The following is the slightly edited text of a talk given by Cliff Haven resident and former Town of Plattsburgh Historian, John Scully.

The second half of this talk, focusing on Cliff Haven Estates, can be found on another page of  the "History of Cliff Haven" section.

 The Catholic Summer School that was here from 1892 to 1941, left some geographical marks that still remain.

I want to give a brief description of the school. I'll try to be brief. The school was started in 1892 in New London, Connecticut, by the Catholic Church. The purpose was to make known the attitude of the Catholic Church on current matters as well as educational, cultural and political issues. The courses were aimed at ult businessmen and their families. There were also to be recreational activities. The plan worked perfectly. They were approved by the NY State Regents in 1893. The D & H RR gave them almost 500 acres of land known as the Armstrong Homestead where we live now. The courses were held in the City of Plattsburgh in 1893 and 1894. The first buildings were erected in Cliff Haven in 1895. From then on it just grew. Soon there were at least ten "cottages" which were really hotels. There are some pictures of them on the table. The school was open from late June to Labor Day. People would come and spend either a week or two or the whole summer. The recreational activities included golf, swimming at our beach tennis, horseback riding and tours to local attractions. There was also a dockfor boat rides on the lake. It was located near Betty Kelly's house. All that remains of it is a jetty and anyone who has a boat knows where it is.

We still have remnants of the school today. The first is the street layouts. The summer school covered most of the area south of Plattsburgh Avenue. When Cliff Haven Estates started in 1956, it was located north of Plattsburgh Avenue. The street layout from the summer school remained. The Washington Cottage was one of the few structures north of Plattsburgh Avenue. It was on, where else, Washington Place.

Another carryover is the dock at the beach. Although the town removed it around the first of November, it was here for about 100 years. I have a postcard with a postmark of 1911 and the dock is clearly visible in it.

The summer school even had a railroad station. They didn't permit automobiles so many people came by train. The station was located across the highway in what we use as a recreation area and where we vote now. If you go to the end of the road going in, you will find a large slab of concrete, which was the platform for the station.

Another feature not too apparent to us is the golf course at PAFB. The summer school had an 18 hole golf course and the first tee and last green were located on the west side of Route 9 between the recreation area and the entrance to new Cliff Haven. There was also a small golf shack with a flat roof and people could sit in chairs on the roof and watch the golf and tennis nearby. The other 16 holes were located on the other side of the railroad. When the air base moved in they built a 9 hole course and used the southern part of the summer school course. When I was Town Historian, I wrote an article about the summer school for the Town newsletter. In it, I included an aerial photo of the summer school, which was taken around the early 50's. I described the white building as the home of Paul Morroco. I even did a search in the County Clerk's office to be sure. Later on, John McGaulley gave me some information that showed that the building was not Paul's house but the golf shack for the summer school. Paul's house was farther north and didn't appear in the picture.

The summer school continued operating until the summer of 1941. Then after World War 11 things changed and there wasn't the interest. So 1941 was the end for the Catholic Summer School of America.

If you are really interested in the summer school, the local history section at the library has a box of pamphlets. The dates run from 1908 - 1925. They are promotional and describe the facilities at the school, meal plans, rates which are like $3.50 a day or $11 a week and also a listing of the lectures to be held each season.

© 2002 Cliff Haven Homeowners Assoc.
Contact Webmaster