View of the Ruins of Ticonderoga Forts on Lake Champlain
The earliest-known published image of the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga is View of the Ruins of Ticonderoga Forts on Lake Champlain, a line engraving by Gideon Fairman after a sketch by Hugh Reinagle published in Analectic Magazine, Philadelphia, vol. II, no. 4 (April 1818), frontispiece, opp. p. 273. Artist Hugh Reinagle (ca. 1788-1834) probably visited the […]
New Featured Annual: Bupleurum
There’s always something new in the gardens at Fort Ticonderoga. The Discovery Gardens located just outside the walled formal garden are the perfect place to experiment with plants that are not the usual garden center fare. One example is Bupleurum, commonly called Thoroughwax or Hare’s ear. It’s striking chartreuse flower color is reminiscent of Lady’s […]
Grow a Salad Quilt
It’s a real treat to make a trip to the garden with basket in hand to pick fresh greens for a salad. I like to pick enough for just a day or two at a time so the greens are as crisp as possible. Are you planning to grow vegetables this season? Here’s an idea from the King’s Garden that […]
Of Love, Duty, and Affection
Our team spends a lot of time talking about the power of Fort Ticonderoga’s stories. Fort Ticonderoga’s history is epic and pivotal in the French & Indian War and American Revolution. It was the key to the continent. It is also the site of landmark preservation and heritage tourism in the 19th century and monumental restoration […]
Making History “Real”
Monday, September 16, 1776, breaks at Ticonderoga with a hint of the cold weather yet to come, and the fortifications at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence are draped in the “Thick Fogs, that are peculiar at this place.” Thus another day dawns for the Continental Army’s Northern Department on the shores of Lake Champlain. Dr. Lewis […]
Earthen Remains of 1776
In creating living history programs based on diaries, letters, artifacts, and other documentation one can sometimes be left feeling that it’s a story, somehow detached from reality from so long ago. This upcoming season’s focus on 1776 and the Fourth PA battalion offers the wonderful nexus of visual and written sources with surviving earthworks 238 […]
Plants That Had People Talking
Here are a few of the plants that caused a real buzz this year in the King’s Garden. All are listed on the historic garden plan, yet are used in alternate locations so that the best results could be achieved, while still representing the designer’s selections within the walled garden. Mask flower: Third time is […]
Daniel Dwight’s Powder Horn
One of the most interesting genres of American art that survives from 18th century America is the engraved powder horn. Horns fashioned for carrying gunpowder were supplied to military troops in both the French & Indian War and American Revolution. Soldiers often engraved or carved designs on their horns, perhaps as a way of memorializing […]
A Brief 1776 Preview
As part of our year by year approach to tackling the immense story of Fort Ticonderoga, in 2014 the Department of Interpretation will be highlighting the year 1776. Fort staff will be portraying the 4th Pennsylvania Battalion who garrisoned Ticonderoga in that year. In the spring of 1776, Colonel Anthony Wayne’s 4th Pennsylvania Battalion had […]
Dendrochronology: Using Tree Rings to Answer Questions about the Pavilion’s Past
In the summer of 2013 with support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Fort Ticonderoga began an in-depth study of the structural history of the Pavilion. Oral history tells us that the Pavilion was built in 1826 by William Ferris Pell and occupied by his family until about 1840. From the early 1840s through […]