Lake George Battlefield Park

Despite Elise Stefanik’s Claims, NYS Gun Law Doesn’t Prohibit Historical Events

September 20, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall 3 Comments

New York’s new gun law, which bans weapons from “sensitive locations” such as parks and museums, will have no effect on musket demonstrations, including at Fort William Henry or re-enactments in Lake George Battlefield Park, according to Warren County Sheriff James La Farr.

“It is not within the spirit of the law to prohibit those activities,” LaFarr said. The re-enactors’ muskets and cannon fire only blanks.

Fort Ticonderoga, which is located in Essex County, is also unaffected by the new law, says its president and CEO, Beth Hill. “We do not plan to change our operations or special events,” she said. [Read more…] about Despite Elise Stefanik’s Claims, NYS Gun Law Doesn’t Prohibit Historical Events

New Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center Sets Hours, Offers Tours

May 28, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The new Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center opened Friday, May 27th. The Visitor Center will be open for business from 10 am to 4 pm, Friday through Sunday each weekend through the end of June. Operating hours will expand to 5 days per week from July 1st through Labor Day Weekend.

Lake George Battlefield Park was the site of several key conflicts and encampments during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The Visitor Center’s exhibits include a wide array of artifacts uncovered by archaeological digs in the Park, newly-created models that illustrate the forts and ships that were utilized by British and American soldiers, and related materials. [Read more…] about New Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center Sets Hours, Offers Tours

Campground, Day-Use Area Plans Proposed to Combat Invasives

February 26, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public comment on an amendment to the Campground and Day-Use Area Generic Unit Management Plan (UMP) that is hoped to support efforts to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic invasive species (AIS).

The proposed amendment includes the construction and permanent placement of storage facilities for decontamination equipment used to remove AIS from watercraft at these sites. [Read more…] about Campground, Day-Use Area Plans Proposed to Combat Invasives

Lake George Battlefield, More Than Just A Setting for Cooper’s ‘Last of the Mohicans’

February 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In February 1826 one of America’s seminal works of historical fiction, James Fenimore Cooper‘s The Last of the Mohicans, was first published. Last of the Mohicans has also been adapted to film at least eight times, most recently in 1992 starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. The novel is one of five Cooper wrote that make up the Leatherstocking Tales series, all of them set in Upstate New York between the years 1740 and 1804.

Warren County, NY is where many of the real-life actions of 1757 depicted in the novel occurred, including at what is now Lake George Battlefield Park, the location of several other important historical events. [Read more…] about Lake George Battlefield, More Than Just A Setting for Cooper’s ‘Last of the Mohicans’

Russell Bellico: Empires in the Mountains

November 13, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Meeting Russell Bellico, you’d think you were in the presence of an old sea captain spending his retirement in the softer wind and spray of Lake George. You’d be surprised to know that he spent 35 years in the economics department at Westfield State College in Massachusetts.

You’d be glad to hear that Bellico spent his time away from Westfield at Lake George, where as a summer resident he invested himself in local history. He has spent over three decades photographing shipwrecks and historic sites on Lake George and Lake Champlain. He served as a consultant on the National Park Service’s Champlain Valley Heritage Corridor, a trustee of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, and a board member of Bateaux Below, the organization founded by the archaeological team (which included Bellico) that documented the 1758 radeau Land Tortoise which lies underwater at the southern end of Lake George. [Read more…] about Russell Bellico: Empires in the Mountains

The Two Hendricks: A Mohawk Indian Mystery

May 15, 2010 by Editorial Staff 9 Comments

In September 1755 the most famous Indigenous person in the world was killed in the Bloody Morning Scout that launched the Battle of Lake George. His name was Henderick Peters Theyanooguin, but he was widely known as King Hendrick.

In an unfortunate twist of linguistic and historical fate, he shared the same first name as another famous Mohawk leader, Hendrick Tejonihokarawa, who although about 30 years his senior, was also famous in his own right. He was one of the “Four Indian Kings” who became a sensation in London in 1710, met Queen Anne, and was wined and dined as an international celebrity. [Read more…] about The Two Hendricks: A Mohawk Indian Mystery