Monuments, Mills & Music

The region’s largest city, Plattsburgh, was settled in 1784 and grew rapidly as a shipping port for early Saranac River basin industries such as potash, lumber, pulp and iron ore. The exhibits in City Hall, the Kent-Delord House and the riverwalk, all within a block of the arched bridge, make this a great starting point. See the Plattsburgh section on pages 18 & 19 for additional information. The loop continues west through the Saranac River valley where large pulp and sawmills once dominated the landscape from the early 1800s until 1927. Evidence of this industrial heritage is clear when entering the hamlet of Morrisonville where you will find a scenic riverside picnic area offering historic interpretation and memorabilia of the lost mills. A site not to be missed is Gourgeville Spring, a natural spring on Gourgeville Spring Rd. where residents come for their drinking water. Entering the city on Cumberland Avenue on The Heritage Trail, you will pass wonderful lake front homes and arrive at Champlain Park.

Moderate

0.0 City Hall Place – go south on Durkee Street.
0.3 R on Broad Street.
0.8 Bear L on Rugar Street.
3.2 R on Route 190.
4.0 L on Route 3.
4.5 L on Route 22B.
7.4 R on Flat Rock Road.
10.4 Stay straight on Hard Scrabble Road.
17.0 Saranac, R on Route 3.
18.2 L on Picketts Corner Road.
19.8 R on Bucks Road.
22.9 L on Route 3.
23.0 R on Gougeville Spring Road.
23.4 L on Route 3.
25.2 Stay straight onto Route 374.
33.5 Turns into Catherine Street.
34.2 L on Boyton Avenue.
34.7 Cross Margaret Street onto Cumberland Avenue.
35.6 Bear left on City Hall Place.