Cornwall Brothers Store & Museum/Alexandria Township Historical Society

The Cornwall Brothers Store & Museum is in a stone building that was built in 1866. It is the last surviving historic waterfront building in Alexandria Bay. The Cornwall Brothers Store opened in 1877, selling camp and island supplies, groceries, hardware, clothes and all manner of goods. The business became the commerce center of Alexandria Bay. The store folded, however, during the Great Depression. Over the ensuing years, the building occupied a customs house, Coast Guard station and post office. In 1973 the building was scheduled to be torn down. The Alexandria Township Historical Society was created and stepped up to save the building. It has been a museum dedicated to preserving the history and lifestyles of the river community from its earliest days through the 1950s. The building was placed in the National Registry of Historic Places in 1975 and the New York Register of Historic Places in 1991.