WE ARE IN WINTER QUARTERS!
Although we are not open for daily programs, November 2022-April 2023, become immersed in special living history events, engaging seminars, behind-the-scenes VIP Tours, virtual programming, and hands-on workshops on select days.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance will open for Tues-Sun visitation starting May 6, 2023!
The Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium
The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga presents the Eleventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium on Saturday, April 1, 2023. This program features practical strategies for expanding and improving your garden and landscape. We invite you to join us, whether you are an experienced gardener or you are just getting started, for helpful insights from garden experts who live and garden in northern climates.
See What's Happening at Ticonderoga All Upcoming Events
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April
1
Eleventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium
The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga presents the Eleventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium on Saturday, April 1, 2023. This program features practical strategies for expanding and improving your garden […]
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April
16
Virtual Author Series featuring Jim McIntyre
The Fort Ticonderoga Author Series features presentations by authors of books related to Fort Ticonderoga’s history. Most histories of the American War of Independence discuss what are usually regarded as the two major campaigns […]
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April
19
Virtual Fort Fever Series: “Building British Ticonderoga”
The Fort Ticonderoga Fort Fever Series features presentations by Fort Ticonderoga staff. From barracks, boats, blockhouses and more, explore the many construction projects that transformed a destroyed French fort into […]
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Exciting artifact news this week! This newly cataloged plate rim fragment with the text “Success to the” was found during survey work in 1998 and is likely from the same plate as a fragment found during the early 20th century restoration that says “and His Forces”. The whole plate rim would have read “Success to the King of Prussia and His Forces”, and dates to the British and Prussian alliance during the Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War. You’ll be able to learn more about Prussia’s role in the end of the Seven Years’ War and see this new artifact in our upcoming exhibit “Success: The End of the Seven Years’ War”! #TiconderogaCollections #FortTiconderoga #Archaeology #archaeology #artifact #britain #prussia #plate #foodways #18thcentury #sevenyearswar #frenchandindianwar
Mar 22
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Fort Ticonderoga opens for the daily visitation season starting May 6th!
Hailed as the premier living history site in North America, Fort Ticonderoga’s staff brings history to life every day! This year, join us Tuesday-Sunday to see the unfolding story as British soldiers and American provincials prepare on land and on Lake Champlain for their last campaign into the heart of French Canada!
Ticonderoga’s epic history and signature stories are highlighted through innovative storytelling on a grand scale featuring historic trades, daily soldiers’ life programs, thrilling weapons demonstrations, endless outdoor activities, and captivating special events. Enhance your Ticonderoga experience with a narrated boat cruise on Lake Champlain late May-early October.
Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance are open Tuesday-Sunday May 6-October 29, 2023 from 10am-5pm (last entry 4:30pm).
More information on daily programming, special events, boat cruises, and premium experiences can be found by clicking the link in our bio www.fortticonderoga.org
Mar 22
Fort Ticonderoga has been awarded a $10,000 Regrowth and Capacity Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
The grant funds will provide support to Fort Ticonderoga to broaden visitor accessibility both digitally as well as on-site with increased and improved wayfinding. Fort Ticonderoga is partnering with New York University (NYU) and Brawn Media to develop an improved visitor experience for all.
Continue reading by clicking the link in our bio https://www.fortticonderoga.org/news/fort-ticonderoga-receives-funding-to-enhance-visitor-experience-for-all-funding-made-possible-by-the-new-york-state-council-on-the-arts-nysca/
Photo credit: Carl Heilman II, copyright Fort Ticonderoga
Mar 21
Happy #ManuscriptMonday! In previous posts, you’ve seen some photography setups used by the Collections department to photograph objects of all shapes and sizes. Today we’re taking a deeper dive into some tools of the trade that come in handy when photographing manuscripts. While the word “manuscript” may call to mind an unpublished draft of an author’s work, the definition used in an archives is a document that is handwritten (or typewritten) rather than printed. A manuscript can be a small scrap of paper used as a receipt, a large and extravagantly calligraphic military commission, a bound journal, or anything in between. Fort Ticonderoga’s archives also contain materials other than manuscripts, such as broadsides or maps. To catalog this material, staff must photograph objects ranging from tiny to huge that present a variety of challenges. Some documents are worn and fragile; some have been folded for long enough that they no longer lie flat; bound documents tend to flip shut on their own and can be harmed by too much pressure on their spine. The items seen in these photos help Ticonderoga’s catalogers deal with those challenges. Our adjustable copystand column lets us position our camera at different heights, allowing us to get in close to tiny documents and position the camera so that large documents can be captured in a single photo. For fragile manuscripts, a microspatula (the small silver object) can be used to gently turn pages and make precise adjustments. If items will not lie flat, their corners can be held down with small squares of transparent acrylic or with a book snake (a cotton-covered weighted tube) to coax them into alignment with the camera. For more stubborn creases or for bound documents, we use a book holder, a device with a panel of glass that can be adjusted to the correct height and lowered onto a document, holding it open and in plane. To prevent any damage to delicate spines, foam blocks of different thicknesses are used to support either or both sides of the document.
Documents photographed with these tools can be seen in our database, link in bio: https://fortticonderoga.pastperfectonline.com/Archive #TiconderogaCollections
Mar 20
This Wednesday, March 22 at 7 pm ET, join Fort Ticonderoga Collections Manager Tabitha Hubbard as she highlights the incredible work being undertaken by museum staff to document, preserve, and make accessible Ticonderoga’s world-class archival collection during a new Fort Fever Program.
