Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh is a small city on Lake Champlain in New York's North Country.

Understand
The closest American city to Montréal, Plattsburgh (city and town) has a population of about 20,000 (2020).

The area was the site of a native Indigenous village at the time of Samuel-de-Champlain's 1609 Lake Champlain valley expedition. The French settled in the area during the «coureur-de-bois» fur trade era in the mid-to-late 17th century. Historically a French area, Plattsburgh later fell to the English, then finally, was under American control.

Located on the western shore of Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh is separated by the lake from Burlington, Vermont to the east. It is the primary city serving the vast Adirondack Park region, as development within the park boundary is strictly limited outside the few existing villages (such as Saranac Lake and Lake Placid).

Plattsburgh has a long military history. The city, founded in 1785, is home to a War of 1812 museum; it was the site of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Valcourt Island and the War of 1812's Battle of Plattsburgh. In 1915, the Preparedness Movement established the first of the "Plattsburgh camps", volunteer pre-enlistment training grounds for prospective future Army officers. During the Cold War, Plattsburgh Air Force Base (PAFB) was the Strategic Air Command's primary wing on the US East Coast; its sheltered location in the Champlain Valley was protected by the rain shadow of the Adirondack Mountains. The 556 Strategic Missile Squadron, activated at Plattsburgh AFB in 1961 and armed with a dozen Atlas liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, disbanded in 1965. The Air Force base closed in 1995.

The former base, one of four military bases in the United States large enough for a Space Shuttle landing, now serves as a small civilian airport.

Plattsburgh is connected by Interstate 87 to Montréal to the north and Albany to the south; Amtrak's New York City-Montréal "Adirondack" service passes through the city.

By plane

 * Burlington International Airport is a  larger airport in nearby Burlington, with flights from Baltimore. Newark, Cleveland, New York City, Orlando, Detroit, Washington DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Charlotte. It is about 70 minutes away.
 * Trudeau International Airport is a major airport in nearby Montreal, Canada, with flights worldwide. It is about 80 minutes away.
 * Trudeau International Airport is a major airport in nearby Montreal, Canada, with flights worldwide. It is about 80 minutes away.

By train

 * Train operator:
 * Route stopping in Plattsburgh:
 * Adirondack operating daily between Montreal and New York City including stops along the way in Saint-Lambert, Rouses Point, Plattsburgh, Westport, Ticonderoga, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Albany (Rensselaer), Hudson, Rhinecliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton-on-Hudson, and Yonkers.

By boat
Plattsburgh is separated from Burlington (Vermont) by Lake Champlain. To avoid a lengthy detour south to Crown Point or north to Champlain and Rouses Point on the Canadian border, most traffic to Burlington crosses by ferry.

There are several marinas for those cruising on small craft:



By bus

 * Clinton County Public Transit (CCPT)'s fleet of 16 buses provides transportation to and from the City of Plattsburgh by way of Au Sable, Champlain/Rouses Point, Clayburg, Ellenburg, and Lyon Mountain. Service is provided within the city between Clinton Community College, SUNY Plattsburgh, Downtown Plattsburgh, and various stores and plazas along Cornelia Street (Route 3).

By taxi
Within the city of Plattsburgh, taxis operate on a zone system. A law requires rates conspicuously posted in every taxicab; a trip cross-town should cost no more than $7.75. Cabs are not generally available for hail on the streets, except downtown on weekend nights, so must be called:

A taxi to the Canadian border should cost no more than ten times the cross-town rate (so $77.50).

See
Plattsburgh bills itself as a "two state, two nation, do-it-all destination" on Lake Champlain with several historical and art museums, a famous sandy beach, marinas and a downtown dining and entertainment district.

Plattsburgh State College
There are two SUNY member colleges in the Plattsburgh area; the four-year Plattsburgh State College in the city and the two-year Clinton Community College at Bluff Point.



Buy
Plattsburgh serves a regional market; to the many tiny villages in the Adirondacks with only a few small, local independent merchants, the Champlain Centre is the closest major mall.

As a cross-border shopping destination for Canadians, Plattsburgh's fortunes tend to be cyclical. When the Canadian dollar is strong, the Montréal community eagerly seek out cheaper prices in the US; when exchange rates are unfavourable, Canadians stay home en masse. Tightened passport restrictions in the post-9/11 era have also weakened cross-border demand. A few stores (such as Target, and JC Penney) do not exist over the border in Canada and some grocery items (such as milk and yoghurt) are less expensive stateside.

Price Chopper, Hannaford, Yando's Big M (South End), North Country Food Co-Op (Downtown), and Wal-Mart are possible destinations for grocery shopping.



Eat
Michigan red hots are a local favorite similar to a chili dog but seasoned differently. Recipes are prized and closely guarded. A red hot consists of a steamed hot dog on a steamed bun covered with a ground beef sauce. It may be served with or without raw chopped onions ("Buried" onions served beneath the meat sauce is traditional.)



Sleep
Hotels are clustered along I-87, with little to no accommodation available downtown.