Constable Hall remains a clear reminder of the era when much of the land in Northern New York was settled in the late 1700s. Located on Constableville, in Lewis County, this Federal style limestone mansion with a Greek Revival portico was built in the early 1800s by members of the Constable family.
In 1792, Wiliam Constable, Alexander Macomb, and Daniel McCormick bought nearly four million acres of land known as the Macomb Purchase for 16 cents an acre (encompassing all of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and parts of Oswego, Herkimer and Franklin counties).
With France enduring the turmoil of the French Revolution, many French people emigrated to New York (many seem to have later returned to France). The French land company, Castorland, which was headed by Pierre Chassanis, bought 600,000 acres of Macomb Purchase lands in 1798. Additionally, between 1795 and 1805 many settlers from New England and Eastern New York settled there.
Constableville, then known as Schalerville, proved to be a thriving village by 1800 as the location of the central office for the lands sales. Nathaniel Schaler handled a large tract for the Constables as their land agent, a section now known as Constable’s Five Towns (Leyden, Turin, Martinsburg, Harrisburg, and Lowville).
Macomb eventually went bankrupt and William Constable got exclusive control of tracts 4, 5, and 6 of the Purchase. He sold 600,000 acres to the Antwerp Company and about 210,000 acres in eastern Lewis County and northern Herkimer County to the wealthy Providence, R.I. far-east trader John Brown.
Brown and some of his family tried unsuccessfully to lure settlers there to farm and prospect for minerals. His lands, known as the John Brown Tract, encompass today’s Old Forge, Eagle Bay, Big Moose in Herkimer County and Number Four in eastern Lewis County.
After nine years of construction, Constable Hall was completed in 1819. Five generations of the Constable family lived at the Hall until it was sold in 1947.
Family tradition says Constable cousin Clement Clarke Moore wrote his famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” after being inspired by a visit to Constable Hall. The story, which dates to at least the mid 1800s, says that Clement was visiting his second cousin, Mary Eliza McVickar Constable and her five children.
Situated on a hillside overlooking the Black River Valley with the Adirondack Mountains in the distance, the Hall opened for public tours in 1949. It includes much of the original furnishings, a library, and gardens.
Tours of Constable Hall are available during the summer season, Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 10 am until 4 pm and Sundays, from 2 pm until 4 pm. Constable Hall is located at 5909 John Street in Constableville, NY. To learn more visit their website.
Read more about the Tug Hill region.
Photo of Constable Hall provided.
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