Since 2015, the Department of Environmental Conservation has been making its accessible drive to the summit of Lake George’s Prospect Mountain free for everyone for a short period in the fall in honor of veterans.
As far as I’m aware, Prospect Mountain is one of only three summits in the Adirondacks that are publicly accessible by motor vehicle. The other two are Whiteface Memorial Highway in Wilmington and Ticonderoga’s Mount Defiance. » Continue Reading.
The Warren County Historical Society is set to hold its annual Open House on Saturday, November 9th from 11 am to 2 pm at its headquarters and museum on 50 Gurney Lane, in Queensbury, NY.
The Society’s new permanent exhibition, “Warren County 360: Celebrating Place and People,” will be featured, along with a display of Warren County postmarks and post office history, as well as a “Hands-On-History” station. The Book and Gift Shop will be open for shopping, and refreshments will be provided. » Continue Reading.
“Melancholy Occurrence” was a fairly common expression for a tragic event in the middle of the 19th century. A search of historic newspapers revealed the phrase was used some 250 times from 1820 to 1870. Several of these were murder cases, such as the son of the Spanish Consul being stabbed through the heart with a cane sword by an angry neighbor. But most were unexpected events such as a fatal strike by lightening, a young fire victim, or a drowning.
One occurred at Twitchell Lake. In a December 3, 1856 article titled “Melancholy Occurrence,” The Lewis County Banner reported that Briggs Wightman stepped onto ice while hunting, crashed through, and drowned. Adirondack Guide named Amos Spafford (1824-1897) came out on the north shore of Twitchell Lake and observed a hat and a gun lying next to a large hole in the ice. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga has announced their annual Maze by Moonlight, and the living history event “Nothing Could Exceed the Spirit and Alertness,” set for October 25th and 26th, and October 26th and 27th.
The new 2019 corn maze design features clues connected to Fort Ticonderoga’s story. The maze is divided into two phases, giving guests the chance to gain confidence in the smaller maze before tackling the main maze. The average journey takes about twenty minutes for the first phase, and up to an hour for the second phase. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga, a premiere historic and travel destination, has been awarded the Save America’s Treasures Grant, funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior through a competitive process.
The property was awarded $465,000 to be utilized in the restoration of the north demi-lune, a stone defensive structure connected to the fort. Originally constructed in the 18th century, the north demi-lune was used to defend Fort Ticonderoga against invaders and was part of the fort’s outer defenses that Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold saw as they crossed Lake Champlain on their journey to capture the fort in May of 1775 during the American Revolution. » Continue Reading.
Charles Terrot was a British officer who served with the British Army in Canada during the Revolutionary War, and left one of the best accounts of the Battle of Valcour Island.
Terrot was commissioned in 1774 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Artillery at the age of 16 after studying at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He advanced with the British Army against the Americans in 1776. Fort Ticonderoga holds some of the letters Terrot sent back home, including one written following the battle, in which he includes a map of the pivotal engagement and drawings of the American ships.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program has announced they are seeking pre-proposals for projects and programs to protect, restore, interpret, and showcase the historical resources and cultural heritage of the Champlain Valley.
These projects will highlight the interpretive themes and further the goals, actions and tasks described in the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) Management Plan. » Continue Reading.
The Club Camp is often mentioned as the first permanent structure built on Big Moose Lake. The word permanent is rather ironic because this hunting and fishing establishment had a relatively short history of just 28 years. Today the camp’s origins, visitors, and sad end seem largely forgotten.
According to Joseph F. Grady’s The Adirondacks: Fulton Chain-Big Moose Region (1933), the Club Camp was constructed in 1878 at the request of several sportsmen from New York City who had been spending summers on the lake in previous years.
At the time, Big Moose, near Old Forge, NY, was difficult to reach — the railroad would not arrive in the area until 1892. Before 1878, only lean-tos or shanties were available on Big Moose, notably that of businessman William “Billy” Dutton, which was built in 1876, and that of guide Jack Sheppard which was set up around the same time. » Continue Reading.
The Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, Vermont, and Crown Point State Historic Site in Crown Point, are set to team up to offer a day-long multi-disciplinary seminar on the 10th anniversary of the October 16, 2009, closing of the 1929 Lake Champlain Bridge, on Saturday, October 19th
The day will explore the findings, consequences, and memories of the historic moment of the bridge closure and aftermath. » Continue Reading.
This weekend is the final seasonal celebration for the “birthplace of the electric age.” Located at the old Crown Point Iron Company Works in Ironville, the Penfield Homestead Museum is hosting its annual celebration of everything apple. Though apples may be one of the reasons to go to the Penfield Homestead, also plan to visit the museum dedicated to preserving the history of the North Country’s ironwork industry during the 19th century. » Continue Reading.
Members of the Addison County Amateur Radio Association will set up at the Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, Vermont, on Sunday, October 13, from 10 am to 4 pm. Members will practice communication with other operators and take questions from the public. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Experience (ADKX), formerly the Adirondack Museum, is set to host a free open house event and community collecting day on November 11th, from 10 am to 4 pm, in support of the ADKX 2020 seasonal exhibition From Wilderness to Warfront: The Adirondacks and World War II.
This exhibition, planned to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, is devoted to the connections between Adirondack people and the global conflict. From regional industry and tourism to first-person accounts, the exhibition will explore diverse stories — those previously untold as well as those well-remembered — of regional mine workers, Mohawk code-talkers, Tuskegee airmen, and the countless local men and women who bravely served on the homefront or abroad during the world’s deadliest conflict. » Continue Reading.
The Ticonderoga Historical Society is set to end its program year and celebrate the Halloween Season with a free program entitled “Haunted Adirondacks: A Horrible History” on Friday, October 18 at 7 pm at the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown has announced a Historians Day Workshop, set for October 16th, from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.
Prof. Gerald Zahavi, historian and Director of the Documentary Studies Program at the University at Albany, will present a workshop on strategies for film, video and audio media preservation, restoration, and digital conversion and reformatting. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga holds one of North America’s largest collections of military material culture, covering the colonization of North America and the ensuing colonial conflicts, the Seven Years’ War (a.k.a. French & Indian War), the American Revolution, and the War of 1812.
The collection includes rare books, manuscripts, weaponry, accoutrements, textiles, uniforms, headgear, paintings, prints, maps, ephemera, personal effects from across the Atlantic World and a complementary archeological collection consisting of tens of thousands of artifacts recovered from the grounds of Fort Ticonderoga in the 20th century. » Continue Reading.
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