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MacAllaster House, at 54 East Main Street, the home of St. Lawrence University presidents for over 70 years, is one of the finest and best-preserved Federal-style residences in northern New York. Built in 1818 and remodeled as the President’s Home in 1925, it was again remodeled in 1998-99, thanks to the generosity of trustees Archie F. MacAllaster ’50 and David L. Torrey ’53 and Barbara Torrey MacAllaster ’51 and William A. Torrey Sr. ’57.  The goal of the latest renovation was to provide spaces adequate in size and character to facilitate use of the home for presidential intellectual, cultural and social programming in support of the mission of the University, and to serve better as a residence for the presidential family.

The house includes space on two floors.  The first floor includes a large reception room, a living room, den, powder room, dining room and industrial kitchen.  A back patio extends social space and overlooks a large and gracious lawn.  The second floor offers living space for the President’s family, including bedrooms, living area and bathrooms.

The history of the house dates back to just 17 years after Canton was established as a village in 1801. It was built as a family home and headquarters of his enterprises by Richard Harison (note the unusual spelling), owner of vast tracts of land in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties as well as a college classmate of John Jay, law partner of Alexander Hamilton and close friend of George Washington. Harison chose this location because Canton was a thriving community, bustling with the energy of youthfulness, and the county seat, and because it was served by the primary road that connected the two counties where he had business interests—the current Main Street/Route 11.

His descendants, distinguished citizens of Canton through the remainder of the 1800s, operated the property as a prosperous farm. Occasionally they lived in another home the family built, the current Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house a few hundred yards toward the center of Canton on the opposite side of Main Street.

Beginning late in the 19th century, the farm, consisting of 210 acres, passed through several owners, among them A. Barton Hepburn, husband of Emily Eaton (their names grace Hepburn and Dean-Eaton halls on the St. Lawrence campus), and others, including a state Supreme Court justice, a wealthy lumberman and banker, and the proprietor of the American Hotel, which stood on the spot now occupied by the Canton Post Office.