The most northern of the Champlain Valley counties, it was from the north that the first white man came to this region. Champlain was the earliest of the French visitors from Canada, in 1609, but it wasn't for many more years that John La Frombois, who built his house and cleared land in a section of Clinton came and settled, remaining there until the English drove him away in 1776.

The crown jewel of beautiful Clinton County is Plattsburgh, "The Lake City", resting at the heart of a two state, two nation vacation spot. Located on the unspoiled shores of America's sixth largest lake, bordered by the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Placid, Vermont and Montreal, all are within a 1 hour drive.