Category Archives: History

Lake Champlain Designated the 6th Great Lake

Lake Champlain Designated the 6th Great Lake (for a while)

Lake Champlain Designated the 6th Great Lake (for a while)Everyone can agree that Lake Champlain is great, but it is not officially a Great Lake. Much of the confusion over this is due to Lake Champlain briefly being designated the 6th Great Lake.

Without fanfare on March 7, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a bill giving Lake Champlain official designation as one of the Great Lakes, at least as far as Federal research money goes. On March 25, 1998 Congress voted to rescind the ‘Great Lake’ designation for Lake Champlain.

The designation allowed Lake Champlain to receive Sea Grant funding.  Although the designation was quickly revoked, the funding still exists. This is funding is important, because Lake Champlain is connected to the Great Lakes and faces many similar issues including invasive aquatic species, as well as, phosphorus over-loading.

 

Lake Champlain Designated the 6th Great Lake for Sea Grant

Lake Champlain Sea Grant is dedicated to improving the understanding and management of Lake Champlain, Lake George and their watersheds for long-term environmental health and sustainable economic development.

A cooperative program of the University of Vermont and SUNY Plattsburgh, Lake Champlain Sea Grant is a part of a national network of 35 projects and programs at coastal and Great Lakes colleges, coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Congressional Pushback

The move had angered some lawmakers from the Great Lakes states. ”If Lake Champlain ends up as a Great Lake, I propose we rename it ‘Lake Plain Sham,’ ” said Representative Steven C. LaTourette, an Ohio Republican who co-chaired the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force.

Lake Champlain is not even the sixth largest lake in the United States – in area or in volume.  It is only sixth in the United States in terms of its length. Although not a ‘Great Lake’ anymore, Lake Champlain is still a great lake!

Lake Champlain

This 128-page softcover book features stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, and includes chapters on Patriotic Sites and Celebrations; Commerce in the Canal Era; The Age of Steam; Crossing Lake Champlain; Recreational Boating; Summer and Summer Folk; Hunting and Fishing; and Winter. ‘Lake Champlain’ tells the story of this historic, busy commercial corridor and recreational destination.

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Battle of Valcour Island: October 11, 1776

This date in Lake Champlain History

Battle of Valcour Island: October 11, 1776

battle of valcour island

Royal Savage, Benedict Arnold’s flagship, is shown run aground and burning, while British ships fire on her (watercolor by unknown artist, ca. 1925)

Continental Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and his 17-ship flotilla were defeated after three long and separate actions at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain when they engaged 25 ships under British Captain Thomas Pringle.

Benedict Arnold and Battle of Valcour Island

Benedict Arnold

The Continental Army had retreated from Quebec to Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point in June 1776 after British forces in Canada were reinforced. They Americans then spent the summer of 1776 strengthening those forts, and building additional ships to augment the small American fleet already on the lake under the command of Arnold.

The British had a 9,000 man army in Canada but needed to build a fleet to move it on the lake. By early October, the British fleet, which significantly outgunned the American fleet, was ready to launch their offensive.

Battle of Valcour Island

Battle of Valcour Island: October 11, 1776

On October 11, 1776 Arnold lured the superior British fleet into the straight between Valcour Island and the New York mainland where their maneuverability was limited. Although Arnold’s makeshift fleet was defeated, the battle delayed the British advance and caused it to fall back into winter quarters.

The British fleet and army withdrew from Lake Champlain on October 20, 1776 and returned to Canada for the winter. It was nearly a year before the British advance was renewed.

Lake Champlain

This 128-page softcover book features stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, and includes chapters on Patriotic Sites and Celebrations; Commerce in the Canal Era; The Age of Steam; Crossing Lake Champlain; Recreational Boating; Summer and Summer Folk; Hunting and Fishing; and Winter. ‘Lake Champlain’ tells the story of this historic, busy commercial corridor and recreational destination.

Buy Here

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The History And Mystery Of Split Rock Mountain

Split Rock Mountain, the locale of an ancient boundary between nations, is the exotic and mysterious Far East of the Adirondacks.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.adirondackalmanack.com

Split Rock Mountain has more than eleven miles of marked trails. They are laid out in a rough figure-eight, with the main access near the center. Most of the trails follow old roads; one allows snowmobiles, which are infrequent.

See on Scoop.it – Lake Champlain Life

Whiskey on the Lake – Smuggling on Lake Champlain

Whiskey on the Lake

Lake Champlain has a long history of being a major smuggling route between the U.S. and Canada. From the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through Prohibition and beyond smugglers have used this natural water highway to try to avoid government taxes, tariffs and embargoes.

Whiskey on the Lake video presentation

U.S Revenue Cutter, Pickering

 

Smugglers moved contraband both north and south to markets hungry for products that were in short supply, banned or too expensive. Early smuggling operations after the wars included the infamous Black Snake Affair in which two people were killed and resulted in the execution of one of the smugglers.

 

This video presentation of ‘Whiskey on the Lake’ from the Milton, VT Historical Society deals with more recent events as Dr. Scott McLaughlin tells how Lake Champlain was important thoroughfare for smugglers during the Prohibition era.

 

 


Guns Over The Champlain Valley:
A Guide To Historic Military Sites And Battlefields (Paperback)
Author: Coffin, Howard

The Champlain Valley is one of the most historically rich regions of the country. Fort Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Fort William Henry, Crown Point, Plattsburgh, Bennington and Valcour Island all lie along the ancient warpath that is the Champlain Corridor.
In this lively and informative new travel guide to historic places and events, the author leads you to each venue, describing the events and their long-lasting impact.  Adventure awaits you with Guns over the Champlain Valley.
Order Today

 

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Crown Point / Chimney Point Historic Region

Crown Point / Chimney Point Historic Region by James P. Millard

Crown Point / Chimney Point Historic Region

Crown Point / Chimney Point Historic Region

Information about the historic Crown Point/Chimney Point region of Vermont and New York State on Lake Champlain

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.historiclakes.org

The Crown Point/Chimney Point peninsulas on Lake Champlain are some of the most historic places in the area. Long recognized as places of strategic importance on this waterway through the wilderness, each side of the lake was inhabited and fortified from earliest times. Chimney Point was the site of Fort de Pieux, a simple wooden stockade built by the French; and is now the site of a historic brick tavern owned by the State of Vermont and operated as Chimney Point Historic Site.

Opposite Chimney Point, across the great steel bridge, is Crown Point. This historic location was the site of an important French fort, St. Frederic; and an enormous British Fortress, known simply as ‘His Majesty’s Fort at Crown Point’. It was not known as Fort Crown Point, nor was it called Fort Amherst, as some early sources claim. The Crown Point peninsula played a critical role in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The ruins there are maintained by the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The park is known as Crown Point State Historic Site. The park includes the ruins of both fortresses, a number of important redoubts, and the beautiful Champlain Memorial Lighthouse on the site of the earlier Grenadier’s Redoubt.

Any visit to the historic lakes should include a trip to this remarkably historic and beautiful site.

See on Scoop.it – Lake Champlain Life

Ethan Allen: His Life and Times
is the story of one of Vermont’s
most famous citizens.Written by
Willard Sterne Randall this book
sheds a new light on one of
Vermont’s founding fathers.
Buy Ethan Allen: 
His Life and Times Here

 

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