Acquisition in partnership with Open Space Institute ensures this
National Historic Landmark will be forever protected
The Fort Ticonderoga Association today announced that it has acquired 47 acres on the east face of Mount Defiance, ensuring the entire historically important mountain will be forever protected. The acquisition was made possible through the partnership with the Open Space Institute (OSI) which provided a $46,000 grant for the purchase and related expenses.
“Fort Ticonderoga has a long history of land conservation and historic preservation dating back to 1820 when William Ferris Pell purchased the garrison grounds and placed a fence around the fort ruins marking the earliest act of preservation by a private individual in America,” said Beth L. Hill, Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO. “This recent acquisition is an important addition to our 2000-acre historic campus and will preserve the historic land and its natural beauty forever.”
“Fort Ticonderoga is one of New York’s most valuable historic resources, connecting families to a priceless heritage. OSI is proud to have helped protect this significant, storied, and visually stunning area,” said Kim Elliman, OSI’s President and CEO.
Mount Defiance is one of Fort Ticonderoga’s most important historic features and provides more than 75,000 visitors the opportunity to visualize and understand why Ticonderoga was the key to the continent in the 18th century. Best known historically for its role in the British capture of Ticonderoga in 1777, the mountain was utilized in some degree by every army who occupied Ticonderoga. Today, the summit of Mount Defiance is part of the Fort Ticonderoga experience, offering a unique vantage point of the epic military landscape as visitors discover how this mountain shaped America’s history.
About the Open Space Institute
The Open Space Institute protects scenic, natural and historic landscapes to provide public enjoyment, conserve habitat and working lands and sustain communities. Founded in 1974 to protect significant landscapes in New York State, OSI has been a partner in the protection of nearly 2.2 million acres in North America. A leader in environmental conservation, OSI leverages their knowledge and attracts resources for strategic investments to make innovative land conservation happen. Visit OSI online at www.openspaceinstitute.org
Fort Ticonderoga: America’s Fort™
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October.
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.
Photo: View of Mt. Defiance from Fort Ticonderoga. Credit: Fort Ticonderoga