Tag Archives: Points of Interest

Drawbridge? No, drawboat!

Drawbridge? No, drawboat!

Drawbridge? No, drawboat!

Photo credit: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. www.lcmm.org.

 

Despite what little commercial activity currently occurs, Lake Champlain once played a major role in the commercial transportation of goods. In the late 1800s large barges and freighters covered the water, and several trains rode the tracks up, down, and across the lake. With all this traffic, it’s no wonder Lake Champlain is widely known as one of the best places to dive and view under water wrecks.

The most intact, and one of the largest, was discovered in 1999, in Port Henry, New York’s, Bulwagga Bay. This is its story.

In 1870, the iron ore industry was booming. NY’s Port Henry became a shipping hub for the thousands of tons of ore being drilled out of the surrounding Adirondack foothills. The issue that arose, however, was how to most efficiently move the ore to the furnaces in Crown Point, NY. Rail wouldn’t work – a trestle would block all boat traffic to the bay, and to go around would be too far. Even by boat, you would have to get the ore to the boat, load it, ship it, unload it, and truck it to the furnaces – far too much work. The solution would need to allow for rail and boats to coexist.

The answer, it was determined, was a drawboat. This early style of drawbridge connected two sections of trestle. Most of the time, the barge stayed in place so the regularly scheduled trains could pass uninhibited. When a large boat did need to pass through, the barge was unbolted and pulled out of the way.

Made from 12” x 12” oak beams and reinforced with cross -bracing and iron plates, the Port Henry drawboat measured 250 feet long, 34 feet wide, and nearly 12 feet tall. It perfectly fit the gap in the new trestle, known as the Port Henry Bridge, which was built to connect the ore depot in Port Henry to the furnaces in Crown Point. When the system opened up for use in the early spring for the 1870 hauling season, it worked perfectly.

The drawboat continued to function throughout the season until the ice came in and operators were forced to close it down for the winter. Problems arose in the spring, however, when engineers did their inspection before opening up the railway. They discovered that over the winter, ice had lifted and shifted the trestle itself. The cost of repairs was more than anyone could afford. Left with no other choice, they dismantled the trestle for scrap and sank the barge.

Fast forward to 1999, Arthur Cohn, Director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, picked up the shape of a boat on radar. A follow-up dive revealed the largest and most well-preserved ship wreck ever found on Lake Champlain. With the exception of two long holes on the deck, perhaps caused when workers salvaged the metal from the attached rails and hardware, the barge sits in the same condition as the day it was sunk.

There is still an air of mystery surrounding the barge. It is unknown who constructed, and subsequently sunk, the barge. Nor is there any record of the barge ever having been named. What is known, however, is that this beautiful piece of well-preserved history is a reminder of just how much used to happen on Lake Champlain.

 

For more information, please see the following links and resources.

http://bit.ly/PMkgAH – Press Republican news article. July 15, 2000

http://bit.ly/O0XqSA – Adirondack Heritage-Travels through Time in New York’s North Country. A collection of stories by Lee Manchester

http://bit.ly/SVDP9R – extensive write-up by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

Rock Dunder: The Story of The Transformer

 

Rock Dunder: The Story of The Transformer

Lake Champlain points of interest

Rock Dunder. Credit: Ray Brown.

Scientific knowledge has concretely described the formation of Lake Champlain from millions of years of geological shifting.

The Abenaki, however, tell a different story.

Off the Burlington shoreline, southwest of the ferry dock, a tiny outcropping of rock juts out of Lake Champlain. Known simply as “Rock Dunder,” this miniature island holds a sacred history. As Native American legend has it, this is the permanent form of an ancient deity known as Odzihozo, which translates into “the Transformer.”

Odzihozo was a not a god, but he was a creator. The story goes that he even created himself. When first sent to earth, he made his body, his head, and his arms. However, Odzihozo was impatient and, frustrated by how slowly his legs were forming, he set about his work by dragging himself across the land. Where he dragged himself became the rivers. He lifted the mountains from the ground, dug the holes for lakes and ponds, and flattened out the fields.

As his last project, Odzihozo created Lake Champlain. He was so impressed with his own work that he decided to change himself into stone so he could forever observe and enjoy his creations. He chose the spot off Burlington Bay, transformed, and now forever sits at “Rock Dunder.”

The rock would play many important roles in the coming years. Newspapers from the late 1800s reported that the island was used as a neutral meeting spot for rival native tribes. As late as the 1940s it was documented that Abenaki members would bring offerings of tobacco and other gifts out to the rock.

But what of the name “Dunder?” There is no official documentation of it being named after any particular person or event. It is most likely the product of a commonly used slang term during the late 1800s meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘damn.’ Being a hindrance to navigation and difficult to see, one can imagine the cursing it caused being located right in a major shipping lane…

Fort Blunder

Posted May 25, 2012 – 9:18am by Eric_LaMontagne

Fort Montgomery or 'Fort Blunder' Lake Champlain historic sites

A 1906 post card of Fort Montgomery, the site where Fort Blunder once not-so-proudly stood.

