to the far upper right.
  • [Photo.]
  • [Close-up.]

• Topographic map.
  • [Map.]

Railroads of Plattsburgh

• The first railroad into Plattsburgh came in from the north in 1852, the 23 mile Plattsburgh & Montreal. It connected Plattsburgh to the Canadian Border. A steamboat was purchased by the P&M to connect Plattsburgh to Burlington, VT. It went into receivership in 1857 and was reorganized as the Montreal & Plattsburgh in 1868.
  The Whitehall & Plattsburgh was organized in 1866, to build south from Plattsburgh in toward the Ausable River and through the Adirondacks rather than along the rugged shore. Three years later, after having built a mere 20 miles, it was leased to the M&P. In 1872, the D&H gained control and put its mighty financial muscle behind the project, but this time, the line was to hug the shoreline, opening in 1875. The original stretch became the Ausable branch.
  A maximum security prison had been built in Dannemora in 1845 about 20 miles west of Plattsburgh. In 1878, a narrow gauge line was completed, known as the Plattsburgh & Dannemora. At about the same time the line was built, rich and extension iron ore deposits had been found at Lyon Mountain, 17 miles further inland from Dannemora. Building a line from Lyon Mountain north along the Chateaugay valley made much more sense, but the D&H wanted the line to connect with theirs in Plattsburgh, rather with the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain which connected to Vermont rails. The Chateaugay Railroad was financed by the D&H and opened in 1880.
  The narrow gauge continued to creep inland and by the time it reached Saranac Lake (1893), it was built as a standard gauge. In 1902, the rest of the line down to Plattsburgh was converted to standard gauge, and an new junction with the main moved from the center of the town to south of the military reservation.
  So in summary, there were a total of four railroads all terminating or starting in Plattsburgh. The Montreal line came in from the north. The W&P came in at a diagonal along Peru Street, the D&H main came in straight in from the south, and the Chateaugay line came in due west.

Depot

• We definitely did NOT attempt to recreate the Plattsburgh station scene and Fouquet House hotel. The depot was built in 1886 and replaced an earlier one just to the east. I guess I'd call it a Queen Anne style building.
  • [Engraving c. 1877, showing the older depot (with a "6" on the roof). This is 27 years or so after the first railroad came to town and 9 years before the second depot was built. I think the second one was built to the west of the stairs, meaning the first one could have stood until the second one was complete.]
  • [Postcard view.]
  • [Postcard view, further back.]
  • [Postcard view. (Note the use of white stones to spell out the name on the grassy bank.)]
  • [Larger postcard view.]
  • [Another postcard view of the east end.]
  • [Another postcard. Note city hall in the background]
  • [Postcard view of the street side.]
  • [Photo of the street side, c. 1916. Photo courtesy Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [Photo looking east around 1950. D&H photo.]
  • [Close-up photo of the track side c. 1950. D&H photo.]
  • [Close-up photo of the operator's bay c. 1950. D&H photo.]
  • [Close-up photo of the east end c. 1950. D&H photo.]

Engine Terminal

• The engine terminal was at the corner where the Saranac River entered Lake Champlain. In that regard, we duplicated it in Chateaugay. (Other than general location, we didn't copy it whatsoever.) Actually, originally there were several railroads terminating in Plattsburgh and most if not at all had their own terminal.
  • [Engraving of the engine terminal c. 1877.]
  • [Engine terminal, fire insurance map c. 1891.]
  • [Engraving of the engine terminal c. 1899.]
  • [Engine terminal c. 1919.]
  • ["Straight line map", 1934.]

• As far as I know, there was never a coaling tower in Plattsburgh. I believe that engines simply ran down to South Junction and used the massive one there. See our section on South Junction.

Trinity Park

• We grafted on a section from Plattsburgh on the far side of the O&LR main. So for instance traveling up Park Row from the Chatham scene, we encounter a barbershop and adjacent set of stores from Plattsburgh.
  Bob Grant said his father occupied the left side of the building (he had an insurance business) from 1944 to 1958. The right side of the building was a three-chair barber shop run by Henri Grenier. Henri also owned the building and he and his wife Cora lived upstairs. Bob said he received a lot of haircuts in that building. He said the curtains in the model windows are perfect. He also said the building to the right is the "Corner Book Store" and if we had a building on the left, it would be the Plattsburgh Fire station, which was moved in 1956 to Cornelia Street. The building is located at 15 Court Street.
  • [Prototype photo c. 1980.]
  • [Same angle, in color.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]
  • [Prototype side view c. 1980, just after a fire hit the largest building.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980 of the Margaret Street side, after the fire.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1970's of the Margaret Street side, before the fire.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1970's of the Margaret Street side, further down. In the background is the rectory for Trinity Church.]
  • [Model view.]

