Category: Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga’s Pavilion is located on the shore of Lake Champlain below the Fort.

A very historic building lies on the grounds of Fort Ticonderoga that many people don’t know anything about. Located below the Fort, on the shore of Lake Champlain, stands the Pavilion. It was built as a summer home in 1826 by William Ferris Pell. He and his family occupied it through the 1830s.

By 1840 the house had begun to be used as a hotel, its primary function through 1900. As a hotel the house welcomed travelers passing through Ticonderoga while traveling by steamboat on Lake George and Lake Champlain. The hotel is known to have accommodated such guests as Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln; the prominent French & Indian War historian, Francis Parkman; and prolific Adirondack photographer, Seneca Ray Stoddard. When William Ferris Pell’s great-grandson, Stephen H.P. and his wife Sarah G.T. Pell began the restoration of Fort Ticonderoga in 1909, they simultaneously undertook the restoration of the Pavilion and used the house as a summer residence for many years. After Stephen Pell’s death in 1950 his son John occupied the house until 1987.

The design phase for Fort Ticonderoga’s Pavilion, is now underway thanks to a grant from the New York Council on the Arts and generous individual donor support. John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC, a leading consultant in the field of historic preservation architecture, has been hired to prepare schematic design and design development documents for the historic home located on Fort Ticonderoga property. The documents will allow Fort Ticonderoga to move forward with the stabilization and complete restoration of this nationally significant building as part of their overall site master plan.

Plans for the Pavilion’s reuse include meeting space, hospitality functions, administrative support, dining, and guest services. The Pavilion’s restoration is part of a larger multi-year capital initiative being undertaken by Fort Ticonderoga.

“Fort Ticonderoga is extremely pleased to begin this important project,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO. “As one of the earliest summer homes and hotels in the region, the Pavilion is considered one of the most important historic structures in the Adirondacks. The Pavilion is a critical link spanning nearly two centuries of Fort Ticonderoga’s history encompassing the stories of landmark preservation, the birth of American tourism, and monumental restoration.”

Although much of the Pavilion’s early fabric remains, the building has been altered over the years and today is in poor condition because of decades of little or no maintenance. Interior features have deteriorated along with elements of the building’s exterior. Without stabilization and rehabilitation work, the building would be in jeopardy of being lost, making this project vital and timely.

A team of architects, architectural historians, and building conservators from John G. Waite Associates carried out a thorough investigation of the Pavilion in 2013-2014, to document and understand the current state of the building and identify the various phases of the building’s evolution. Dendrochronology was conducted on timbers in the structure during that time and identified beams dating from the late 17th century, 18th century, and 19th century. The research provided the foundation for future plans of restoration and reuse.

Image of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum’s newest acquisition, one of the very few surviving contemporary images of French regiments that saw service in North America.(Click image to see full-scale.)

Fort Ticonderoga is thrilled to announce the recent acquisition of an important painting of the French military on campaign from the mid-18th century. The work depicts a French regiment camped in hilly terrain of the Italian Piedmont during the final campaigns of the 1740-1748 War of Austrian Succession. This painting is an internationally significant addition to the museum’s collection and an important document of military and material culture during the Ancient Regime with a direct connection to the French soldiers that built and served at Fort Carillon (later named Ticonderoga) during the French and Indian War (1754-1763).

The campaign depicted in the painting involved French forces advancing into Northern Italy. These French troops suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of numerically inferior Piedmontese troops at the Battle of l’Assietta. The Marquis de Montcalm also served during the campaign depicted in the painting, where he was wounded during the battle, his final field command prior to his service in Canada. The painting represents the camp of the Royal Roussillon Regiment, identifiable by their uniforms which follow the January 19, 1747 regulations. This regiment later served and wore the same uniforms at Fort Carillon from 1756-1758, including the climactic battle on July 8, 1758, making this one of the very few surviving contemporary images of French regiments that saw service in North America.

This painting serves not only as a detailed glimpse into a French military encampment, but represents a campaign that may have served as a lesson for the Marquis de Montcalm of how a small, well-entrenched force could defeat a much larger army. The lopsided victory at l’Assietta in 1747 shares some striking similarities with the later battle at Ticonderoga in 1758, including the presence of Montcalm as well as four of the infantry regiments that had fought in Italy, one depicted in this painting.

“The intricate detail of the painting is a remarkable window into daily life in the French military,” said Fort Ticonderoga’s Curator Matthew Keagle. “It illustrates in full color many of the details of camp life depicted in the engravings of military manuals in the Fort Ticonderoga Museum’s library collection. The level of detail allows the identification of numerous examples of objects from soldiers’ muskets to powder horns to eating utensils that match examples recovered archeologically at Fort Ticonderoga.”