Off the Lake Champlain shore in Rouses Point, NY, where Fort Montgomery currently stands, is the site of a big mistake.

It was 1816 and Canada was still under British control. American troops were coming off of their victory at The Battle of Plattsburgh two years earlier and had started to think about how they could protect themselves from future aggression out of the North. Island Point has been identified as a key strategic area for the US military due to its proximity to the Richelieu River and the relative narrowness of the lake. It became a priority of President James Monroe that a fort be erected there to ward off further confrontation. Construction soon started on an enormous, octagon-shaped fort with 30-foot tall walls.

In the fall of 1818, after only two years of construction, President Monroe paid the site a visit and to check in with the Joseph Totten, the site supervisor. Despite the great progress with the construction, it was soon discovered that the fort had been placed a little too far north. New survey standards revealed the site was nearly a mile north of the boarder, putting it solidly on Canadian ground!

The site was immediately abandoned. Materials from the partially-built building were left to be scavenged by impoverished residents for their own needs. The lifespan of the fort was so short that it never even got to the stage of being named. Records only refer to it as The Fort, The Works, or The Battery at Rouse’s Point. As a salute to this monument to poor-planning, the site soon became widely known as “Fort Blunder.”

The site stayed empty for 27 years. In 1844, two years after British Canada ceded the land to the US as part of the Webster-Ashburn Treat of 1842, the US government began construction of a new fort on the strategic location. After roughly 30 years of construction, the still-standing Fort Montgomery was completed.

Sources-

http://www.historiclakes.org/explore/Montgomery.html

http://wn.com/Fort_Montgomery_Lake_Champlain

 **************************************

Fort Montgomery or Fort Blunder

Note: This is what Fort Montgomery looks like today >>

Whale Tails in Vermont Field

 

Reverence (Whale Tails)

 

Whale Tails in Vermont Field?

The Whale Tails, as they are locally known, are actually a  sculpture named ‘Reverence’ and were created by Jim Sardonis in 1989. The sculpture depicts two tails of whales “diving” into a sea of grass and is meant to symbolize the fragility of the planet. The tails were made from 36 tons of African black granite and stand 12-13 feet tall.

.

The sculpture was originally commissioned by David Threlkeld, a British metals trader, who was then a resident of Randolph, Vermont. They were to intended to be an exhibit at a conference center that Threlkeld was planning. When financing fell through and Threlkeld moved to Arizona, they were moved to Technology Park in South Burlington, Vermont where Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has its corporate headquarters.

.

‘Reverence’, or the Whale Tails, is a landmark of sorts alongside Interstate 89 between Exits 12 and 13 in Vermont. It’s located on the right side of the north-bound lane. The sculpture has graced the covers of at least two books, ‘Weird New England’ by Joseph A. Citro, and the art history textbook ‘A World of Art’ by Henry Sayre. It was included in ‘Weird New England’ because the sculpture is well-known statewide, has an unusual location, and depicts sea creatures in New England’s only landlocked state. ‘A World of Art’ also includes a CD-ROM with video of the creation of the sculpture.

.

‘Reverence’ is documented in the Smithsonian Museum’s Save Outdoor Sculpture! database. The sculpture was examined for Save Outdoor Sculpture! in 1992 while located along Interstate 89, west of exit 4, Randolph Center, Vermont before it moved to its’ South Burlington location.

‘Reverence’ has no connection to the Charlotte Whale, whose fossilized remains can be seen at UVM’s Perkins’ Museum. Read more about the Charlotte Whale here…  “Whales in Lake Champlain?”

Whale Tails

“Reverence” (The Whale Tails)
alongside I-89 in South Burlington, VT

Related articles
.

Lake Champlain Points of Interest

1 Reply

Lake Champlain Points of Interest

When it comes to points of interest on Lake Champlain, it’s hard to know where to begin… or end!

From colonial fortresses to sunken shipwrecks, from historic homes and businesses to scenic islands and bays, Lake Champlain continues to delight and surprise vistors and those lucky enough to call it home.

 

Lake Champlain points of interest

 

Lake Champlain features many interesting sites to explore and discover. From islands and lighthouses to historic and geologic sites and a variety of state parks and campgrounds Lake Champlain offers something for everyone.

 

Lake Champlain Points of Interest

Fort Montgomery (Fort Blunder)

 

 

 

Points of Interest Around Lake Champlain: 

Follow us:

on Twitter at Twitter/MyLakeChamplain

on Facebook at Facebook/Lake Champlain Life

on Pinterest at Pinterest/MyLakeChamplain