Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga, New York
We would love for one of your writers to come visit Fort Ticonderoga and
the Champlain Valley of New York state as we celebrate the 250th
anniversary of the French and Indian War through 2010. Would it be
possible to send you a press kit?
Background information on the Fort is enclosed.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Simpson Lutts
March 29, 2006
lsimpson@fort-ticonderoga.org
Fort Ticonderoga Opens for the 2006 Season
TICONDEROGA: Fort Ticonderoga will open for the 2006 season on May 10,
2006 to honor the day Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, and the Green
Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775 at the
start of the American Revolution.
A number of new daily programs will be offered to visitors coming to
Fort Ticonderoga. These include an authentically furnished Barracks Room
where Fort Ticonderoga soldiers and their wives will be interpreting
daily garrison life. The soldiers will be working on fortification
building, while their wives demonstrate their essential army duties
including sewing and cooking. Also new this year will be special tours
to different areas of the Fort grounds such as the Carillon Battlefield
where Fort Ticonderoga interpreters will help visitors learn more about
the history of this important French and Indian War battleground.
Highlight events for the 2006 season include:
May 10: Opening Day for Fort Ticonderoga
May 20-21: Eleventh Annual War College of the Seven Years' War is a
symposium bringing scholars from throughout the world to present their
latest research on the war. A French and Indian War 250th commemorative
event. By Reservation Only. Call 518-585-2821.
June 3: The King's Garden at Fort Ticonderoga opens through October 9th.
June 24-25: Grand Encampment of the French and Indian War is the largest
of Fort Ticonderoga's reenactments with over 800 reenactors on site. A
French and Indian War 250th commemorative event.
July 8: Wreath-Laying Ceremony in Commemoration of the 248th Anniversary
of the Battle of Carillon the greatest French victory in the French and
Indian War. A French and Indian War 250th commemorative event.
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August 5-6: Fife & Drum Corps Muster with corps from throughout the
United States performing martial music from the 18th and 19th centuries.
September 9-10: Revolutionary War Encampment with over 500 reenactors
on-site.
September 23-24: Fort Ticonderoga Seminar on the American Revolution a
two day symposium by reservation only. Call 518-585-2821.
October 22: Closing day for the 2006 season.
Fort Ticonderoga is a 2,000-acre educational not-for-profit historic
site in New York, with land in Vermont. The Fort is preserved and
managed by the Fort Ticonderoga Association. Included with Fort
admission is the restored fort, the world-class museum, the Carillon
Battlefield, The King's Garden, Children's Garden, Military Garden, and
Native American Garden (June 3 - October 9), Mount Defiance and Mount
Hope. The Fort is open daily from May 10 - October 22, 2006. Hours are
9:00 - 5:00. Admission is $12/adults, $10.80/seniors and students,
$6/children ages 7 - 12, and free for children under 7. Friends of Fort
Ticonderoga and residents of Ticonderoga, Putnam, Hague, Silver Bay,
Crown Point, New York and Orwell and Shoreham, Vermont receive free
admission. For information call 518-585-2821 or visit
www.fort-ticonderoga.org.
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Fort Ticonderoga Facts
Open Season: May 10 - October 22, 2006; early May to late
October annually.
Admission: $12/adults, $10.80/seniors & students,
$6/children ages 7-12, free for children under 7 and for residents of
Ticonderoga, Hague, Silver Bay, Putnam, and Crown Point, New York, and
Orwell and Shoreham, Vermont.
Attendance: Fort Ticonderoga's 2005 attendance was over
86,000.
Annual Budget: The Fort's 2006 annual Operating Budget is $2.3
million of which 70% is earned revenue from admissions, museum store,
and food sales. The Fort's 2006 Capital Budget is an additional $10.2
million while the Fort constructs the Mars Education Center.
Employees: 18 year-round employees and 59 seasonal
employees both full and part-time.
Volunteers: 1,054 people contributed 65,961 hours in
2005.
Governance: Fort Ticonderoga is a private not-for-profit
educational historic site
administered by the Fort Ticonderoga Association. There is a 24- member
Board of Trustees that oversees the Fort.
Facilities: Fort Ticonderoga consists of the restored
18th century Fort and a museum with over 30,000 objects. In addition,
there is the Log House Restaurant and Museum Store. The Thompson-Pell
Research Center houses the administrative offices and the research
library with over 13,000 rare books and manuscripts. Below the Fort on
Lake Champlain is The Pavilion, which is slated for future restoration.
