The Peru Gazette

Plattsburgh, June 2, 2026 – Three days of celebrations will be held from June 19 to June 21 to mark the 2026 national Juneteenth holiday in Clinton and Essex counties, which were hotbeds of abolitionism during a transformational time in American history. Juneteenth National Independence Day celebrates the final end of chattel slavery after the Civil War, when Union troops occupied Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.

FRIDAY, June 19.  The weekend of events kicks off Friday evening with New York City blues guitarist Solomon Hicks at Retro Live, 14 Margaret St.  Plattsburgh. Concert begins at 7 pm, doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available at the door or online at https://www.plattsburghbluesandjazz.com/juneteenth-concert-with-king-solomon-hicks

SATURDAY, June 20. A bus tour of Underground Railroad sites leaves from the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, 1131 Mace Chasm Rd. Ausable Chasm. at 10 am. The bus costs $10 for an individual and $20 for a family. Register online at https://northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/. The tour will go from Keeseville/Peru to Beekmantown/Plattsburgh stopping at key sites in the area, including churches involved in the abolitionist struggle and local cemeteries, with reenactors providing historical interpretation. Among the reenactors will be the great, great grandson of local Underground Railroad leader Stephen Keese Smith. Included in the bus tour is a stop at the Plattsburgh Public Library (19 Oak St. Plattsburgh) for a special FREE movie that highlights how the Underground Railroad helped a Union soldier get home after he ended up in a Confederate prison. The movie starts at 1:30 pm. If you are riding on the bus, you are encouraged to bring a lunch. The bus will return to the North Star Museum at 4:00 pm.

Also on tap is an art exhibit – “What Remains: Voices from the Margins of History” – followed by a reception at the SUNY Plattsburgh Art Museum, Myers Fine Arts Building, 101 Broad St. Plattsburgh. This FREE event will be from 5 to 7 p.m.    

SUNDAY, June 21. From 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the celebrations move to John Brown Farm State Historic Site at 115 John Brown Rd., Lake Placid.  for a family-themed fair.  Highlights include a concert featuring the well-known Adirondack group, Jamcrackers and Friends.  Also, Praise Tabernacle Dancers will perform and there will be a recitation of John Brown’s final speech at his gravesite. All events Sunday at John Brown Farm are FREE.

Activities will also include children’s games and the presentation of the annual Colors of Freedom Award. Food will be available for purchase from the Dogfather Food Truck of Plattsburgh.  ($10 adults, $7 children.)

 John Brown’s final speech was a farewell address delivered to the Virginia court as he was sentenced to be hanged for leading the raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859.  His body was then transported back to the farm in North Elba for burial. 

The Juneteenth events are sponsored and organized by a network of organizations in the North Country, including the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association, Clinton County Historical Association., John Brown Farm State Historic Site, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, John Brown Lives, the Adirondack History Museum, Plattsburgh Public Library, Essex County Arts Council, Paul Smiths College and the SUNY Plattsburgh Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center and Art Museum. 

Details on all the events can be found at:

https://www.northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/forms/web/cof.php

For more information contact:

Jackie Madison, North Country Underground Railroad Historical Assn.  <jemcal16@aol.com>

Helen Nerska, Clinton County Historical Assn.  director@clintoncountyhistorcal.org

Peter Slocum, Adirondack History Museum, pslocum47@gmail.com

Cheryl Craft, John Brown Farm State Historic Site.  cheryl.craft@parks.ny.gov.