The Point Historic District
The Point Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the documentation for the Plattsburgh Multiple Resource Area. [1]
Description
The Point Historic District is situated on the east side of Plattsburgh, New York. This residential historic district consists of 38 structures, the majority of which were built between 1815 and 1880. The Point Historic District is bounded on the west and north by the Saranac River, on the east by Lake Champlain, and on the south by modern military housing which is part of Plattsburgh Air Force Base. The surrounding built-up areas are residential to the west and south and commercial/industrial to the north and northwest.
The boundaries of The Point Historic District encompass the earliest group of residences remaining in Plattsburgh, concentrated in the area of Peru and Bridge Streets. These early nineteenth century buildings are complemented by larger, fashionable brick houses built along McComb Street between 1850 and 1880. The southern edge of The Point Historic District, Hamilton Street, is characterized by double houses and more modest dwellings of the late nineteenth century. A Gothic style carriage house at 11 Hamilton Street and a superintendent's cottage at 20 McDonough Street, now on separate parcels, were once dependencies of the B.R. Sherman House at 16 McComb Street.
Significance
The Point Historic District is historically and architecturally significant as a residential area containing both the earliest and the most fashionable houses built in Plattsburgh during the nineteenth century. Bounded by the Saranac River and Lake Champlain, "The Point" was first settled during the first decade of the nineteenth century and had become a fashionable residential area by 1850 when Plattsburgh's wealthy lumber and shipping magnates built their ornate homes there. The Point Historic District encompasses notable examples of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Eclectic residential architecture and reflects the tastes of Plattsburgh's upper middle class from 1800 to 1880.
The area known as "The Point" figured prominently in the Battle of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812. The house at 3 Peru Street served as the headquarters of General Alexander McComb. A British cannonball remains lodged in the south wall of the house. This and the adjacent houses at 7 Peru Street and 17 McComb Street form the earliest concentrated grouping of structures extant in Plattsburgh and reflect the Federal period design characteristics of the region.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, Plattsburgh's prosperous economy produced a class of wealthy merchants who viewed The Point as a prime site for erecting their fashionable residences. McComb Street became the focus of this development between 1830 and 1880. Houses built during this period range from the stone Greek Revival style house at 28 McComb Street to the ornate Eclectic Villa at 22 McComb Street. The broad, tree-lined street became the seat of Plattsburgh's most prominent mercantile families, and their houses remain with few alterations to illustrate upper-class life at Plattsburgh's economic zenith.
- Raymond W. Smith, New York State Division for Historic Preservation, Plattsburgh Multiple Resource Area, Clinton County, NY, nomination document, 1982, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Bridge Street • Eleanor Way • Hamilton Street • Jay Street • MacDonough Street • Macomb Street • Peru Street • Pike Street • Route 9