Fort Ticonderoga holds one of North America’s premier collections of 18th-century military material culture. This painting adds immensely to the museum’s holding of French material. Exhibits across the museum’s campus contain thousands of objects and tell thousands of stories, narrating the history of Fort Ticonderoga from the military culture of the 18th century to the reconstruction of the fort in the 20th century. The painting will be on display during the museum’s 2016 season in the Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center

Mount Defiance will be open to the public beginning May 23, 2015. Fort Ticonderoga as seen from the summit of Mount Defiance. (Click image to see full-scale.)

Visitors to Fort Ticonderoga and the general public are invited to attend the “Mount Defiance: Witness to History Tour” to observe a birds-eye view of Fort Ticonderoga’s epic military landscape and discover how the summit of Mount Defiance shaped American history. Mount Defiance will be open to the public daily, beginning May 23 through October 18, 2015, from 9:30 am – 5:00 pm (last admittance at 4:30 pm); the “Mount Defiance: Witness to History Tour” will be offered daily at 4 pm. Visitors can either purchase tickets to Mount Defiance as a part of the Fort Ticonderoga package ($2.50 per adult, $1.50 per child), or pay directly at the base of the mountain using an electronic kiosk system ($10 per car). Members of Fort Ticonderoga and Resident Ambassador Pass holders are admitted free of charge and can pick up their Kiosk coin at the admissions booth of Fort Ticonderoga.

“The picnic pavilion located at the summit of Mount Defiance is the perfect spot to relax and enjoy one of America’s most historic landscapes” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga’s President and CEO. “Whether you hike up the mountain in the historic footsteps of General Burgoyne’s troops or make the easy drive up to the top in your car, you’ll savor the spectacular beauty of this remarkable and historic view. A visit to this breathtaking summit is a great way to begin or end your day at Fort Ticonderoga!”

Mount Defiance provides one of the most magnificent views in the northeast. From the summit, visitors can see up and down the Champlain basin, and enjoy an aerial view of Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. It is a grand location for appreciating the great water highway which stretches from Montréal to New York City. For more information call 518-585-2821 or visit www.fortticonderoga.org, click on the “Visit” tab, and select “Mount Defiance” from the drop-down menu.

Fort Ticonderoga’s “Fort Fever Series” on Sunday, February 8, at 2 pm with a presentation by Curator of Collections Matthew Keagle, titled “Beyond Founding Fashion”. Image of 18th-century military apparel, copyright Fort Ticonderoga Museum.

Fort Ticonderoga kicks off its second “Fort Fever Series” with a special guided tour led by the Curator of Collections, Mathew Keagle, to explore Fort Ticonderoga’s collection of military clothing—the largest collection of 18th-century military uniforms in North America. “Beyond Founding Fashion” is a unique opportunity to discover the evolution of military fashion in the decades after the American Revolution. The program takes place on Sunday, February 8 at 2 pm in the Mars Education Center. The cost for the program is $10 per person and will be collected at the door; free for Fort Ticonderoga members.

The program begins with a guided tour of the Founding Fashion exhibit in the Mars Education Center gallery. Get a behind-the-scenes perspective of new research on the uniforms featured in the exhibition, the stories of the men who wore them, and how they fit into the evolution of military clothing. This will be followed by a rare chance to examine additional original garments from the collection not on display. These garments will complete the story of 18th-century military dress and show how military dress evolved from those worn during the Revolutionary War through the early years of the American Republic. Many of these garments and related accessories are one-of-a-kind survivors preserved only in Fort Ticonderoga’s collections.

“With the installation of Founding Fashion in the Mars Education Center, Fort Ticonderoga has finally been able to showcase its excellent collection of 18th-century military uniforms,” said Mathew Keagle, Curator of Collections. “But Founding Fashion is just the beginning; the museum’s collection is much larger—stretching through the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and beyond.”

Founding Fashion: The Diversity of Regularity in 18th-Century Military Clothing Exhibition opened in May of 2014 and runs through November of 2015. The exhibit explores how European military fashion and global commerce influenced American martial appearance throughout the American Revolution. Funding for the Founding Fashion exhibit was made possible in part by the following supporters: Best Western Plus Ticonderoga, D&E Technologies, Glens Falls National Bank, History Channel, Lake George Mirror, National Grid, Ticonderoga Credit Union, and individual donors.