![Chimney Point, Vermont](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Chimney_Point%2C_Vermont.JPG)
Chimney Point is a peninsula in the town of
Addison, Vermont
Addison is a town in Addison County, Vermont, Addison County, Vermont, United States. It was founded October 14, 1761. The population was 1,365 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
History
Addison was chartered on October 14, 1761. Ben ...
, which juts into
Lake Champlain
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, caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed
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, location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada
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forming a narrows. It is one of the earliest settled and most strategic sites in the Champlain Valley.
For thousands of years, the locale was occupied by Native Americans. In 1731 it was settled by the French, who built fortifications and houses on both sides of the lake.
Along with the
Crown Point peninsula across the narrows, the area was the site of conflicts between Great Britain and France as they struggled for control of North America. During the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Chimney Point was occupied at different times by both the American and British armies.
With the end of the war in 1783, American settlers returned to the Champlain Valley. In 1785, regular ferry service across the lake was established to and from Chimney Point. A tavern, once visited by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, served travelers and the community.
In 1929, the first
Lake Champlain Bridge opened. It increased traffic and improved communication between Vermont and upstate New York. Following the discovery of deterioration in the piers in 2009, that bridge was demolished and replaced by a new bridge, which opened in 2011.
Chimney Point is a Vermont State Historic Site, preserving a 1785 tavern and presenting the story of three cultures, Native American, French Colonial, and early-American.
Geography
The Chimney Point peninsula is bounded by Lake Champlain and Hospital Creek. At its narrowest, Lake Champlain is about across at Chimney Point. The Lake Champlain Bridge is one of only two bridges across the lake in its length of .
The spot is a favorite with anglers. A boat launch at Chimney Point allows access to the lake.
History
Indigenous peoples
Archeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the Chimney Point area for as long as 7,500 years. Native Americans camped, hunted, and fished at Chimney Point. Their tools show they adapted to a warming climate and moved with the seasons to hunt, fish, and gather food. They made spear throwers and stone spear points for hunting animals, and stone tools for cutting, scraping, and working wood and other stone. In the Woodland period, the native peoples made ceramic pots for storage of foodstuff, water, and use with foods and produce.
French settlement
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
was the first European to explore the lake that settlers later named for him. In 1609 he traveled at least as far south as present-day
Ticonderoga, from Chimney Point.
There were years of conflict between the French and English in North America as they competed for power, territory, and the fur trade.
King William's War
King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...
continued with actions from 1688 to 1697 as the North American front of the
Nine Years War
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
in Europe. With sparse numbers of colonists, both sides made allies among Native American peoples to aid them in their warfare.
In 1690, the British governor of New York sent Captain Jacobus de Warm from Albany with orders to watch the French and Indians from Canada on Lake Champlain and to “endeavor to despoil, plunder and do them all injury as enemies, according to the usages of war.” De Warm built a small stone defense at Chimney Point that he, 12 soldiers, and 20
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
allies occupied for about a month.
![Gilles Hocquart 1694-1783](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Gilles_Hocquart_1694-1783.jpg)
In 1731, the French occupied the area, first building a stockade fort on the bluff at Pointe-à-la-Chevelure, today's Chimney Point. In 1734 or 1735, they began construction on the stone
Fort St. Frédéric
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
on the west side of the lake. At first both sides were considered part of a single royal ''domaine'' with
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
as ''seigneur''.
In 1743,
Gilles Hocquart
Gilles Hocquart was born in 1694, in Sainte-Croix, Mortagne-au-Perche to Jean-Hyacinthe Hocquart. From September, 1729 to August, 1748, Hocquart served as Intendant of New France, history. Hocquart put his faith in the Canadian bourgeoisie as the ...
, Intendant of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
, was granted a ''seigneurie'' of approximately on the east shore of the lake, much of today's
Addison County
Addison County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 37,363. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Middlebury (town), Vermont, Middle ...
. French settlement on Lake Champlain was both military and agricultural with farms on both sides of the lake. The population of settlers at Pointe-à-la-Chevelure peaked at the beginning of the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(1754–1763), at approximately 150 with 21 houses on the east side of the lake and 19 on the west.
French and Indian War
The French settlement at Pointe-à-la-Chevelure was close to major fighting in the French and Indian War, which took place at the southern end of
Lake George (Lac du Saint-Sacrement) and at Fort Ticonderoga (Carillon).
When Major
Robert Rogers Robert Rogers may refer to:
Politics
* Robert Rogers (Irish politician) (died 1719), Irish politician, MP for Cork City 1692–1699
*Robert Rogers (Manitoba politician) (1864–1936), Canadian politician
* Robert Rogers, Baron Lisvane (born 1950), ...
