The gate leads to another gate, this time it’s a portal through a brick wall. A long time ago, gardens were often walled to denote boundaries and to protect the plants and other things inside from intruders. This wall reminded my husband of the many walled gardens he saw when he lived in Tehran, Iran.

The flowers inside the garden shimmered in the intense summer sunshine.

A cool alcove against one portion of the wall was a welcome respite from the heat. It is also so beautifully done– I loved it!

The garden is immense and is kept up wonderfully.

As we followed the path and drew nearer to the house at the other end, I realized that the house is in great disrepair and is closed to the public. This is the old Pell home, named The Pavilion. It reminds me of a southern plantation house, not something usually seen in rugged Adirondack country.

I did a little research into the Pell family and their quest to restore the ruined fort to its original splendor. You can read my findings on my post A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga Part 2.

Apparently, the Fort Ticonderoga association wants to restore the home and eventually open it to the public. How wonderful! I hope they are able to do so.

We freely walked the grounds, going around to the front of the house. The place oozes history.

According to the plaques and an historical marker nearby, Samuel de Champlain and his Canadian Indian friends battled the Iroquois tribe that had settled here, in 1609.

I peeked inside the windows. Looks like the house is currently used to store extra supplies for the fort. Oh how I would love to meander the rooms! The house does resemble a southern house, with the floor-to-ceiling windows, large shutters and open, airy rooms. I wonder how difficult it was to keep the house warm in the winter.

Further beyond the house is a marvelous view of Lake Champlain. The green hills of Vermont lie beyond.

The house and grounds are so lovely. I love this style of architecture.

The history of the fallen home reflects the history of her builders.

A wealthy importer from New York City, William Ferris Pell, purchased the land and constructed a summer home nearby, naming it The Pavilion. The elegant house still stands but is in terrible disrepair. The home was abandoned by William Ferris Pell after a tragic accident that killed his eldest son. The story is taken from the official Fort Ticonderoga website:

It was customary for the cannon at The Pavilion to be fired in honor of Pell’s return to The Pavilion at the beginning of spring. In 1839, Pell’s eldest son, 35 year-old Archibald, was killed when the cannon exploded while he fired it to honor his father’s return to Ticonderoga. Pell was so devastated by his son’s death that he never returned to The Pavilion and, according to family legend, died from a broken heart the following year.

Later family members held on to the land and decided to restore the ruins of the old fort behind the house. Construction began in 1909. This was one of the first such historic restoration projects in the United States. Its grand opening was attended by President William Howard Taft on the 300th anniversary of the European discovery of Lake Champlain.

This melancholic plaque hangs above the exit gate on the brick wall leading back to Fort Ticonderoga. It was installed by the woman who built the gardens.

The words are difficult for me to construe. My husband and I worked at it until we think we perceived the words:

“Marvel that the great(?) men
Of the earth prefer to reap
The iron harvest of war
To the rich gifts of Ceres.
-Mrs Montagu

It is a telling testament of human nature. Despite the peaceful delights of the garden, men seem to prefer the “iron harvest” of war. Very sobering in such a sober garden and home.

New visitors are strongly urged to visit the visitor’s hall and view a movie about the fort. Even though we are very familiar with Fort Ticonderoga history and importance in battles, we sat and enjoyed the video. I was especially intrigued with the history of its restoration. You can read about that in my previous post, A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2.

There is SO much to see inside the buildings that I cannot possibly do it justice here. I only highlight what I found interesting, and even then I must condense it. I highly recommend that you visit the Fort, there’s something for everyone there.

Both stories of the buildings are loaded with fort memorabilia and quite a number of breathtaking archaeological finds. I was awed by this: one of the old metal armor breastplates presumably made by the first French soldiers here in the 1750s. The plaque card says the armor was discovered in 1941, built into the wall. Because of its unusual position in the wall construction, archaeologists believe the armor is a votive offering by the French masons, for “good luck.”

There were many such artifacts to be seen:

This blew me away. A piece of her wedding dress?!

A watch key was a small metal device. With it, the watch owner could wind the watch. Amazing!

George Washington had good ol’ snuff. Well, at least the snuff BOX.

I loved this.

There were many, many such engraved powder horns like this. Even Ethan Allen and Philip Schuyler had scrawled on theirs! This is one of Schuyler’s horns given to him from Paul Revere. The engraving is a verse from Proverbs.

