The Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center will open for its second season on Friday, May 26th. The Visitor Center is expanding its array of artifacts and exhibits that help tell the story of the Battlefield Park’s and surrounding areas’ importance during the French & Indian War and the American Revolution.
The new displays, some of which won’t be ready until sometime after the official reopening date, include:
• sections of a 1758 British bateau, loaned by the New York State Museum, as well as a scale model of a bateau specially created for the Visitor Center;
• a replica of a cannon used by British forces during 18th century military engagements, loaned by Fort William Henry; and
• a diorama, donated by the Adirondack Experience, depicting General James Abercromby’s 16,000-troop flotilla that left the south shore of Lake George in 1758 for a disastrous attack on the French at Ticonderoga.
The State Museum is also loaning the Visitor Center artifacts from Indigenous peoples who hunted, fished and lived in the region for 10,000 years prior to the arrival of European settlers. These artifacts were uncovered at the Battlefield Park during archaeological investigations led by the late Dr. David Starbuck.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance will also be resuming its free 1-hour guided tours of the Park’s history, each Saturday at 11 am beginning May 27th. The tours start from the Visitor Center. Pre-registration is required and can be completed by emailing info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center is located at 75 Fort George Road, Lake George, on the lower level of the Lake George Park Commission’s headquarters. The Center will be open Friday through Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm, plus on the Memorial Day holiday. It will expand to a five-day per week schedule beginning July 1st.
Memorial Day Service
The annual Remembrance Ceremony honoring the four unknown soldiers of the French & Indian War whose remains are interred at Lake George Battlefield Park will take place beginning at 10:30 am on Memorial Day (Monday, May 29).
The Battlefield Park’s unknown soldiers were American-born provincials in the service of Great Britain, victims of a surprise attack by the French on the morning of September 8, 1755. Their remains were discovered during a road construction project in the 1930s and reburied in the Park shortly thereafter. The events of that day, during the beginning stages of the French & Indian War, provided the British with an initial victory against their adversaries after a string of setbacks earlier that year.
Tributes to the fallen soldiers during the Memorial Day program will also include a presentation of colors from the Lake George Volunteer Fire Department, the laying of a memorial wreath by Lake George American Legion Post 374, and reenactors from Fort William Henry who will provide a military salute. The ceremony will conclude with the playing of “Taps” by Amy Baker.
Photo provided.
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