Courthouse

• At the top of Trinity Park was the Clinton County Courthouse and annex. The courthouse was built in 1890 and served until 1976. It is a classic example of Richardson Romanesque, with the heavy arches and the interplay of rough cut gray stone and smooth red brick used for decoration. I think the annex actually predates the courthouse by a couple of decades.
  • [Postcard view of the courthouse and annex.]
  • [Postcard view of the Courthouse buried in the trees. The Cumberland Hotel is on the left.]
  • [Photo c. 1950.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger.]
  • [Model view of the unfinished scene. The drug store and police station in the foreground are from Chatham, the church and (mockup of the) courthouse from Plattsburgh.]

Trinity Church

• Trinity Park was named after Trinity Church. It is an Episcopal church, built in the Gothic Revival style.
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's of the church, rectory and in the background, the courthouse annex.]
  • [Prototype photo of the front of the church, c. 1980's.]
  • [Our scratchbuilt model under construction. Photo by James Lauser.]
  • [Prototype photo from back when the church still had a complex steeple. (Photo courtesy City of Plattsburgh web site.]
  • [Prototype photo of the rectory, c. 1980's.]
  • [Same view, in color.]
  • [Postcard with trees obscuring the buildings.]
  • [Same angle as the postcard showing the church complex, c. 1980's, but minus the trees. Note the crowstep end on the store in the background and the mansard-roofed store beyond.]
  • [Same view, in color.]
  • [Rear of the rectory, with the barbershop seen in the distance.]

• The two stores behind the rectory will also be included on our scene.
  • [Crow-step building. By this time, 1980's, the windows had been reduced in height, but we intend to model it the original way.]
  • [Prototype photo of the mansard-roofed building, c. 1980's. Note the use of reduced-height windows.]
  • [Prototype photo of the rear, c. 1980's. By the time of this photo, it appears that what had been back porches on the crowstep building had been rebuilt.]

Cumberland Hotel

• At the top left of Trinity Park was the Cumberland Hotel, which burned in 1978.
  • [Postcard view of the Courthouse buried in the trees. The Cumberland Hotel is on the left.]
  • [A better postcard view of the hotel. The first floor semi-circular arches are not original with the building.]

Margaret Street

• So who was Margaret? (There was also a Catherine Street - sounds like some of these got named after prominent ladies of the time.) Lower Margaret Street is sort of recreated (the block of stores on the right) just in front of the backdrop.
  • [Postcard view.]
  • [Postcard from the other end.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo, further back.]
  • [Our model.]

Baptist Church

• The church itself was established in 1878. This Colonial Revival stone church was built c. 1933, I believe, on the corner of Oak and Court. (The steeple will be modeled using the top of the Bachmann O scale Independence Hall.)
  • [Earlier version. Postcard c. WWI.]
  • [Prototype photo of the front, c. 1980's.]
  • [Another photo.]
  • [Prototype photo of the side, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo of the annex, c. 1980's. (Note the baskethandle arch over the door.)]
  • [Prototype photo of the side, c. 1980's.]

• At the other end of this block, on Oak and Clinton, is a two story brick building which was originally the headquarters of the Chateaugay Iron & Ore Co. It had a proper bracketed cornice which has since been removed.
  [1885 photo from our NYS D&H Collection.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980.]
• Universal News, just across the street on Oak and Clinton.
  • [Prototype view.]
  • [Model view.]

• Papa Joe's is a Greek Revival type building, with a Federal-style baskethandle fanlight in the pediment. It was located right next to Universal News on Oak and Protection, and is intended for our layout.
  • [Prototype view.]

Macdonough Monument

• During the War of 1812, Commodore Macdonough had a major victory of the British on Lake Champlain just off Plattsburgh. An obelisk was built in 1914 on the centennial of this battle. (Don't know who designed the monument, but two years earlier, John Pope designed city hall and he is the architect who also designed the similar Washington monument in D.C.)

City Hall

• The Plattsburgh city hall was a typical Beaux Arts affair, a Georgian or Colonial Revival building identified by the "pasted-on Greek temple front". It was built in 1912 by the same architect (John Pope) who designed the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in D.C. But this particular example is a little different from other Beaux Arts buildings due to the dome. In front of city hall was the eye-catching Macdonough Monument. Eventually we will be adding the distinctive profiles of these two landmarks of Plattsburgh in the background of Chateaugay.
  • [Postcard view.]
  • [Postcard view of the monument and city hall.]
  • [Postcard view of a smaller monument with the Macdonough Monument in the background.]
  • [Our photo c. 1980's. Note the courthouse and Trinity Church in the background.]
  • [Front c. 1950's.]
  • [Front c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger.]
  • [Rear c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger.]

