Place:Massena (town), St. Lawrence, New York, United States

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town is on the northern border of the county and is nicknamed "The Gateway to the Fourth Coast". The population was 12,883 at the 2010 census. The town of Massena contains a village also called Massena. The town and its village are named after André Masséna, a general and Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Wars.

Massena is home to an Alcoa plant, and a former Reynolds Metals Company plant, now called Alcoa East (temporarily idled in July 2009). Massena is also home to a former General Motors aluminum engine-casting plant that is one of the most polluted sites once owned by the company. The New York Power Authority also operates a hydroelectric power generating dam, the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project, on the St. Lawrence River adjacent to Massena.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The town was first settled circa 1792. Unlike much of northern New York, Massena was not completely in the Macomb's Purchase. Massena was one of the first towns of the county and was incorporated with the county in 1802. The town is named after one of Napoleon's field marshals, André Masséna, who commanded around that time. Parts of Massena later separated to form other towns in the county, including Hopkinton in 1805, Louisville in 1810, and Brasher in 1825.

The economy of early Massena was partly based on health spas, but the modern town is involved in power production, aluminum production at ALCOA and the commerce of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The town suffered natural disasters in 1944 (earthquake) and in 1998 (ice storm).

Massena was a scene for a "blood libel" accusation against the 100 or so Jewish residents living in the city in 1928. This story made headlines in local newspapers.

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