The Peru Gazette

Plattsburgh, New York – The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the award of a Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) totaling $7,500.

CCHA will use these funds to create a two-room exhibit to tell the story of the Prohibition Era in the North Country.  The project will research and document the prohibition era and the connections established with Quebec border towns that facilitated smuggling of alcohol by road, rail and water. County towns such as Rouses Point, Champlain, Mooers and Churubusco and their Quebec town counterparts were central to the smuggling and bootlegging the area was notorious for over the 13 years of the life of the 18^th Amendment.  The Plattsburgh City jail housed alleged and convicted smugglers, and law enforcement was known for numerous raids.  Keeseville and Peru were waystations.  The story told will cover the whole of the County. Plans also include a presentation on the County story for the public and a special exhibit opening for members, the public and collaborators.  The exhibit and presentation will revisit for the public the 13 years of prohibition and its ramifications on County citizens of all ages and all livelihoods.  Photos of that time period will be collected from all sources in the County and shared through the exhibit and the presentation.

Project partners will include public historians for Towns of Clinton, Chazy, Mooers, Ellenburg, Ausable, and Peru, the City of Plattsburgh and the Villages of Rouses Point and Champlain; SUNY Plattsburgh Special Collections; the public; the Northern New York Library Network; border town historians from Quebec; the Rouses Point-Champlain Historical Society; Calvin Castine from Hometown Cable, and award-winning author of Bullets, Booze, Bootleggers and Beer, Volume 1 Larry Gooley. Another source of inspiration is the book Rum Across the Border by the late historian and CCHA President Dr. Allan Everest.

CCHA President Geri Favreau, a past president of the Rouses Point-Champlain Historical Association, and the project coordinator comments:  “Prohibition was a major economic driver in our region as ‘illegal’ booze was transported across the border and to places south by people who said that they were ‘only making an honest living’ to support their families.  Many, many families have interesting tales of their ancestors who were bootleggers, including mine.  NASCAR was born out of bootlegging!  CCHA looks forward to hearing your stories and seeing your pictures.”

This project is funded by a 2021 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership through an agreement awarded by the United States National Parks Service to the New England