• Behind city hall was a neat Art Deco building, Clinton Auto Parts. (Plattsburgh is in Clinton County and no, not THAT Clinton, De Witt Clinton, an early governor who was instrumental in getting the Erie Canal built.)
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's, with the city hall dome in the background.]
  • [Another photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Our scratchbuilt model.]

Armour Meat Packing Plant

• There was an Armour meat packing plant in Plattsburgh, which in our version, is served by the O&LR.
  • [Broadside photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype photo, c. 1980's.]
  • [Bigger, c. 1980's.]
  • [Fire insurance map, drawn in 1927, revised 1935. Note the siding is on a wood trestle.]

Plattsburgh Paper Mill & Bag Factory

• There was a long brick building south of the meat packing plant. In 1899, it was indicated to be a paper mill, but not sure what it was later on. The south end had a taller section with a cupola, which by the time we saw it in the 1980's, had been cut down.
  • [Engraving c. 1899.]
  • [Postcard c. 1922, looking west from the lake. The tall end is very visible in the skyline.]
  • [Fire insurance map, drawn in 1927, revised 1935. Note the siding is on a wood trestle.]
  • [Panoramic view c. 1980's. (Armour is hidden behind the foliage to the right.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]
  • [Photo c. 1980's.]

Durkee Street

• Part of Chateaugay is modeled after Durkee Street in Plattsburgh, NY. (Durkee Street is named after Sheldon Durkee, a soldier in the Battle of Plattsburgh. He is quoted as explaining how he managed to single-handedly capture three British soldiers: "I surrounded ’em.") (The end building is based on one from Burlington, VT.)
  • [Burlington building, c. 1980.]
  • [Bigger.]
  • [Started model.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980, looking down Durkee street.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980, looking down the street.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980. Broadside view.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980. Another view.]
  • [Model view c. 2006.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980. Piano workshop.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980. Next to the Piano workshop.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]
  • [Louis Durocher (not Leo) at the end of this block. Prototype view c. 1980.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Another model view, with the O&LR freight house in front.]

Broad Street

• Looking up Broad Street.
  • [C. 1980 Plattsburgh prototype photo.]
  • [Another prototype photo.]
  • [Postcard of St. John's Church.]
  • [Postcard of the church and rectory.]
  • [C. 1980 prototype photo. This Italianate white house was really a duplex.]
  • [Model view.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]

• Durkee terminated at the river. There were a pair of garages, perhaps the Town Garage. Note the radial roof on the nearest building.
  • [C. 1980 Plattsburgh prototype photo.]
  • [Our models, off the layout.]

• Bird's eye view of the south end. Photo by Bill Mischler.
  • [Model view by Bill Mischler.]
  • [Model view.]

St. John's Church

• St. John's was a Roman Catholic church on Broadway filling the whole block between Oak and Margaret. It was built prior to 1877 (since it shows on the bird's eye engraving of that year), in the Gothic Revival style. The rectory sat perpendicular, with matching stone work. Both buildings still stand as of 2006.

• Looking up Broad Street.
  • [Engraving, 1877.]
  • [Engraving, 1880.]
  • [Engraving, 1899 of the whole area. St. John's is in yellow and numbered "3". (The rectory which appears to be shown just below and to the right of the church is different from the one there just a few years later.)]
  • [Postcard of St. John's Church.]
  • [Postcard of the church and rectory.]
  • [C. 1980 Plattsburgh prototype photo.]
  • [Another prototype photo.]

• The following photos were taken in August 2006 by David Gearwar.
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo of the rectory.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo.]

• On our layout, we basically just modeled the steeple and a section of the church poking through the foliage. I took a photo from the opposite side, and got a photo store to make three prints of the slide flipped to make it a mirror image. (How difficult that was to get them to understand what I wanted - now I'd just flip in PhotoShop.) I cut out the prints and glued them to thin brass (as otherwise anything else would have warped when the prints warped - now I'd just print them out on decal paper and decal the images to styrene). The resulting model is pretty convincing from a distance.
  • [Model view.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]

Other Buildings

• There are other distinctive buildings from Plattsburgh yet to recreated in scale on our layout. Robert Grant said if you were standing on the spot where the picture was taken (above) of lower Margaret Street, the post office would be located just to the left of the picture located on the corner of Margaret Street and Brinkerhoff Street. The Witherill Hotel would be to the left approximately where the picture is taken. It was located on Margaret Street. The YMCA was located one block west of the post office on the corner of Brinkerhoff and Oak Street.
  • [Prototype view of Stoughton's Jewelers, c. 1972.]
  • [Postcard view of a group of stores.]
  • [Postcard view looking down Clinton Street.]

See our Layout Guide for Chateaugay

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