Vacation Rentals in the Adirondacks:  Russell, NY

When it’s time to find a vacation rental in the Adirondacks region, what do you look for?  Do you want the amenities of a city?  Are you interested in a lakeside vacation home, or a cabin in the mountains?  In the Adirondacks, lakes and mountains often go hand in hand, but there are many more small villages than sizeable cities.

The village of Russell is one of those small villages.  It was settled in the late eighteenth century by Russell Attwater and a few other families.  At one time, it hosted a handful of mills, a couple of factories, and a presence in the lumber industry.  Quirky fact:  the Arsenal, which was built as part of the 1812 War effort, was later a schoolhouse - until it burned in 1945.  These days, Russell offers the more peaceful attractions of a small museum and library, plus the Russell Opera House, used to stage plays by the community theatre group.

Where:  Russell is in St. Lawrence County, where “the mountains meet the St. Lawrence”.  It’s about 2.5 hours northeast of Syracuse or 4 hours north of Albany.  Closer destinations include the Adirondack State Park at Potsdam (40-plus miles), and Ogdensburg and the St. Lawrence River (30 miles).