Next to The Pavilion and open to the public are the King's Garden at
Fort Ticonderoga, the 18th-century garrison garden, a children's garden,
and the Native American garden.
Land holdings: The Fort Ticonderoga Association preserves
2,000 acres in New York and Vermont. This land includes the Carillon
Battlefield, Mount Defiance (open to the public) and Mount Hope (open to
the public). Both are in the Town of Ticonderoga. In Vermont, the Fort
owns the northern half of Mount Independence, open to the public and
jointly managed with the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation.
Education events: Throughout the season, the Fort offers numerous
education programs, lectures, symposia, and reenactments. The two major
reenactments held each year are the Grand Encampment of the French and
Indian War in June and the Revolutionary War Encampment in September.
Over 7,000 school-age children receive education programs both at the
Fort and in area schools.
Economic Spin-off: Visitors to Fort Ticonderoga spend on average
$127 per visitor for gas, food, and lodgings which yields $10.9 million
in local economic impact.
Important awards: 1961 Fort Ticonderoga is named a National
Historic Landmark
1972 Fort Ticonderoga is among the first museums in the country
accredited by the American Association of Museums.
1984 Fort Ticonderoga becomes part of the first bi-state National
Register historic district.
1996 Fort Ticonderoga reaccredited for a third time by the
American Association of Museums.
2003 Award of Excellence in Historic Preservation for the
Preservation League of New York State for King's Garden restoration.
Certificate of Commendation from the American Association of State and
Local History for King's Garden restoration.
2004 Certificate of Commendation from the American Association of
State and Local History for the America's First Victory School Education
Program.
2005 Fort Ticonderoga's Grand Encampment of the French and Indian
War (June 25-26) named American Bus Association Top 100 Events for 2005.
2006 Fort Ticonderoga is reaccredited for a fourth time by the
American Association of Museums.
Website: www.fort-ticonderoga.org
Fort Ticonderoga History
Fort Ticonderoga was built by the French from 1755-1759 and called Fort
Carillon, located above the narrow choke-point between Lake Champlain
and Lake George, which controlled the major north-south inland water
"highway" during the 18th century. Due to this strategic location the
Fort was the "key to the continent" as the superpowers of the 18th
century, the French and the British, contested for empire in North
America. On July 8, 1758 the Fort was successfully defended by French
forces under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm despite overwhelming
British forces led by General Abercromby. This was France's greatest
victory in the Seven Years' War and a humiliating and devastating defeat
for the British. The following year, the British did defeat the French
at Fort Carillon under General Amherst.
At the outset of the American Revolution just a half-company of British
soldiers manned the Fort. On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold,
and the Green Mountain Boys crossed Lake Champlain from Vermont under
cover of darkness. At dawn they surprised the sleeping garrison and
overwhelmed them, making Fort Ticonderoga America's first victory of the
Revolutionary War. From then until July 1777, Fort Ticonderoga served
as an important staging area for the American army while invading
Canada, outfitting America's first navy, and fortifying Mount
Independence in Vermont, and building extensive defensive works within a
10-mile radius. In addition, the Fort was where vessels for America's
first navy were rigged and fitted out. This fleet, under the command of
Benedict Arnold, fought the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain
in 1776. Although the American fleet was utterly defeated, the fight
stalled the British on their march south. In July 1777 the British
commander, General Burgoyne, managed to place cannon on Mount Defiance
and forced the Fort's American garrison commanded by General Arthur St.
Clair to evacuate the Fort on July 6th. One more attempt by the
Americans retake the Fort failed in September 1777. This was the last
major military action to take place at Ticonderoga.
In 1820, William Ferris Pell purchased the ruins of the Fort and the
surrounding "garrison grounds" to preserve it for posterity. In 1826 he
built The Pavilion first as a home, and later turned it into a hotel to
serve the growing number of tourists who came to see the Fort ruins. In
1908 Stephen and Sarah Gibbs Thompson Pell began restoration of Fort
Ticonderoga and in 1909 it was opened to the public with President Taft
in attendance. In 1931 Fort Ticonderoga was designated a not-for-profit
educational historic site managed by the Fort Ticonderoga Association.
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Lisa Simpson Lutts
Director of External Affairs
Fort Ticonderoga
PO Box 390
Ticonderoga NY 12883
518-585-2121, ex 21
www.Fort-Ticonderoga.org
