Crown Point State Historic Site

10/01/2026

Despite the strong wind and forecasted rain, our event "Preparing for Valcour" was a success. Forty soldiers who had been "voluntold" to join Benedict Arnold's fleet got their feet wet here at Crown Point, just like their predecessors did 250 years ago.

Thank you to the members of 2nd Albany County Militia, Warner's Regiment, 3rd Massachusetts, the 24th Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Regiment of Artillery for attending and putting on a great show for the public. Special thanks go to Paul Novotny for organizing the weekend and Dave Bernier for portraying General Arnold.

09/26/2026

Due to the impending weather, Crown Point's "Preparing for Valcour" encampment and living history event will close early tomorrow. The encampment will break mid- to late morning tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 27th. Many thanks to the living historians and reenacting units who participated in the program, and to all of those who attended today!

09/26/2026

The encampment & boats have arrived at Crown Point State Historic Site! Join us this weekend for a mixture of living history and weapon demonstrations.

Event information: https://parks.ny.gov/visit/events/preparing-valcour

08/21/2026

08/12/2026

Here is a glimpse of the reenactment from this past weekend (August 8th and 9th). Thank you to all the participants and visitors that attended the reenactment!

Here is a link to our schedule of upcoming events: https://parks.ny.gov/visit/historic-sites/crown-point-state-historic-site

08/06/2026

Experience this weekend's French and Indian War Reenactment at Crown Point State Historic Site!

📆Schedule of Events
⛺Encampment: An 18th century encampment with living history demonstrations will be ongoing throughout the weekend. Join a guided lantern tour of the encampment on Saturday, August 8 at 7PM.

📜Museum Open House (Free Admission): Saturday, August 8 & Sunday, August 9 from 9:30AM–4:30PM.

🇬🇧Demonstrations🇫🇷
Battle Simulations: Saturday, August 8 at 11AM & 2PM and Sunday, August 9 at 11AM.
Weapons Demonstration: Saturday, August 8 at 4PM.

⛈All demonstrations are weather permitting.⛈

Don't know much about the French and Indian War? Crown Point State Historic Site's annual reenactment event is taking place this weekend, and it's a great way to learn more about the conflict and the time period. We've got a weekend of citizen science projects, music, hikes, and more planned across the state, and if you're not heading to the shores of Lake Champlain, there's bound to be something near you. Plan your weekend at https://loom.ly/a27TCZM.

07/09/2026

A tremendous thank you to Fort Ticonderoga for bringing the Crown Point Council of War to life at Crown Point State Historic Site!

07/01/2026

Historic Barracks To Be Stabilized At Crown Point State Historic Site

As part of the state’s 250th commemoration of the American Revolution, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is embarking on a $750,000 barracks preservation project at Crown Point State Historic Site.

The project will stabilize and repair the masonry ruins of the Officers’ Barracks, which were built in 1759 as part of the British fort at Crown Point. In 1775, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, American colonists captured the fort and secured sorely needed cannons and heavy ordnance. Crown Point was occupied by Gen. John Burgoyne's army in 1777 after the American evacuation and it remained under British control until the end of the war in 1783.
https://tinyurl.com/5n7ep6bp

07/01/2026

On July 1, 1776, thousands of war-weary Continental soldiers, some sick with smallpox, were making their way south on Lake Champlain to Crown Point, retreating from their failed campaign to seize Canada from British control. Upon his arrival at Crown Point, General John Sullivan, who had led the army in Canada, wrote to George Washington. “To give you a particular account of the miserable state of our troops,” Sullivan wrote, “the numbers which daily keep dropping into their beds and graves, would rather seem like the effect of imagination than a history of facts.” At Crown Point, however, Sullivan saw reasons to be optimistic, saying “I am now in hopes, as this is a healthy spot, and the country affords good spring water, that we shall soon find the Army regain their health; and that we shall be able to make an effectual stand at this place.” Anticipating that the British Army would be attacking south down the lake in pursuit of the retreating Americans, Sullivan began preparing defenses at Crown Point, telling Washington, “I am now about fortifying this post, which I think may, in a short time, be made strong enough to baffle all the attempts of our enemies.”

Sullivan had his work cut out for him at Crown Point. The British fort at Crown Point, once one of the largest in North America, had burned in a fire in 1773. Earth and wood ruins of the fort remained, along with two stone barracks buildings, both gutted by the 1773 fire. Civilian houses and some other fortifications dotted the peninsula, most over a decade old.

Within a week, Sullivan’s ambitious plan to fortify Crown Point was abandoned. On July 7, 1776, Sullivan and four other generals, Philip Schuyler, Horatio Gates, Benedict Arnold, and Baron de Woedtke met in a Council of War at Crown Point and agreed that Crown Point could not be refortified quickly enough in the summer of 1776 to hold off the imminent British attach. Instead, the army would leave Crown Point, move south, and fortify the ground opposite Ticonderoga, which was renamed Mount Independence in the summer of 1776.

📆Tomorrow, on Thursday, July 2nd, Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga will present a short reenactment of the Crown Point Council of War at 5:00 PM. This event is free and open to the public!