Plattsburgh dates to 1785, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #639 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Plattsburgh was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Plattsburgh’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plattsburgh is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #639 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plattsburgh’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Plattsburgh’s 0.8 sits below most of its state (21% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). Two sources give 1785.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Plattsburgh’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
North Plattsburgh
1833–1840
Cadyville
1840–today
West Plattsburg
1840–1906
South Plattsburg
1856–1900
Cliff Haven
1897–1944
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Abenaki Mobile Home ParkCadyvilleChasands Mobile Home ParkCliff HavenClinton ParkCumberland HeadFour Seasons Mobile Home ParkHalseys CornersLTS Mobile Home ParkNorthway Mobile Home ParkParcPleasant Acres Mobile Home ParkPleasant Ridge CornersRocky PointSalmon RiverSouth JunctionSouth PlattsburghWest Plattsburgh
Gone or out of use
Bluff Point StationlocaleClinton County AirportairportDistrict School Number 3schoolDistrict School Number 7schoolPlattsburgh Air Force BasemilitaryPlattsburgh Drive-InlocalePlattsburgh QuarrymineRugar Street SchoolschoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 4schoolStardust Drive-InlocaleSuper 87 Drive-Inlocale
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Plattsburgh
BakerGillilandMagdala SolitudeSaint James CatholicStaffordWest Plattsburgh Union
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the National Register
1 historic place in Plattsburgh
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
Plattsburgh was founded by Zephaniah Platt in 1785 after he was granted the land by George Clinton. Platt, who was from Poughkeepsie, New York, established the new city of Plattsburgh to buffer emerging American interests in the Saint Lawrence River valley and Lake Champlain valley after the American victory in the American Revolutionary War. The centralized American authority proclaimed Plattsburgh in 1785.
On March 3, 1815, an act was passed by the New York State legislature incorporating the Village of Plattsburgh out of an area that was formerly the eastern part of the town. The first village elections were held on May 2 of that year.
Passages that mention Plattsburgh, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Official program of the Plattsburgh centennial celebration1914 · page 19Read the page →
Read the text
The Plattsburgh Centenary Commission has, moreover, resolved to erect suitable permanent tablets at some fifteen or twenty historic spots in and near Plattsburgh, including forts Brown, Moreau and Scott, Pike’s Cantonment, Dead Creek bridge, Riverside Cemetery, Salmon River road, Brick 1 avern at Ingraham, formerly known as “ Sampson’s,” and other places not now marked. Halsey’s Corners, Culver Hill and Crab Island are already suitably marked by fine markers or monuments.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Official program of the Plattsburgh centennial celebration1914 · page 71Read the page →
Read the text
r Historical Note From 1812, Plattsburgh was occupied by Government troops and the inhabitants were in constant fear of an invasion. On the last day of August, 1814, General Izard, obeying orders, withdrew from Plattsburgh his army of 4,000 troops and marched to the Niagara frontier. Almost immediately came the announcement of a British invasion and a call for the militia. Already the advance guard of the enemy, under General
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Plattsburgh, 1785 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1785, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Plattsburgh’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1860 counted 3,032 people here.
How does Plattsburgh rank for history?
Plattsburgh is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #639 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Plattsburgh?
One place: the Plattsburgh Bay (listed 1966).
How old are the homes in Plattsburgh?
10% of Plattsburgh’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1980.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1869
1869