Here is Ethan Allen’s powder horn. Ethan Allen is the famed hero of Fort Ticonderoga. He easily took the fort from the British in 1775, confiscating the stores of ammunition for the needy American army.

This is Ethan Allen’s sword. Click the image to go to the Flickr site. From there, you can view larger images.

Ethan Allen’s gun, engraved with his name.

There were quite a few personal artifacts from the Schuyler family. Alexander Hamilton married Eliza Schuyler, daughter of the great general Philip Schuyler from nearby Albany, NY. This is a four-leafed clover in a locket that had belonged to Angelica Schuyler Church, Eliza’s sister and Alexander Hamilton’s good friend.

Angelica’s wax seal. The town “Angelica, NY” in western New York State is named for Angelica Schuyler Church.

Alexander Hamilton’s sword is here!

Rosary beads, probably dating before the British and American ownership of the fort. The Brits and Americans were definitely and overwhelmingly Protestant, so the beads probably belonged to a French occupant.

This is an imposing display. Looks to be a Mohawk Indian. Mohawks were the fiercest of the Iroquois Indian tribes, probably as fierce as the Canadian Hurons.

Interesting chair. Looks to me to be something from the 1890s, perhaps.

Cool bull’s eye glass.

All in all, it was a terrific visit. I really recommend this place, just go see it!

After soaking in the glorious sights and enjoying a musket drill, we entered the interior ring of the fort that once housed the soldiers, their families, and the stuff that made it all tick: ammunition.

The structures that stand here are not original to the colonial and Revolutionary days. After serving faithfully for about 30 years in which it had seen nearly half a dozen attacks and had passed through the hands of France, Britain, and the United States, the fort was abandoned after the American Revolution. Its stones and metal were stripped by local residents for the building of houses and businesses in the local small towns. A renewed interest of the Revolutionary War in the late 19th century brought curious onlookers to the site, but the old fort was merely a ghostly shadow of its former glory.

A wealthy importer from New York City, William Ferris Pell, purchased the land and constructed a summer home nearby, naming it The Pavilion. The elegant house still stands but is in terrible disrepair. The home was abandoned by William Ferris Pell after a tragic accident that killed his eldest son. The story is taken from the official Fort Ticonderoga website:

It was customary for the cannon at The Pavilion to be fired in honor of Pell’s return to The Pavilion at the beginning of spring. In 1839, Pell’s eldest son, 35 year-old Archibald, was killed when the cannon exploded while he fired it to honor his father’s return to Ticonderoga. Pell was so devastated by his son’s death that he never returned to The Pavilion and, according to family legend, died from a broken heart the following year.

The gardens of the house are still beautifully maintained, but the house is in poor shape. The Fort Ticonderoga association hopes to restore the home in the future. We wandered the grounds; I’ll have more about the history of The Pavilion and our visit in another post.

The Pell family, seeing an influx of tourists thanks to the Erie Canal and railroads, decided to restore the old “Stonehenge Ruins of Ticonderoga” into a replica of the fort as it was during the American Revolution. Construction began in 1909. This was one of the first such historic restoration projects in the United States. Its grand opening was attended by President William Howard Taft on the 300th anniversary of the European discovery of Lake Champlain.

Some of the old stonework remains, although we did see some areas blocked off for repairs. I loved wandering the grounds, there were many nooks and crannies to explore.

Ethan Allen wannabees:

“Soldiers” posing for a photo.

After all this exploring, we had yet to venture inside the buildings! SO much to explore! We saw a DVD about the history of the fort, and wandered the halls for over an hour, peering at all the amazing historical artifacts and displays. I’ll have our story about that in the next post A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 3.

We’d visited the Fort Ti grounds once before, sneaking in after the place had closed for the season. We walked the leaf-strewn trails and peeked over the stone walls. We didn’t see any of the interiors of the fort or the buildings, as the places were locked and we didn’t dare intrude that far. We had gotten a healthy taste of the incredible landscape, however, to taunt us for a return visit. Which, I am happy to report, we did this autumn.

After walking through the admission area and gift shop (which is loaded with stuff and I spent a bundle of money in it), you walk down a small hill that faces the south side of the fort, toward the bottom of Lake Champlain and the top of Lake George. The views are simply staggering.

