Clinton County is situated in the extreme northeastern part of New York State. The county is bordered by Quebec, Canada to the north, Vermont and Lake Champlain to the east, Essex County to the south, and Franklin County to the west. Founded in 1788, Clinton County was named for the first governor of New York, George Clinton, as an independent state. The county is divided into one city, 14 towns, and four villages. Plattsburgh is the county seat and only city. The population of Clinton County at the 2010 Census was 82,128. Geographically, the county encompasses a 1,118 square mile area, of which 1,039 square miles (92.96%) is land and 79 square miles (7.04%) is water.
When searching for records in Clinton County, a great countywide resource to check out is the Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society/Clinton County Genealogical Society. Their holdings include family histories, local histories, vital records, census microfilms, church records, genealogical discs, and other records ranging from the early-1600s to the present, and encompassing Clinton, Essex, and Franklin counties, nearby counties in Vermont, and sections of Quebec and Ontario. Its collection of French-Canadian genealogy is particularly strong. Website includes contact information for local historians, a digitized photograph collection, family trees, and journal articles.
Clinton County is also home to great local repositories. The Alice T. Miner Museum: Colonial Collection, for instance, houses books, documents, letters, and photographs (a selection of which is viewable online!)
NYG&B members have access to all our original county guides on our website. Each guide was created by experts in the field in order to direct researchers to these local, unique resources. To learn more about the benefits of membership, see our membership page on our website HERE.
Additionally, last year we published the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer, which is filled with gazetteers, maps, and research guides to each of New York’s 62 counties. Since our last printing, there have been many updates and changes noted.