The river was named after François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse,[citation needed] a French admiral and hero of the American Revolutionary War.

The river is created by a series of small ponds, lakes and streams located in the northern New York towns of Russell, Clare and Clifton.

From the town of Russell where its two source branches meet, the river makes its way into the village of Canton flowing mostly north away from the Adirondack foothills.

From Chase Mills, the river begins its northeasterly path into the town of Louisville passing through a series of small rapids or waterfalls, depending on the amount of water flowing.

On the Grasse River end, the cement and brick structure of the old powerhouse remains, without any equipment inside the original buildings.

At the mouth of the Grasse River is Snell Lock, part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Shipping System.

Several hundred yards upriver from the mouth of the Grasse is a docking area which contains a large floating crane with replacement doors for the locks, and the tugboat Robinson Bay, which is used for icebreaking in the spring.

In 2005, a company was hired by ALCOA to remove the chemicals from the riverbed near what is known as "Outfall One", one of the factory's water drainages just downriver from the powerhouse.

The river bottom was removed and piped into machines where it was cleaned and deposited in a private landfill on ALCOA's property.

ALCOA is also working on plans to prevent large chunks of ice from moving down this section of river.

The most recent idea, proposed by the Massena Electric Company, calls for a small one-turbine hydroelectric dam to be constructed about a half-mile downriver from the old weir.