Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, People, Site

Location

41 Lake St, Port Kent, NY 12975, USA

Lat/Long

44.52635978179, -73.405917635433

Grant Recipient

Anderson Falls Heritage Society

Peter Comstock, who lived in the house at the site of this historical marker from circa 1850 until the end of his life in 1874, played an important role in the history of travel and enterprise throughout the region.

In a posthumous biography published in the September 11^th, 1891 edition of the Plattsburgh Sentinel, Comstock’s entrepreneurial spirit is detailed in full. Following his service in the War of 1812, Comstock became involved in the construction of the New York State funded Champlain Canal, which was built in unison with the Erie Canal. In the years to follow, Comstock actively participated in the freight and passage business of the Champlain Canal, while also running a series of stagecoaches in the immediate region.

That wasn’t all though.

Comstock was also responsible for constructing the Cumberland Head lighthouse, and he later went on to establish a steamboat business on Lake Champlain along with operating several lumber mills throughout the region. As described in the published biography:

Peter Comstock who resided for many years at Port Kent, Essex county, and built the big lumber mills at Rome, above Ausable Forks, at Franklin Falls, and other points, and who also operated largely in Clinton county, constructed the Cumberland House at Plattsburgh for the accommodation of his men, and built the Cumberland lighthouse.

For folks traveling around the Champlain Lake and Canal during the 1830s and 1840s, it would have been nearly impossible to not notice Comstock’s handiwork.

Despite the successes, Comstock’s business ventures would run into setbacks during the 1840s and 1850s; namely, the major economic depression in 1841 and a fire that carried with it much of his business investments. Still, he remained undaunted, and despite these roadblocks, in 1850 he relocated to Port Kent where he would spend the rest of his life, which was described in the biography:

He kept on doing business all the time until his death. His life was a long, hard struggle, but he made business lively, furnished employment for tens of thousands of men, developed the country, and did much good. He was always a friend of the poor and unfortunate, and helped many a poor young man to get an education and start in life.