JULY 8: FORT TICONDEROGA

July 8:    The weather is hot and hazy with the threat of rain but we decided to take our chances and play tourists again as our marina is only a few miles south of Fort Ticonderoga.  The owner of the marina kindly offered to drive us to the ferry which crosses over to the Fort which is on the New York side of the lake.

Ferry departure point.

 

Cutest four legged passenger waiting to cross on the ferry.

 Most of the ferry's passengers cross with their cars.  We were the only foot passengers.  

Once on the other side of the Lake, we had a good mile hike to the entrance of the Fort.

Our first stop was the King's Garden.  Restored stone lodge at the entrance.

The King's Garden includes a vegetable garden which is similar to the one that the original inhabitants of the fort would have planted to supplement  their diet. 

 Scarecrows representing the three important elements of the Indian inhabitants: corn, beans and squash.

 The 1920s era formal garden is surrounded by a brick wall.  The garden was designed by landscape architect Marian Coffin one of the earliest female graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The garden includes a mixture of heirloom annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs.

 A fountain with a bronze statue of the Young Diana by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington is located in the center of the garden.

Onto the Fort proper-just outside the walls of the fort are "soldiers" demonstrating how meals would have been prepared in the early days of the fort.  It was a rather hot day and we felt sorry for these poor guys dressed in these outfits.

 Some of the original cannons have been returned to the Fort.  These were located just at the entrance.

 On the parapet wall looking down Lake Champlain.  Gives one a good sense of the strategic location of the Fort.  We joined a group tour which provided an overview of the Fort's history.  The short version is that the  fortification was originally built by the French in 1758 and named Fort Carillon.  It was attacked by the British twice.  The first attack was repelled but the British succeeded in taking the Fort the second time.  Then in 1775, the Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolutionary Army under Benedict Arnold surprised the British and captured the Fort.  This was the first important victory for the Americans in the War of Independence.  

After the War, the Fort fell into disrepair.  The locals dismantled the structure and used the stones to build homes.  Then in 1820, William Pell purchased the property and he and his descendants worked to restore the Fort to its current condition.  This branch of the Pell family is related to the Pell family in Rhode Island.

The Pell family eventually donated the restored property to a non profit group which maintains the structure and runs the daily tours.  These include musket firings and fife and drum demonstrations.  

Inside the fort proper, there are several exhibits including the early history of the indigenous people and depictions of what life was like for the French soldiers.  We marveled at the incredible gun and sword collection which we were told is one of the largest in the country.

The inner courtyard of the Fort.

The Fort also contains a great cafe where we fortified ourselves for the long hike back to the ferry landing.

As a final note, it is worth mentioning that archeologists have determined that indigenous people have lived in this area since about 5000 B.C.