By Harrison Smith
For well over a century, the Delaware & Hudson train station in Rouses Point has seen many trains, industries and famous people come and go.
Purchased by the Village of Rouses Point in 2002 and rehabilitated in 2014, the station beckons visitors as a history museum and a welcome center. To this day, it continues to see daily train service to New York and Montreal.
History
According to Brandon Racine, Rouses Point village historian, Rouses Point holds a striking amount of historical, strategic and economic importance. Being a village of only 2,000 residents, Rouses Point owes its importance to its geographic location.
“Lake (Champlain) is what started Rouses Point because it was the easiest form of travel at the time,” Racine said.
Rouses Point and Lake Champlain played roles in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, leading to the construction of two military forts.
The story of Fort Blunder — an American military installation accidentally constructed on Canadian soil — is a popular factoid about Rouses Point, but the village has much more history to offer.
Because of Rouses Point’s status as a border town, many influential people have passed through, including Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1919.
Twenty years later, Rouses Point welcomed King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who arrived via private railcar on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. This event created a hubbub along the railroad in Clinton County, putting Rouses Point on the map nationwide.
Racine explained that the earlier days of the village saw many interesting characters. These people, Racine said, ranged from Italian artists waiting to get into Canada to “rum runners” and “bootleggers.” These terms were used to describe alcohol smugglers using water and land to avoid prohibition laws.
Another noteworthy visitor to Rouses Point is Lake Champlain’s Champy, a legendary lake monster.
“She literally saw him,” Racine said about his grandmother, who caught a glimpse of Champy after moving to Rouses Point from Gardner, Massachusetts.
A Railroad Town
Sitting at the corner of the international border and Lake Champlain, Rouses Point became a natural crossroads for industry and the moving economy, one that was accelerated by the arrival of the railroads.
The Northern Railroad was the first to serve the village, opening in 1850 between Rouses Point and Ogdensburg. The Champlain and St. Lawrence, Canada’s first railroad, arrived from the north in 1851 and the Delaware & Hudson from the south in 1876. D&H subsidiary Napierville Junction Railway opened in 1907, creating a second route into Canada.
By the early 20th century, Rouses Point was served by five railroads, and nearby industries capitalized on the village’s location to ship and receive products and materials.
“Rouses Point was an important gateway of commerce between the United States and Canada,” said Rudy Garbely, railroad historian and author.
Rouses Point fell on the primary route between Montreal and New York, bolstering the town’s rail traffic, Garbely explained. Garbely authored the book “Delaware & Hudson: The Final Years,” which explores how the railroad’s cross-border traffic kept the company’s route viable even after bankruptcy in 1988.
The Northern Railroad eventually became part of the Rutland Railroad, while the Champlain and St. Lawrence was absorbed by the Grand Trunk system.
While the Delaware & Hudson Railroad and Napierville Junction Railway used Rouses Point to forward significant amounts of freight and passenger traffic internationally, the Rutland Railroad moved east and west through the village on its way to Vermont and Ogdensburg.
Central Vermont Railway, arriving from northern Vermont, interchanged freight and passengers with other railroads, as the Grand Trunk assumed a similar role from the direction of Montreal.
Today, Rouses Point offers a quieter life, serving locals, tourists and travelers with quaint and inviting shops and establishments. Many industries have left town, which Racine attributes to fires and the unforgiving march of time.
“We had a lot of big businesses at one time … but all the big, fancy stuff is gone, it burned … There were a lot of fires,” explained Racine, mentioning the Bannerman clay pipe factory as an example.
The Rutland Railroad and the Central Vermont pulled up their tracks and left town decades ago, but the Delaware & Hudson and Grand Trunk — now Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National — continue to use Rouses Point as their gateway between the United States and Canada. The border crossing facilities in Rouses Point remain critical infrastructure for freight and passenger rail, Garbely said.
If you’re traveling in Clinton County, exploring the Adirondack Coast or heading to Vermont via the Champlain Bridge, take some time to visit the Village of Rouses Point. Deviating from the main highways will take you to historic icons such as the Rouses Point History Museum in the D&H depot, offering a glimpse into the vibrant history of this Lake Champlain village. Passenger trains still stop at the station twice daily, as Amtrak’s Adirondack serves the community heading to Montreal and New York.
As Racine began to lock up the train station following the interview, a Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight train rolled south past the station, a reminder that Rouses Point continues to be a railroad town, despite trains being much fewer and farther between these days. Only time will tell what the future holds for Rouses Point, but the trains keep on rolling through this international gateway of commerce and industry.
