Crown Point State Historic Site is the site of a former military stronghold at the south end of the wider part of

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of t ...

. The location is in Essex County, New York, United States. The site is on a peninsula in the town of

Crown Point, New York Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, . The town is on t ...

. Crown Point is the location of the 1734–1759 French-built Fort St. Frédéric limestone fortress and an even more ambitious

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

fort constructed during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, starting in 1759,

Fort Crown Point Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on what later became the border between New York and Verm ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the fort was captured by

Seth Warner Seth Warner (May 17, 1743 – December 26, 1784) was an American soldier. He was a Revolutionary War officer from Vermont who rose to rank of Continental colonel and was often given the duties of a brigade commander. He is best known for his l ...

and his

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

militia on May 12, 1775, but was re-taken by the British invasion under General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

early in the summer of 1777. Once at the front line of the New World clash between two colonizing European nations, the two forts' ruins remain and are operated as a historic attraction by the State of New York.

History

Fort St. Frédéric

Construction started in 1734. When complete, Fort Saint-Frédéric walls were twelve feet thick and four stories high, with cannons on each level. It was manned by hundreds of officers and troops, principally from Les Compagnies Franches de la Marine. The fort gave the French control of the frontier between

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

and the British colonies to the south. As the only permanent stronghold in the area until the building of

Fort Carillon Fort Carillon, presently known as Fort Ticonderoga, was constructed by Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Governor of French Canada, to protect Lake Champlain from a British invasion. Situated on the lake some south of Fort Saint Frédéric, it ...

at Ticonderoga starting in 1755, many French raids originated there and it was a target of British operations in the

. Constructed on the tip of a strategic peninsula at a narrows in the lake, the cannons of Fort Saint-Frédéric and the later British Fort Crown Point were capable of halting all north-south travel on the lake. In 1759, when

British forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

moved against Fort Saint-Frédéric during the war, the retreating French destroyed it.p. 19, Folwell, Elizabeth, and Amy Godine, Adirondack Odysseys, The Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York, 1997;

Fort Crown Point

Rather than rehabilitate the ruins of the French fort, General Amherst embarked on the construction of an enormous earthen fort. The Crown Point fort was constructed by his following the capture of

, a French fort to the south (which he renamed

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French milit ...

), and the destruction of Fort St. Frédéric. Amherst used the construction of the fort as a means of keeping his men working through the winter of 1759 after pushing the French into modern Canada. The Fort was never directly assaulted. Mostly built after the threat of French invasion had ended, it was used largely for staging rather than as a position in its own right. After the French and Indian War the British left only a skeletal force at the Fort, which yielded easily to Capt. Seth Warner and 100

, an American militia, on May 12, 1775 in the battle of Crown Point at the start of the

. The 111 cannons captured from the British at Crown Point proved valuable in driving the British out of Boston. The fort was used as a staging ground by Benedict Arnold during the war for his navy on Lake Champlain. After the destruction of that navy in 1776 in the

Battle of Valcour Island The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and ...

, the fort was abandoned to the British in 1777. It was abandoned for good in 1780. The large earthen walls of the fort are still visible today. A massive, accidental fire in April 1773 entirely destroyed the log and earth fortress, leaving the empty stone ruins of two barracks buildings standing. These ruins still stand and are being carefully preserved.

Today

The historic site was established in 1910 to preserve the ruins of the two forts. Both fort ruins are listed as U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

s. Fort Saint-Frédéric was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The park's facilities and services include a picnic area, scenic views, hiking, a museum, history interpreters in replica clothing, and educational services.

Notes

External links