One of the obvious answers to Lynch's question is that Potsdam is a center for education, as well as the literal center of St. Lawrence County. He was, in fact, doing a show at a college headlining with Lewis Black, which influenced him to take a trip to Potsdam. Perhaps Lynch could have saved his question if he had actually gone out and experienced the town.

Walking down West Market Street on the wide sidewalks past the large flat front of the Clarkson University Bookstore and Northern Music and Video, you know it is a college town;an undeniable fact with more than three locations serving pizza. Two parks are devoted to green grass and gently sweeping willow trees next to the Raquette River, with the white gazebo often occupied by teenagers. Potsdam is one of the more peaceful northeastern college towns. It doesn't have the unending construction of the city. In Potsdam, the air is fresh, the mountains are near, and only a few hours away is Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

"Why the hell are you all up here!?!?"

This year, Potsdam celebrates its bicentennial and in effect, answers Stephen Lynch's inquiry as to why people live, love, laugh, and learn all the way up north in Potsdam, New York. Marie Regan, town supervisor and bicentennial co-chair, knows Potsdam is a busy place when she had trouble booking bicentennial events. "It's almost impossible to schedule an event when some other event isn't taking place here," she says. Many of the events have a historical aspect to them. Either children are singing a song about Potsdam, or a town citizen has a presentation of the town's history.

Through this remembrance, we learn that during the making of the United States, state legislation was passed in 1786 to sell much of the land in Northern New York to promote settlement of the Iroquois lands. In 1787, a resolution was passed to create ten towns along the St. Lawrence River as a buffer between the United States and the British colony of Canada. One of these towns became Potsdam.

One would suspect with a name like Potsdam, that German settlers founded the town. However, there were no German settlers. The name Potsdam does not imply that a man named Pott built a dam, either. At the time, no dam had been built.

One may assume that Potsdam's sandstone was a distinguishable feature in the past, so perhaps this linked Potsdam to Germany. However, there is no onnection to the sandstone in Potsdam, New York and Potsdam, Germany. Potsdam's sandstone was not named until about 1840 when state geologists named it Potsdam sandstone from the village where it was first studied. Additionally, "this geological formation [doesn't] occur anywhere about Potsdam in Germany," stated Dr. C. H. Leete, town historian of 1928. "The records of the Land Office read that the commissioners in New York City in 1787 gave the name, and there you are."

"Potsdam is not a bad place to be."

Potsdam lands changed hands many times over the years, until finally ending up in the Clarkson family. In 1802, Benjamin Raymond was hired by the Clarkson family of New York and their associates as a land agent. At this time St. Lawrence County was established. Four years later, Potsdam organized a township government and became a self-sustaining independent civic body. During the fifteen years Raymond was land agent, he opened roads and established industries, giving Potsdam village its wide streets and symmetrical plan.

Raymond also founded St. Lawrence Academy, which eventually became State University of New York-Potsdam. Thomas S. Clarkson III, a prominent member of the founding Clarkson family, died when he aided another man's life at his Potsdam sandstone quarry in 1894. He was remembered when his sisters founded the Clarkson School of Technology, now known as Clarkson University. "Of the Clarkson family, it is impossible to speak too highly," remarked Leete in a 1928 speech.

And that is how Potsdam became the place it is and why people live "up here." Potsdam may not be in the news as much as New York City, but perhaps, this is one of Potsdam's charms.

"Potsdam is not a bad place to be," says Aimee Krause, a senior at Norwood-Norfolk Central School. "In Potsdam, I know I'm safe. If it's getting some coffee after a movie, pizza after bowling, or going to a show in the park, it's homey, and comfortable."

Do you have any good memories from Potsdam?

Notable Times in Potsdam's History

1787-Ten towns created along and near the St. Lawrence River in effort to fortify the New York-Canadian border.

1802-David Clarkson and associates purchase town of Potsdam.

1803-First settlement in Potsdam.

1821-Liberty Knowles builds first building of Potsdam sandstone.

1831-Village of Potsdam incorporated.

1841-Linda Richards, America's first trained nurse, is born in Potsdam.

1861-Civil War begins.

1877-Thomas S. Clarkson opens sandstone quarries on the Raquette River.

1884-Hervey Thatcher invents glass milk bottle.

1896-Clarkson College of Technology founded in memory of Thomas S. Clarkson.

1922-Sandstone quarries along Raquette River flooded to make way for hydroelectric power.

1948-Teachers College joins state university system (State University of New York-Potsdam).

1984-Clarkson College of Technology renamed Clarkson University.

2006-The Town of Potsdam celebrates its bicentennial.