Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserves

Lake George’s 1758 Land Tortoise Shipwreck

August 26, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The radeau (raft) Land Tortoise was built in 1758 during the French and Indian War as part of a British effort to regain control of Lake George after the loss of Fort William Henry in 1757.

Constructed by provincial militia forces under Captain Samuel Cobb of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) the 52-foot long floating artillery battery was built in just over a month, launched, tested (“rowed well with 26 oars”) and then intentionally sunk. [Read more…] about Lake George’s 1758 Land Tortoise Shipwreck

The Lives of Cannalers: Lake Champlain’s Sailing Canal Boat Families

October 6, 2024 by Anthony F. Hall Leave a Comment

If you were walking in Lower Manhattan in the mid-1950s and happened upon a dead-end street of warehouses named Coenties Slip, you would have stumbled upon a “Canalboat Village” – a cluster of barges which had once hauled limestone from Vermont and oysters to Essex, NY, now permanently moored. [Read more…] about The Lives of Cannalers: Lake Champlain’s Sailing Canal Boat Families

The Dramatic Shipwreck of the General Butler at the Burlington Breakwater

August 3, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Wrecked during a brutal winter gale that came howling across Lake Champlain, the story of one of Burlington, Vermont‘s most famous shipwrecks, General Butler, is an incredible tale of survival and rescue. Everyone survived thanks to quick thinking and two first responders. [Read more…] about The Dramatic Shipwreck of the General Butler at the Burlington Breakwater

New York State Maritime Heritage Projects Get $400k in Grant Funding

June 12, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that 18 maritime heritage projects across New York State will be supported by almost $400,000 in federal grants through the New York State National Maritime Heritage Grant Program. [Read more…] about New York State Maritime Heritage Projects Get $400k in Grant Funding

The Musicians of the Sailing Canalboat O.J. Walker

December 28, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Champlain Canal, which connects Lake Champlain to the Hudson River and the rest of the New York State canal system.

In commemoration of this important anniversary, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is doing an inventory of our collections relating to canalboat shipwrecks in the lake. Today, I want to share an interesting story about one of these canalboat wrecks, the sailing canalboat O.J. Walker. [Read more…] about The Musicians of the Sailing Canalboat O.J. Walker

Climate Change & Lake Champlain’s Underwater History

August 18, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is dedicated to inspiring people to make personal connections to Lake Champlain through our region’s history, ecology, and archeology.

For the Museum’s archaeology team, this work of making connections includes conducting ongoing archeological research, on land and underwater; caring for our collection of artifacts and research; and managing Lake Champlain’s underwater cultural resources and the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserves, a unique system of shipwrecks in the lake open for divers to explore each May–October.

The flooding and ongoing climate change are threats to our work, Lake Champlain, and the lake’s shipwrecks and other underwater cultural resources. [Read more…] about Climate Change & Lake Champlain’s Underwater History

Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserves

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