Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Does anyone know of any towns in Upstate NY, near a city, that resemble the classic New England style town? By that I mean a defined main street, full of old colonial houses, a town green, gazebo, the pretty white church, historic and lots of charm??
There is a town called Essex, NY right on Lake Champlain that has a tiny library made of stone and gorgeous old churches, homes with classic untouched architecture AND you get a beautiful marina/restaurant/ferry (to Vermont) crossing with some restaurants/bar on the water. The sidewalks are tiny but have little shops, etc.......
Sacket's Harbor is a very small village on a large bay west of Watertown. It has two museums, one large and one small, a couple of waterfront deck restaurants, a top notch garden restaurant, a comedy club, and cute shops all along the main street (3 blocks length) to the boat launch and a picturesque gazebo park. There are historic homes and in this area are often built with large square stones. Great for sailing. The War of 1812 is their history. Housing will be in short supply because of the expansion at Fort Drum.
-----------
Oswego, on the SE corner of Lake Ontario is much larger with a college on the edge of town and highly reminiscent of a New England city in look, feel, and attitude. No gazebo per se other than the bell tower in one of the many parks overlooking the waterfront and marinas. There is an historic fort at the mouth of the harbor fought over by the English and the French including yearly reinactments. Historic tall ships and international freighters are often in the harbor with yachts from around the world in season.
The city is intersected by a large river over which two bridges cross and is laid out in an orderly manner with paved streets and a central downtown. There are miles of paved promenades along the river and waterfront and lots of people use them daily. Many large older churches, not white but stone, with those fabulous pipe organs from floor to ceiling and often used for musical venues. Plenty of inexpensive large old colonials from the three story circular stairwayed to the more modest all less than five minutes from the water. The municipal buildings are impressive in architecture, built of granite. Read the adjacent post for addl info as to some of the activities, etc.
I don't know if it's quite the New England feel you're looking for, but Saratoga Springs has a lovely downtown, big old houses, the racetrack of course, has a beautiful huge park (a freebie besides) and a nice community feel to it.
Just thought I would let you know that I just found out that Santa and the Mrs. arrive next weekend in Essex, NY via ferry across Lake Champlain.........How unique is that?
Look down the Hudson by West Point. many towns, Dutch settled, have the same feels.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is really upstate............
