Ticonderoga Area History

The history of Ticonderoga NY is well-known mostly due to the prominence of Fort Ticonderoga, the site of many bloody battles during the French and Indian War and then again during the Revolutionary War.

Built by French settlers in 1755 and originally called Fort Carillon, the fort sits high, overlooking the LaChute River, which connects Lake George and Lake Champlain. Because it offered access to Canada and the Hudson River Valley, this highly strategic location was highly desired by the French, British, and Americans during both 18th century wars. Ticonderoga was derived from an Iroquois word meaning “between two waters.”

In 1759, British forces laid siege and took control over it from the small camp of French soldiers that were left to watch over it. The British renamed it Fort Ticonderoga. In 1775, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, and the Green Mountain Boys, a Vermont rebel militia, attacked the sleeping fort and captured the British soldiers there. This would be the first rebel victory of the Revolutionary War. In 1777, the British regained control of Fort Ticonderoga and a few months later abandoned it.

One of these famous battles known as “Rogers Rangers Battle on Snowshoes” took place on the site of Ticonderoga Golf Course. The 1757 Battle on Snowshoes was a skirmish fought between Rogers’ Rangers and French and Indian troops during the French and Indian War on January 21, 1757. The battle was given this name because the British combatants were wearing snowshoes.