Barely an hour south of Plattsburgh, on the shore of Lake Champlain, sit the ruins of forts St. Frederic and Crown Point.

Unfamiliar though the names may be now, two centuries ago they were well known not just regionally but across the Atlantic. At one time, Crown Point ranked among the largest British posts in North America.

French soldiers had staked their claim first. After first building a log fort in 1730 on what's now the Vermont side of the lake, they constructed Fort St. Frederic, a more formidable stone bulwark, on the west shore. During the French and Indian War, British attackers were repelled three times before 12,000 men under the leadership of Jeffrey Amherst proved successful in 1759.

The French destroyed most of the fort before escaping.

CHANGING HANDS

Amherst then decided to build Crown Point, a much larger fortress on a high point of land farther from the lake. Outer walls enclosed a full 6 acres, with the entire complex encircled by a deep dry moat. A series of redoubts and blockhouses protected entry routes to the fort.

Whereas the French stationed 100 troops at Fort St. Frederic, Crown Point housed as many as 3,000.

A chimney fire in 1773 ravaged the log walls of the fort; the subsequent explosion of the powder magazine destroyed much of the stonework. Consequently, only a smattering of troops remained when Seth Warner captured Crown Point for the American colonists shortly after the successful siege of Fort Ticonderoga.

However, after the Battle of Valcour in 1776, the American forces left and British Gen. John Burgoyne regained occupancy. Crown Point remained in British hands throughout the rest of the Revolutionary War, coming under American ownership only after peace became established in 1784.

WANDER THE RUINS

New York state deeded the so-called Garrison Grounds to Columbia University and Union College in 1801. The schools subsequently subdivided the property and sold plots. In 1910, Witherbee Sherman and Company donated the land back to New York state for use as a historic site.

For today's traveler, Crown Point State Historic Site offers a satisfying visit. Wandering the ruins gives a sense of the area's importance in colonial times. A museum presents relevant information clearly and concisely. And the scenery beckons one to linger, perhaps for a picnic, and ponder life more than 200 years ago. A walking-tour brochure combines with interpretive signage to enhance a visit.

The French sited their fort close to the water's edge. In keeping with engineering concepts of the time, a compact star-shaped structure marked the installation, with a four-story citadel, essentially a fort within a fort, inside the walls. That citadel had stone walls 12 feet in thickness. It's amazing to think the French could have demolished it so completely before their departure in the face of Amherst's triumph.

POUND OF CANDLES

Walking along the walls of Fort St. Frederic, we passed the remnants of beehive ovens. Bread was a staple in the soldiers' diet; upwards of 900 loaves were baked daily. Flour came from grain ground in a fortified wind-powered grist mill near the site of today's Champlain Monument.