Plattsburgh (city), New York
For the neighboring town, see Plattsburgh (town), New York.Plattsburgh is a
city in
Clinton County,
New York,
USA. The population was 18,816 at the 2000 census. The city is named after its founder. The Mayor is Jack Stewart (D) appointed to be Mayor and sworn in on July 7, 2006 after former Mayor Dan Stewart (R) - no relation - was appointed to the New York State Board of Corrections. Jack Stewart's term will expire at the end of 2006 when the winner of a November 7 special election will be elected to serve the remainder of Dan Stewart's term that ends in 2007. Jack Stewart is not seeking to be elected in November.
The
City of Plattsburgh is located entirely within the original boundaries of the
Town of Plattsburgh.
The town is served by
Clinton County Airport.
Plattsburgh is a small U.S. city located on the western shore of
Lake Champlain in the northeastern part of the state of
New York. Plattsburgh was founded by
Zephaniah Platt in
1785 after he was granted the land for it by
George Clinton. The city government was established in the former
Village of Plattsburgh in
1902.
With its significant location on a major water thoroughfare and close to the US-Canadian border, Plattsburgh has been the site of a number of historic events including the
Revolutionary War's
Battle of Valcour and the
War of 1812's
Battle of Plattsburgh. In more recent times, the city has been distinguished primarily by its
United States Air Force base and
SUNY Plattsburgh, although it is also a node for tourists headed to the Adirondack Mountains.
On the south and east side of Plattsburgh is a plot of land that used to be home to
Plattsburgh Air Force Base (PAFB), which closed on
September 29,
1995. Plattsburgh was the site of the
United States Army's first tank base in the mid-20th century.
During the Cold War, PAFB was the location of the Strategic Air Command's primary wing on the US East Coast due to its geographic desirability. The base's location in the Champlain Valley (protected by the
Adirondack Mountains) ensured consistent, year-round weather that was safe for take-offs and landings. The 380th Bombardment, Aerospace, and Refueling Wings, all stationed at PAFB, included
B-52 Bombers, air-refueling "tankers" and
FB-111s. With a sparse civilian population in Plattsburgh, the base had a great deal of land surface and was one of only four military bases in the United States with a landing strip large enough for a
Space Shuttle landing.
Despite its geographic desirability and numerous awards for performance excellence, PAFB was closed in a round of national base closures in the early 1990s as the Air Force began to pare down its post-Cold War missions. The base property is now managed by the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation (PARC) and is used by a number of industrial manufacturers and commercial airlines.
Throughout much of the 1980s, when the
Canadian dollar was strong relative to the
U.S. dollar, Plattsburgh was a favorite tourist location for vacationers from
Montreal and southern
Quebec. The city beaches and camp grounds were packed all summer long and Plattsburgh attracted enough retail stores and outlets to build a second large indoor
shopping mall, in addition to several outdoor shopping centers. Many municipal signs are English-French bilingual. Unfortunately, with the closing of PAFB and the strengthening US dollar in the 1990s, much of this Canadian tourism has ceased. Today, city residents rely mostly on the aging industrial paper plants (owned by
Georgia-Pacific and Tenneco) that were built when the Adirondacks were a center of logging in the United States.
In 1984 the city was awarded the first-ever American team in the
QMJHL, called the
Plattsburgh Pioneers and featuring an all-American roster. However, the team was a failure on and off the ice, and folded after 17 games.
Plattsburgh has been tied to a number of famous and infamous people. John Henry Hopkins, a former rector of Plattsburgh's Trinity Episcopal church was the author of the well-known
Christmas hymn "We Three Kings of Orient Are."
John Russell Pope, the architect who designed Plattsburgh's City Hall, was a famous architect whose work includes the
Jefferson Memorial. Recent former residents of Plattsburgh include Doug Raaberg, holder of a world circumnavigation record in the
B-1B;
Michael P. Anderson, one of the seven astronauts who died in the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and
Eric Harris, one of the two shooters at
Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado.
In August of
1996, the rock band
Phish, which was based across
Lake Champlain in
Burlington, VT, held the first of its seven weekend-long festivals at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. The festival, called
The Clifford Ball, attracted 65,000 fans from all over the country and featured seven sets of music by the band. Fans camped out onsite in tents and RV's, creating community of fans that became the ninth largest city in
New York over the weekend.
On
April 20,
2002, there was an
earthquake a few miles south of Plattsburgh. It measured 5.1 on the
Richter Scale, and was felt as far south as
Pennsylvania and as far north as
Maine.
The
Saranac River flows through the city into Lake Champlain.
Plattsburgh is located at (44.695365, -73.458593).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0
km² (6.6
mi²). 13.1 km² (5.1 mi²) of it is land and 4.0 km² (1.5 mi²) of it (23.40%) is water.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 18,816 people, 7,600 households, and 3,473 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,438.6/km² (3,728.2/mi²). There were 8,010 housing units at an average density of 612.4/km² (1,587.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.41%
White, 2.46%
Black or
African American, 0.52%
Native American, 1.49%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 0.68% from
other races, and 1.38% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.12% of the population.
There were 7,600 households out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were
married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.3% were non-families. 40.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.5% under the age of 18, 27.7% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,846, and the median income for a family was $46,337. Males had a median income of $35,429 versus $26,824 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $17,127. About 13.6% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.
Plattsburgh is traversed by
Interstate 87, which connects
Montreal with
Albany and points south.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Plattsburgh, operating its
Adirondack daily in both directions between
Montreal and
New York City.
The city is served by
Clinton County Airport.
Jack Stewart - Mayor
Mike Drew - Ward I, Mayor Pro-Tem
James Godfrey - Ward 2
George Rabideau - Ward 3
William Sabourin - Ward 4
Amy Valentine - Ward 5
William Provost - Ward 6
*
Official website for the City of Plattsburgh*
Plattsburgh Press-Republican (daily newspaper)*
SUNY Plattsburgh (local college)*
Plattsburgh Fire Fighters (local Fire Department)*
searchable satellite photos of Plattsburgh
