The Peru Gazette

Clinton County Historical Association Awarded $48,000 in Grant Funding from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership

One award is for a 2025 Internship Grant in the amount of $8000 to hire and train an intern to process the large collection of historical documents donated to the Historical Association by the Plattsburgh Public Library. Work under this grant began in December of 2024.

The second grant is for Clinton County’s Pathway to America250, a Special Program Grant totaling $40,000.  This grant aims to cover collective projects by the Clinton County America250 Commemoration Committee in preparation for the America250 Semiquincentennial.  This grant will cover creating educational materials for area schools, a summer camp, a museum exhibit on the Revolutionary War telling the stories of women, Native and Indigenous Americans and other ordinary heroes and the Battle of Valcour Island.  It also includes funding for upgrading the Battles of Valcour and Plattsburgh diorama created by Arto Monaco in 1976, eight bilingual wayside interpretive panels, workshops by skilled artisans to teach the skills of that time period, promotional materials for each municipality and four free events with speakers and re-enactors.

This project will prepare for the area’s focus on the recognition and commemoration of the first and most significant naval battle of the American Revolution which determined the future of the fledgling republic of the United States.  The Lake Champlain Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, fought on October 11, 1776, in what is now the Town of Peru, was led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold.  His small, inexperienced American Navy, fighting its first naval battle after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, prevented the British fleet from sailing south to Fort Ticonderoga before the winter of 1776.  The battle caused the British to withdraw to Canada giving the Americans almost a year to prepare for the eventual Battle of Saratoga and the victory which prevented Britain from separating New England from the other colonies.  This extraordinary historical event will be commemorated by the Clinton County America250 Committee under the Clinton County Historical Association. For more information about Clinton County’s America250 program planning, contact: gerifavreau@gmail.com.