Brigades of cannons line the perimeter of the fort’s stone walls. It’s like strolling through a castle. Actually, in the United States, stone forts are as close as we can get to a castle!

Fort Ticonderoga has the largest collection of cannons in the country. The older ones are very ornate, with inscribed dates, decorations, and sometimes a motto or phrase or the name of the king under whose reign the cannon was built.

The American flag flies here, but the site has seen the French fleur-de-lis and the British Union Jack fly overhead, as well.

A few plaques hint at the history of the fort as we meandered the perimeter of its walls.

Our wonderment was interrupted by a crowd gathering in the green. Two finely dressed soldiers marched to the center and called for attention. A musket drill!

The gentlemen talked about the typical life of the soldier of the fort (for most, musket drills were about as exciting as it got) and a little of the history of the fort. When we got home, the husband did a little more digging into the history of the fort:

During our most recent trip to Fort Ticonderoga, I was struck to learn these facts of it’s history:

This fort was originally built and occupied by the French in 1755, during the French and Indian War*. They called it Fort Carillon. In 1759, it was successfully captured by the British, after their previously failed attempt in 1758. They re-named it Fort Ticonderoga. Being occupied by the British, it was then captured by American revolutionaries in 1775. Then, just over 2 years later in 1777, it was successfully re-captured by the British.

“Wow, this was a busy place,” I thought. It intrigued me as to why this place would warrant such attention, so that it would change hands 3 times it in the first 22 years of it’s existence. Doing a little research, it gradually sunk in that the reason for it’s popularity owed to the 3 major selling points of all real estate: Location, location, location.

The fort is situated at the southern end of Lake Champlain, on it’s western shore. Lake Champlain, a long, narrow, north-south oriented lake, together with Lake George and the Hudson River, forms an important travel route which runs from New York Harbor (under British control at the onset of the French and Indian War) to the St. Lawrence River (then controlled by the French). This route was familiar to, and used by, Native American Indians even before European explorers discovered it during the early-to-mid 1600′s. It is relatively free from obstacles and includes only a few portages**, of which Ticonderoga is one.

The name, “Ticonderoga,” itself gives us some local geographical information. The word is derived from what the Iroquois called this area, and which means, “(the) land between two waters.” The two waters are Lake Champlain and Lake George, and the land between was the portage. Despite there being a river connecting the two lakes, the winding 3.5 mile long La Chute, knowledgeable travelers chose to make a portage here because the La Chute was full of dangerous white-water rapids. It was safer and more practical to cross on foot at a point where about 1.25 miles of dry land lay between the lakes instead. The French therefore, chose to build the fort here to control the southern end of Lake Champlain, up which any British invasion would have to come.

It would seem the ability to control travel along this major inland water route from New York Harbor to the St. Lawrence River depended heavily upon being able to control this small area here at “the land between two waters.”

* the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763.
** a portage is a point in a water route where boats and/or cargo need to be carried across land to avoid obstacles, or to get from one body of water to another.

So Fort Ti was obviously a very strategic geographic point, as it controlled the waterway.

I’ll continue more about our adventure here with Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2 in the near future. This time, we got to go INSIDE the buildings and see some very amazing artifacts!

It costs the state $300,000 to operate the facility, but lawmakers say with a little help they could do it for less. One idea that would follow in the footsteps of other park sites around the state, entering into a public- private partnership to keep the home in operation.

…”We were very much surprised to learn that the plan is for a permanent closure and efforts are already being undertaken to move artifacts, furniture, looms, to remove those and take them to People’s Island and that would be the end of the Herkimer Home. Many of us think if those artifacts leave Herkimer County they are never coming back,” said [NYS Assemblyman Marc] Butler.

The Herkimer Home is one of the finest national parks in Central New York. I first visited the park during a field trip in seventh grade, and have adored the place ever since. Additionally, the site serves as a very important reminder of New York’s great past, a time of severe struggle and perseverance during the fight for Independence.

$300,000 is a PALTRY sum compared to many of the other expenses that New York has. The artifacts should NOT be taken from the site. If the state no longer wishes to support the park, then hopefully a private investor will rise to the occasion. Until then, the park should remain open and the artifacts untouched.

Do school children even visit this site anymore? I’m sure there is much more that the state can do to promote the park. We owe it to General Herkimer and all the men who laid down their lives so that we could even HAVE a New York State.