Our campsite is near some French and British fort ruins at a narrow spot on the New York side of Lake Champlain where the Champlain Bridge sits. The purpose of Fort St.-Frederic, built by the French in 1734, was to stop British colonization so the French could maintain control of the lake. That worked until 1759 when a British Invasion (during the French and Indian War) was imminent and the French blew up their fort before retreating to Canada. The British moved into the area and immediately built a bigger and better place called Fort Crown Point. This fort had a chimney fire that mostly destroyed it in 1773, and the British left just a few men to guard the ammunition. The Americans captured this ammunition in 1775 and moved it all to Boston to defend the harbor during the Revolutionary War. The fort was no longer needed so it became ruins that were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. The French ruins are delicate and you can’t climb on them, but the British ruins are open for exploration.

The original Lake Champlain Bridge was built in 1929 to connect Crown Point, New York to Chimney Point, Vermont. It cost $1 to cross in the 1930s which would be about $18 now, but collecting tolls ceased in 1987. It was demolished in 2009 with the current bridge opening two years later. I’m sure that bridge closure was a headache for those living here. There are ferry crossings relatively close, but there is not another bridge across this lake until you are way north, about a mile from Canada.

On the Vermont side of the bridge, we visited the 1785 tavern (now a museum) that Thomas Jefferson once visited and commented on the furry ground squirrels that were new to him. The post office which had a really narrow door, was closed during the depression. The early public pay phone with instructions still hangs on the wall. Tony used his phone to measure the upstairs floor tilt at 6%. We also walked to The Bridge restaurant to eat a late lunch and had the most amazing home fries along with our quesadilla and veggie burger. This restaurant has a wall of snarky signs that are fun to read while you wait for your food. I’m pointing to the one that says, “sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out”. That is absolutely true:)

The Crown Point Campground also has a former 1858 lighthouse that has been made over (1912) into a memorial to Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who named the lake after himself. There is also a very large pier that was built to accommodate steamboats. The statues on the lake-side are of Champlain, his hired help, and a Huron guide. The smaller sculpture below these is by Auguste Rodin, a gift from the French government to the project for honoring one of their explorers.