Welcome to The Town of
Located in northern New York State on the historic Boquet River and beautiful Lake Champlain just at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains.
Departments
Willsboro's government is comprised of a Town Supervisor and four Council Members, an elected Town Clerk, DPW Superintendent, two Town Justices, Codes Officer, a Planning Board and a Zoning Board of Appeals.
​MONTHLY MEETINGS:
Regular Town Board Meeting-
Second Wednesday of the month, 6:30pm at the Town Hall
Regular Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting-
Third Tuesday of the month, 6:00pm at the Town Hall
Regular Planning Board Meeting-
Fourth Tuesday of the month 6:00pm at the Town Hall
General Information
General Information: Town of Willsboro, NY
Origin: First settled in 1765. The oldest lake town in Essex County established in 1799.
Location: Northeastern New York, at the mouth of the Boquet River on the shores of Lake Champlain.
Elevation: Average 100' above sea level at the shores of Lake Champlain to its highest of 1,285' at the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain.
Climate: Average coldest month - January 19° F. Average warmest month - July 70° F
Willsboro, on Lake Champlain, was first settled in 1765 by William Gillilland, a New York City merchant who had purchased 9,000 acres granted by the British Crown to veterans of the French and Indian Wars. Razed by the British during the War for Independence, Willsboro was rebuilt after the war and organized as a town on March 7th, 1788.
Willsboro was a vital frontier settlement for the next hundred years, providing Canadian markets with timber and iron. With the opening of the Champlain Canal in 1823, Willsboro, like other communities on the lake, would expand its business to the south and overseas, building ships, smelting iron, refining potash, and quarrying a highly valued blue limestone which, among other things, forms the foundation for the state capitol and the Brooklyn Bridge. By the end of the nineteenth century, linked to the outside world with a railroad in 1875, Willsboro had shifted from iron and potash to mining and paper milling, which closed only in 1965. Today Willsboro, with fewer than 1,800 year-round residents, still depends on mining, but has also diversified into light manufacturing and various smaller enterprises, servicing both the annual and summer population.
Willsboro today encompasses 25,000 acres, divided into about 1,800 parcels. The eastern parts of the town are fairly flat, with a gentle slope toward Lake Champlain. There are also two smaller ponds in the western part of the town, where the Adirondack Mountains begin with Rattlesnake or Willsboro Mountain (there are no rattlesnakes on Rattlesnake Mountain). The Bouquet River runs through the town, emptying into Lake Champlain, and the town has 28 miles of shoreline on the lake. Once a thriving stream-ship launch and limestone mining site, Willsboro Point is now a famous vacation home location, jutting five miles into the lake directly opposite from Burlington, VT.
Whether for a summer spot or a new home, Willsboro offers a pleasant atmosphere for the sportsman and boater, and is a great get-away spot on the shores of beautiful Lake Champlain.