, commander of the provincial ranger forces, scouted Fort St. Frédéric in early May 1756, he found settlements on the west side of the lake largely abandoned and was able to observe the fort from across the lake. The party slaughtered 23 head of cattle before returning to
Fort William Henry
Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George, in the province of New York. The fort's construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755, during the French and Indian War, as a staging ground for ...
on Lake George.
In the summer of 1759, as British Major General
Jeffery Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...
and his army of 12,000 men seized Ticonderoga, the French retreated north to Canada, blowing up Fort St. Frédéric and burning houses on both sides of the lake. A remaining chimney on the east shore gave the area its new English name, Chimney Point.
![A section of a 1779 map of Lake Champlain showing Chimney Point and Crown Point](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/A_section_of_a_1779_map_of_Lake_Champlain_showing_Chimney_Point_and_Crown_Point.png)
On the west side of the lake, the British built massive Fort Crown Point with forty-foot-high walls and a six-acre parade ground, but it was destroyed by fire in 1773. When a British engineer inspected the fort in 1774, he found it to be “an amazing useless mass of Earth only.”
American Revolutionary War
During the American Revolution, Chimney Point's fate was closely tied to that of Crown Point. A small British garrison at Crown Point was captured by Americans under Captain
Seth Warner
Seth Warner (May 17, 1743 – December 26, 1784) was an American soldier. He was a Revolutionary War officer from Vermont who rose to rank of Continental colonel and was often given the duties of a brigade commander. He is best known for his l ...
on May 11, 1775. For nearly a year-and-a-half afterwards, the narrows was an important base for the American army and for their vessels of war on the lake. Headquarters was on the west side of the lake, but Chimney Point was occupied as well. During the American retreat from Canada in June and early July 1776, sick men were cared for on both sides of the lake.
On July 7, 1776, a council of generals presided over by Major General
Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler (; November 18, 1804) was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.
Born in Alba ...
, commander of the Northern Department, ordered the army to withdraw from Crown Point and to fortify a peninsula opposite Fort Ticonderoga, later named
Mount Independence. Among reasons for the withdrawal, Schuyler believed that American fortifications on the Crown Point side of the lake would be vulnerable to cannon fire from Chimney Point.
Until the defeat of the American fleet at the
Battle of Valcour Island
The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and ...
, the Crown Point-Chimney Point narrows remained an advanced outpost and naval base. With the approach of the British on October 13, 1776, the Americans destroyed defenses and buildings. Settlers on both sides of the lake fled south, leaving, wrote one observer, their houses and all their possessions “to the enemy, or to the flames.”
The British under Governor General
Guy Carleton occupied the area from mid-October to early November 1776. Lieutenant General
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several batt ...
and his army of 8000 men returned to Crown Point briefly in late June 1777 before continuing south to Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. German troops from the Duchy of Brunswick under command of Major General
Friedrich Adolf Riedesel
Freiherr Friedrich Adolf Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach (3 June 1738 in Lauterbach/Hesse – 6 January 1800 in Braunschweig) was a German officer who served in the Seven Years' War and American War of Independence. He was the commander of ...
camped at Chimney Point. For the rest of the war, Chimney Point was a no man's land on a lake controlled by the British navy.
Ferries and steamboats
With the end of the Revolutionary War in the mid-1780s, Benjamin Paine built a tavern at Chimney Point and began a ferry service across the lake. By 1826, the ferry was powered by horses and made scheduled crossings to the town of
Port Henry
Port Henry is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2010 census.
Port Henry lies on the eastern side of the town of Moriah and is approximately one hour's drive (52 miles ...
, about 3 miles away. The tavern was later enclosed in brick by Asahel Barnes, whose family acquired it in 1821.
[ with ]
In 1890, a steam ferry, the ''G.R. Sherman'' made the crossings on a greatly expanded schedule. Also in the 1890s, Millard Barnes enlarged the tavern and operated it as a summer resort, the St. Frederic Inn.
Chimney Point was a stop for passenger steamboats that traveled the lake.
Bridges
![Champlain bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Champlain_bridge.JPG)
The first Lake Champlain Bridge connecting Chimney Point and Crown Point was built from June 1928 to August 1929. It was dedicated on August 29, 1929, with 40,000 people in attendance. Vermont Governor John E. Weeks and New York Governor
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, three years before his election as president, met at the center of the bridge. For 80 years, the bridge was a crucial link in the life and economy of the Champlain Valley, promoting tourism and tying the two sides of the lake together commercially and socially.
The bridge closed with almost no warning on October 16, 2009, after New York inspectors discovered serious deterioration of the piers. The bridge was demolished two months later. Ferry service reopened early in 2010, carrying more than 1.5 million vehicles and 2.6 passengers across the Chimney Point-Crown Point narrows.