Fort Ticonderoga is currently cataloging, inventorying, and rehousing the museum’s manuscript collections. Along the way, we are rediscovering hundreds of documents that tell the stories of the people who were here at Ticonderoga.
Attendees at this Fort Fever presentation will be able to see manuscripts that have never been on display or have been in museum storage for decades and learn more about the transformative collections management work we are accomplishing here at the museum. Participants will also learn how to use the Ticonderoga Collections Online database to be able to conduct their own research from home.
The project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
There is still time to register by clicking the link in our bio! https://www.fortticonderoga.org/event/virtual-fort-fever-series-documenting-preserving-and-make-accessible-ticonderogas-archives/
Mar 19
Everyone seems to be talking about hoops this month! Fort Ticonderoga`s collections include this copper barrel hoop found on Rogers Island. The hoop is marked with a Broad Arrow indicating that it was British military property. Powder barrels typically used bands of thin wood or copper to prevent sparks, eliminating the danger of an accidental explosion.
Check out the record and additional photos on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database through the link in bio! #TiconderogaCollections #Marchmadness #hoop #archaeology #NewYork #FortTiconderoga #museum #copper #England #Britain
https://fortticonderoga.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/A93B3FEF-99F0-47BE-B7E4-538547947500
Mar 18
This platter rim fragment was recovered in the 2006 Northeast Bastion excavations as part of work prior to the building of the Mars Education Center and recently cataloged by Jaron from @castletonedu Made in the mid-18th century in France, likely in Rouen, this platter once featured alternating blue, black, and white stripe designs with leaf-like ornamentations on the rim. It is also possible that the center of the platter was decorated with a floral pattern. During the French’s occupation at Ticonderoga from 1755 to 1759, this platter was used by officers while dining. Take a look at other French ceramics found at Fort Ticonderoga through the Ticonderoga Online Collections database through the link in bio! This project was made possible by the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation. #TiconderogaCollections #FindsFriday #fortticonderoga #archaeology #artifact #catalog #internship #French #ceramics
https://fortticonderoga.pastperfectonline.com/Search?search_criteria=faience&onlyimages=false
Mar 17
What could be better for St. Patrick’s Day than the most Irish uniform in our collection!
This is the only known surviving uniform of the Montgomery Guards, an Irish-American militia company formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1837. The company was named after the Irish-born General Richard Montgomery, the highest-ranking Continental officer killed in the Revolutionary War. Incidentally, it was Montgomery’s forces that captured many of the cannon Henry Knox would later transport to the American lines, prompting the British to evacuate Boston, and establishing Boston’s other March 17th holiday, Evacuation Day.
The Irish contribution to Henry Knox’s expedition was not considered by many Bostonians and the Montgomery Guards became the target of angry protests by nativist militia companies leading to a near riot in the streets of Boston. The company was disbanded just months later, ending this attempt to claim the benefits of American citizenship.
The uniform of the Montgomery Guards is on display through 2023 in our exhibit “A Well Regulated Militia: Citizen, Solder, and State."
Read the full blog by visiting the link in our bio https://www.fortticonderoga.org/news/legacies-of-march-17th-bostons-twin-holidays-and-american-identity/
Mar 17
Mick and Mack, Fort Ticonderoga`s oxen, say it is March, but "mooooo" snow is on its way today at Ticonderoga! Stop by and meet Mick and Mack next time you visit to learn more about how oxen helped support the armies at Ticonderoga in the 18th century! #heritagebreeds #oxen #reddevon #FortTiconderoga #Ticonderoga #fortlife #latewinter #adirondacks #LakeChamplain #March #snow #snowday #workinganimals #Mick #Mack
Mar 14
Happy #ManuscriptMonday! While the most-studied period in Fort Ticonderoga’s history is the period from 1755-1781 when it served as an active military installation, the history of the fort carries on beyond the end of its military service. After 1781, the fortifications fell into ruin, and some of their stone was carried off by locals to use in their buildings, but Ticonderoga retained a near-mythical status in the self-told history of the American people. Its aura of romantic mystery and connection to the struggle for independence drew tourists as early as the end of the eighteenth century. William Ferris Pell, who purchased the fort in 1820 and fenced in the ruins, later turned his summer home, the Pavilion, into a hotel to serve the growing tourist trade. Today’s manuscript, MS.6026, is a letter from one of these tourists, Cyrus Morton. Morton, writing to his sister and brother-in-law on April 26 and 27, 1849, describes a visit to the fort the previous fall. He describes the remaining ruins and their arrangement and even includes a hand-colored diagram (second image) with a curious sense of its architecture. Morton feels a connection between the ruins of the fort and the history that happened there, stating that “our boys have been… Reading the history of Old Eathan Allen’s taking of Tie and it has brought fresh in my memory” his visit to the fort. While the fort brings history to life for him, as it has for many over the years, his actual grasp on that history may be shaky. He describes Mount Defiance as “where Abercromba who came up Lake George… planted his cannon on the hill and took the fort from the French,” a description that conflates three separate events into one inaccurate image of heroism. In reality, General James Abercromby placed no cannons on Mount Defiance in 1758 and failed to capture the fort; no one brought cannons up Mount Defiance until nearly 20 years later, when General John Burgoyne’s British army took the fort from the Americans.
This document can be found on our online database in the link in bio. #TiconderogaCollections #OpeningTheVault https://fortticonderoga.pastperfectonline.com/archive/7F381692-A611-40D7-BA47-804530502732
Mar 13
