History, Natural History & the Arts
After the fall of the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point during the French and Indian War in the fall of 1759, General Jeffrey Amherst ordered the building of the Crown Point Road.
The road was to run across what is now Vermont between Crown Point and The Fort at No. 4 on the Connecticut River in what is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. [Read more…] about Crown Point Road: Opening Northern New England & Lake Champlain
After the British capture of Fort Ticonderoga on July 5, 1777, Major General Benjamin Lincoln was ordered to Vermont to organize militia being raised in New England, with part of his mission to harass General John Burgoyne‘s long supply and communication lines to Canada. That September, following the Battle of Bennington, Lincoln sent three 500-man detachments to take on this task. [Read more…] about Fort Ticonderoga To Reenact 1777 Brown’s Raid
During autumn of 1776, Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga were being prepared by the American troops for the arrival of the British. At that time, the two garrisons made up one of the largest population centers in the United States.
An illustrated talk, “The Autumn of 1776: Making Preparations to Receive the Enemy,” by historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin, has been set for Saturday, October 5th, at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont. The program will run from 1 to 2:30 pm. [Read more…] about Autumn of 1776 Talk at Mount Independence
The Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road was built after the September 7, 1776, order of Gen. Horatio Gates to connect the Revolutionary War fortification being constructed at Mount Independence on Lake Champlain to Hubbardton, Rutland, and Fort No. 4 in New Hampshire.
Gates considered the road “so Essential to the Interest of the United States” and “the safety and protection of the inhabitants of all the Middle States of this Union.” Soldiers, ammunition, and stores used the road to reach the Mount. On the night of July 5 and 6, 1777, as the British invaded the lake, American forces withdrew from Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga along the road, engaging the British at the Battle of Hubbardton on July 7. [Read more…] about Touring A Revolutionary War Military Road By Car
Mount Independence is located in Vermont, just across Lake Champlain from Fort Ticonderoga, for which it was a critical base of operations. It can easily be reached by the Ticonderoga Ferry, and offers a great way to hike into history.
“The Mount” was built in 1776 and 1777 by the Continental Army following their capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. A bridge was built to connect the cantonment on Mount Independence (and the road to Castleton) to Fort Ticonderoga on the New York side of the lake. Over 400 yards long, with more than 20 piers with 12 foot wide floating pontoons between them, the bridge allowed troops camped at Mount Independence easy access to the Fort Ticonderoga. [Read more…] about Hike Into History At Mount Independence
Since 2016 the Green Mountain Boys Project have been researching the celebrated military unit, which lived and served along what was then the New York and New Hampshire border (in modern day Vermont) from the 1760s until 1779.
The Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen and his brother Ira, controlled the area of disputed land grants. Based at a tavern in Bennington, they evaded arrest warrants from New York State and harassed settlers from New York, surveyors, and other officials, often with severe beatings and destruction of their belongings. [Read more…] about Green Mountain Boys in the American Revolution
The Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont (near the New York border) is set to host a book discussion and learning program on Christopher Wren’s book, Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution, on Saturday, June 8th. [Read more…] about ‘Turbulent Sons of Freedom’ Discussion at Mt. Independence
The Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Sites in Vermont on the east side of Lake Champlain are set to open for the 2019 season on Saturday, May 25, at 10 am. These sites also host a variety of programs, exhibits, lectures, nature and history tours, and more. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Area VT State Historic Sites Opening
The Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont, opposite Ticonderoga, is set to host a pre-opening day guided history walk on Sunday, May 5th from 1 to 4 pm.
Revolutionary War expert Mike Barbieri, Mount Independence Coalition president Stephen Zeoli, and site administrator Elsa Gilbertson will lead a walk on and off the trails to explore this Revolutionary War site. The focus will be on the camps and brigade layouts here in 1776-77. [Read more…] about Guided History Hike at Mount Independence
Mount Independence in Orwell Vermont is set to host “Muster at the Mount: A Day of Revolutionary Discovery” on Saturday, October 20th, from 10:30 am to 4 pm. The day explores the story of Mount Independence with a wide variety of presentations and presenters.
