Grasse River - The Course

The Course

The Grasse River, along with the other tributaries to the St. Lawrence River, served as a water power source for several mills in the towns and hamlets along its course. Virtually none of these mills have survived, but stone foundations, burned out furnaces and other ancient structures can be located along its banks. Several old world dams exist along the path of the Grasse River, while its so called "twin" sister river, the Raquette, contains a series of old and new age hydropower dams.

The Grasse River makes it way through many small hamlets and two major towns, Massena and Canton. From the town of Russell where its two source branches meet, the river makes it way down into the village of Canton flowing mostly north away from the Adirondack foothills. It flows past the hamlets of Morley and Bucks Bridge into the town of Madrid. The first of two major dams appears just several yards west of New York State Route 345. Just south of the dam is the Madrid Municipal Park which hosts several large events during the summer season. The Madrid Country Club is located upriver from the park on the northern bank. From this point the river flows northwards to the hamlet of Chase Mills near Coles Creek State Park on the St. Lawrence River.

From Chase Mills, the river begins its northeasterly path into the town of Louisville passing through a series of small rapids or waterfalls, depending on the amount of water flowing. The river then flows into the township and village of Massena, passing by the Massena Rod & Gun Club on the northern bank, in the town of Louisville.

The Grasse River defines the northern edge of Massena's downtown district. At the southern end of the village, the Raquette River was the location of the Massena Health Spa and Health Spring. Located several yards east of the downtown bridge on the Grasse River is the second remaining major dam of the river, known as the Downtown Dam or "weir", standing only 3–4 feet (1 m) tall. In the late 1990s, the midsection of the weir was breached and now lies several yards away from the dam.

The river continues to cut through the village of Massena to the eastern borders where the old Massena Power Canal connects with the river. This canal was constructed by the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (now Alcoa) in the 1900s. The canal connects the Grasse River with the St. Lawrence River and was used to supply a hydropower dam. The dam was one of the first 10 hydro-dams built in the United States, operating until 1956 when the St. Lawrence River was flooded for the St. Lawrence Seaway Project. The St. Lawrence River end of the canal is blocked off by a massive wall, known as the Massena Intake (the village water supply is also drawn in through this wall). On the Grasse River end, the cement and brick structure of the old powerhouse remains, without any equipment inside the original buildings.

The river from the old powerhouse onwards is calm and level to its mouth in the St. Lawrence River. This section of the river is the only section that can be traversed by motor/power boats, but activity is light as Lake St. Lawrence is the draw for boating in the area (which is behind a pair of shipping locks and two dams if one were trying to travel from the Grasse to the lake). This was only possible during the construction of the old powerhouse, as the river was dredged to 15 feet (4.6 m) along its course to the St. Lawrence. At the mouth of the Grasse River is Snell Lock, part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Shipping System. Several hundred yards upriver from the mouth of the Grasse is a docking area which contains a large floating crane with replacement doors for the locks, and the tugboat Robinson Bay, which is used for icebreaking in the spring.