The coming of the Quadricentennial

June 14, 2009 03:28 am

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ROWN POINT — Dozens of events are planned, but the signature feature of the Champlain Quadricentennial will be the rededication of the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse here.

A bust by famed sculptor Auguste Rodin will be restored to its place on the front of the lighthouse before the Sunday, Sept. 19, ceremony.

The many celebrations planned around the North Country mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of French explorer Samuel de Champlain on Lake Champlain.

Adirondack History Center Museum Director Margaret Gibbs said President Barack Obama has been invited to the event at the lighthouse, which was originally dedicated 100 years ago.

"President Taft came in 1909. It would be great if the president came. (This) is the rededication of the Memorial Lighthouse and the Rodin."

No word yet on whether the president will attend the quadricentennial's main event, but dozens of regional leaders are expected.

The Crown Point State Historic Site is home to the ruins of British and French forts overlooking Lake Champlain.

HISTORY REINVIGORATED
New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission member June Curtis of Ticonderoga said that before the retreating French blew up Fort St. Frederick at Crown Point in 1759, they ran into problems.

After lighting the fuse in the powder magazine, the soldiers fell back to a safe spot — but nothing happened.

"One person was sent back to find out why (it) hadn't gone off. I don't know whether he made it back out, but the dynamite did go off."

To coincide with the quadricentennial, a new multi-media orientation program and interpretive exhibits have been created at the museum at Crown Point.

"This is a place where thousands of people come," Curtis said. "With our reinvigorated and refreshened exhibit space, they will be able to experience what happened here. You will notice a great, great difference."

Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) said she feels the Crown Point State Historic Site has been overlooked for too long.

"This place is second to none. Having this new, reinvigorated program, new exhibits, is very important to the site. More and more people will come. It's a very calming, wonderful place to be."

The new interpretive exhibit was designed and installed by the state's Peebles Island Resource Center. The multi-media program includes a high-definition digital video about the forts at Crown Point and a new scale model of the site, all titled "Raids, Redoubts, Redcoats and Ruins."

Funding for the multi-media program was provided by the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission and a grant from the State French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration Commission.

The site also has new exterior signage, redesigned parking lots, repaved roads and new sidewalks and pedestrian paths.

Gibbs, also a member of the Quadricentennial Commission, said the Crown Point State Historic Site is very important to the celebration of Champlain's explorations.

"The history of this site really brings a lot to the quadricentennial. From the layered history of this site, we have some lessons we can learn today."

FORT TI TURNS 100
Ten miles south of the forts at Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga is gearing up for its observance of the quadricentennial, too.

Each year, nearly 90,000 people visit Fort Ticonderoga, and Marketing Director Marci Hall said a full roster of events is scheduled this season, including a 100th Birthday Party and a Quadricentennial Celebration on July 25.

The annual encampments and re-enactments of both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War are joined this year by a Scottish Festival on June 20.The Grand Encampment of the French and Indian War is June 27 and 28 and will focus on the events of 1759, when the British took Fort Carillon from the French and renamed it Ticonderoga.

A Revolutionary War encampment is set for Sept. 12 and 13. Hundreds of re-enactors will portray British, Continental, German and Native American fighters involved in the struggle for America's independence.

Hall said fort attendance is up 10 percent this year.

"So far, we're doing great. Many families are bringing their second and third generations for visits. We think this will be a good year for Fort Ticonderoga."

She said this year's programming reflects the fort's 100th anniversary as a public site, as well as the quadricentennial.

"Each day is full of programs for kids, families and tours.The fort is a tradition."

The 18th-century fort, built on the south end of Lake Champlain, served as a military fortress and controlled the portage between Lake Champlain and Lake George.

The French constructed the fort as Carillon between 1755 and 1758, and it played a significant role in the French and Indian War.

In May 1775, during the Revolutionary War, rebels under the commands of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold seized the fort. It remained under American control until June 1777, then British forces returned until 1781, when they abandoned it following the failure of the Saratoga campaign.

The Pell family began restoration of the fort in the early part of the 20th century.

"We opened briefly to the public in 1909 for the tercentenary of Lake Champlain and at the beginning of the fort's restoration," Hall said.

"We've been open every season since, and the restoration is finally finished. There's no reason the fort won't be here for another century."

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com

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