The day’s offerings will include historians, archaeologists, reenactors, and others giving illustrated talks, an interpretive tour of a major archaeological feature, viewing and interpreting artifacts, an interview with historical personages, a hands-on demonstration, and the latest report of 2017 geospatial mapping project using remote sensing and traditional survey. [Read more…] about Muster at Mount Independence: Special History Program
On Sunday, September 30, 2018, the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont, is set to host a talk by living historian Robert Grandchamp on the British 24th Regiment of Foot and their role in the Northern Campaign of the American Revolution. The talk, with a question and answer period, will run from 1 to 2:30 pm, and is included with regular admission ($5 adults/free under 15). [Read more…] about British Infantry Talk at Mount Independence, VT Sunday
Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont is set to hold their annual Soldiers Atop the Mount living history weekend on September 8th and 9th, 2018.
Reenactors and those interested in history gather to engage the public with a full scale event that honors the massive Revolutionary War fortification built and occupied first by the Americans and then British and Germans during the 1776-77 Northern Campaign of the American Revolution. [Read more…] about Revolutionary War Weekend At Mt. Independence
The summer season starts for Vermont’s Champlain Region State Historic Site on Saturday, May 27, 2017, with the opening of the Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Sites at 9:30 am. [Read more…] about Vermont’s Champlain Region State Historic Sites Open May 27th
The public is invited to take a once-ever packaged tour, on Saturday, September 12, 2015, of Champlain lake shore sites where five military forts were built between 238 and 325 years ago.
Historians will lead guests on a tour of the archaeological sites of two early forts (1660, 1731) at Chimney Point in Addison, Vermont; the ruins of two forts (1734, 1759) in Crown Point, New York; and a Revolution War fort site (1776) in Orwell, Vermont. [Read more…] about ‘Five Formidable Forts’ Tour Set For September
August 16th is a Vermont State Holiday commemorating Bennington Battle Day and the victory over the British on August 16, 1777. To celebrate this Revolutionary War victory, admission to all the state-owned historic sites will be free on Saturday, August 16, 2014.
Pack the picnic basket, grab the kids, invite your friends and neighbors, and head out to enjoy the great Vermont summer at any of the state-owned historic sites. [Read more…] about Free Day At Vermont Owned Historic Sites
The Memorial Day weekend brings the start of the 2014 season at the Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Sites. The sites open on Saturday, May 24, at 9:30 a.m. and starting at 8:00 a.m. is the annual Early Bird Nature Walk at Mount Independence.
These sites preserve and present Vermont’s significant history in their museums and on their historic grounds. There are also State Historic Sites on the New York State side of Lake Champlain, but they almost never issue announcements to the press. [Read more…] about Champlain Region VT State Historic Sites Opening
On Saturday, October 20, at 1:00 p.m., historian Douglas Cubbison will present a program at the Mount Independence State Historic Site just across Lake Champlain in Orwell, VT on Burgoyne and the 1777 Saratoga Campaign of the American Revolution. The event, the annual Robert J. Maguire lecture, is offered by the Mount Independence Coalition.
Cubbison, who lives in Mission, Kansas, has done extensive research on Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne, and his book, Burgoyne and the Saratoga Campaign: His Papers, was published this June by the University of Oklahoma Press. The book includes an extensive introduction to the subject and many of Burgoyne’s papers, previously unpublished. Burgoyne had gathered these papers m for his defense when parliament was looking into his conduct during the northern campaign in 1777. [Read more…] about John Burgoyne Lecture at Mount Independence
The Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Sites have opened for the 2012 season. The Chimney Point State Historic Site on Lake Champlain in Addison has reopened to the public after two years of closure due to the Lake Champlain Bridge construction project. This location is one of the most strategic on the Lake, important to Native Americans, the early French, and early American settlement. [Read more…] about Chimney Point Historic Site Reopens
On Saturday, October 22, at 1:00 p.m., author Neil Godwin comes to the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell to talk about the subject of his acclaimed book, We Go as Captives: The Royalton Raid and the Shadow War on the Revolutionary Frontier, published last year by the Vermont Historical Society. [Read more…] about Neil Godwin Speaks at Mount Independence
Journey way back to the ancient past, before the invention of the bow and arrow, to experience how people the world over hunted big game by coming to the 16th Annual Northeast Open Atlatl Championship September 17 and 18, 2011, beginning at 10:30 AM on Saturday and 10:00 on Sunday, at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont.
The competition is based on the ancient hunting technique of using an atlatl (spear thrower). Atlatlists of all skill levels are welcome. Demonstrations of flint knapping, bow making, hafting stone points, fletching atlatl darts, cordage making with natural materials, and other aspects of Native American life will take place on Saturday. Food will be available. [Read more…] about Atlatl Championship at Mount Independence
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