Malone: Border Town, British Raid, and the Road to Canada
New York
Malone, New York, sits in Franklin County about fifteen miles from the Canadian border, and its history is shaped entirely by that proximity. The town was founded in eighteen oh five, named through a series of early iterations, first Harison for a New York attorney, then Ezraville, then Malone in eighteen twelve, the year British troops sacked it. The first settlers arrived around eighteen oh two.
When the War of eighteen twelve broke out, the border that runs just to the north proved more a smuggling convenience than a defensive barrier. Neighboring New Yorkers and Vermonters continued trading with British-occupied Canada throughout the war, profit overcoming patriotism. Malone became the county seat of Franklin County when the county was carved from Clinton in eighteen oh eight.
US Route Eleven passes through town on its way to its northern end at the Canadian border in Rouses Point.
