A Walk Through Historic Keeseville Tour (PDF) (by aarch.org)
Keeseville Architecture Walking Tour (PDF) (by andersonfalls.org)
Keeseville is located in the northeast corner of New York State. The hamlet of Keeseville and surrounding areas are divided by the Ausable River. It is unique because it is situated in two counties (Essex and Clinton) with the river running directly through the center. North of the river is the town of Ausable in Clinton County. South of the river is the town of Chesterfield in Essex County.
The hamlet was originally called Anderson Falls after John Anderson, an early merchant. Anderson left the area after the War of 1812 and the settlement became known as Keeseville in honor of the prominent Keese family. John W. Anderson kept a tavern at Keeseville, where Mould’s block now is, during the War of 1812. He was a man of generous impulse, suave and popular, and kept a good house. He was a great singer, his chief delight being in singing, “John Anderson, my Jo John.“
It was a quaint old wooden structure, only one story high, but quite long, with a covered stoop running along its entire front. They called it a “four-story building with the stories all on the first floor.” In one end was a store, next were two bed-rooms, next a kitchen, and lastly a parlor. It was built by Robert Hyde just before the war. Duane Hamilton Hurd, History of Clinton and Franklin Counties. New York (J. W. Lewis & Co.: Philadelphia), 1880, p. 205.
The village was settled because of the hydro-mechanical power generated from the Ausable River for manufacturing purposes. Its early industries included paper and iron manufacturing, lumber related industries (e.g., furniture making), clothing mills and spin off businesses. Due to its close proximity to Lake Champlain and its location in the Adirondack Mountains it became a center for the tourist industries with a railroad running from New York City to Montreal, Canada, and ferry boats running from Burlington, Vermont, to Port Kent, New York, via Lake Champlain. A spur was added to the railroad to bring tourists and goods to and from Keeseville.
The village was settled in the early 1800s but was not incorporated until 1878. The citizens of the community voted on October 22, 2013, to dissolve the incorporation effective December 31, 2014. Still called “Keeseville,” the hamlet is now legally under the jurisdiction of the Town of Ausable and the Town of Chesterfield.
Read more about the town of Ausable’s history.