![Vermont State Route 17, Lake Champlain Bridge 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Vermont_State_Route_17%2C_Lake_Champlain_Bridge_1.jpg)
Archeologists from the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
surveyed the area and worked with engineers and construction crews to protect historically significant sites. Numerous discoveries were made at Chimney Point, include the location of the 1731 French Fort and the foundation of the chimney that likely gave the peninsula its name. A new
Lake Champlain Bridge, designed by Ted Zoli of the engineering firm HNTB, was constructed in two years, opening on November 8, 2011. Although the new bridge utilizes a different structural design, its central arch recreates the graceful lines of the earlier bridge. The new bridge has bicycle lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians.
Notable visitors
![Thomas-Jefferson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Thomas-Jefferson.jpg)
![James Madison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/James_Madison.jpg)
Noted Swedish-Finnish explorer and naturalist
Pehr (Peter) Kalm visited the French settlement at Pointe-à-la-Chevelure in July 1749, staying more than two weeks. In the third volume of his ''Travels into North America'', he included detailed descriptions of the lives of soldiers, the houses at the settlement, Fort St. Frédéric, the wind-mill, and the plants, animals, and minerals of the area.
In 1791, future presidents
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, then Secretary of State, and Congressman
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
, accompanied by slaves
James Hemings
James Hemings (17651801) was the first American to train as a chef in France. He was African American and born in Virginia in 1765. At 8 years old, he was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson .
He was an older brother of Sally Hemings and a half-sibl ...
and Matthew, toured upstate New York and eastern New England. On the night May 31, the party stayed in the tavern at Chimney Point. Madison observed, “On Crown point is one family only. On the opposite side the country is well inhabited.”
Chimney Point in popular culture
![Daniel Pierce Thompson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Daniel_Pierce_Thompson.jpg)
A tavern at Chimney Point was featured in the popular 1839 romance, ''The Green Mountain Boys: A Historical Tale of the Early Settlement of Vermont'' by
Daniel Pierce Thompson
Daniel Pierce Thompson (October 1, 1795 – June 6, 1868) was an American author and lawyer who served as Vermont Secretary of State and was New England's most famous novelist prior to Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Early life
Daniel P. Thompson was ...
. In the novel, which Thompson claimed was based upon "incidents which actually occurred,"
Green Mountain Boys
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...
leaders
Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...
and Charles Warrington (a fictionalized
Seth Warner
Seth Warner (May 17, 1743 – December 26, 1784) was an American soldier. He was a Revolutionary War officer from Vermont who rose to rank of Continental colonel and was often given the duties of a brigade commander. He is best known for his l ...
) engage in a drinking contest with British soldiers in order to escape capture. Millard Barnes, owner of the St. Frederic Inn, claimed that the tavern in the inn was the location of the legendary drinking bout. In fact, the tavern was built in the mid-1780s, a decade after the exploits of the Green Mountain Boys.
The original Lake Champlain Bridge, although unidentified, played a prominent part in the 2000 supernatural thriller ''
What Lies Beneath
''What Lies Beneath'' is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple who live in a haunted house. It was the first film by Zemeckis' production company ...
'', directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. In the film, the ghost of a murdered university student lies in the water beneath the bridge.
Chimney Point State Historic Site
In 1966, the State of Vermont bought the Chimney Point property to protect it from private development. In 1971, it was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
for its long and significant history. The state restored the tavern, and in 1991 reopened it as a museum. It has one of the most intact early tap rooms as well as a historic rural post office.
Exhibits and special events present the story of the three early cultures in the Chimney Point area — prehistoric and historic Native American, French colonial, and early American after the Revolutionary War.
![Chimney point atlatl competition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Chimney_point_atlatl_competition.jpg)
The park hosts the annual Northeast Open Atlatl Championship and workshops on Native American techniques of atlatl and dart construction, flint knapping, hafting stone points, and cordage making.
Chimney Point Historic Site and
Crown Point State Historic Site
Crown Point State Historic Site is the site of a former military stronghold at the south end of the wider part of Lake Champlain. The location is in Essex County, New York, United States. The site is on a peninsula in the town of Crown Point, Ne ...
across the lake in New York cooperate closely on promoting the historic significance of the area and often jointly sponsor events. Visitors can walk across the Lake Champlain Bridge from one site to the other.
The museum at the Chimney Point Historic Site is open from late May through Columbus Day.
See also
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References
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External links
Chimney Point State Historic Site The Crown Point Road Association
{{authority control
Vermont State Historic Sites
Unincorporated communities in Vermont
Unincorporated communities in Addison County, Vermont
Addison, Vermont
National Register of Historic Places in Addison County, Vermont