Lake Champlain
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Landsat photo |
Lake Champlain (French:
lac Champlain), named for the
French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it 1609, is a large
lake in
North America, mostly within the borders of the
United States (
states of
Vermont and
New York) but partially situated across the
US-Canada border in the province of
Quebec.
It is the sixth-largest natural, freshwater lake in the contiguous United States, situated in the
Champlain Valley between the
Green Mountains of
Vermont and the
Adirondack Mountains of
New York, drained northward by the
Richelieu River into the
St. Lawrence River near
Montreal and fed by
Otter Creek, the
Winooski,
Missisquoi, and
Lamoille Rivers in Vermont, and the
Ausable, Chazy, and Saranac Rivers in New York. Lake Champlain also receives water from
Lake George via the La Chute River. The lake varies from 95 to 100 feet above mean sea level.
While the ports of
Burlington, Vermont,
Port Henry, New York, and
Plattsburgh, New York are little used nowadays except by small crafts, ferries and lake cruise ships, they had substantial commercial and military importance in the
18th and
19th Century.
Lake Champlain is one of a large number of large lakes spread in an arc from
Labrador through the Northern United States and into the
Northwest Territories of Canada. Although it cannot be compared with
Ontario,
Erie,
Huron,
Superior, or
Michigan, Lake Champlain is a large body of fresh water. Approximately
1130 km² (435 square miles) in area, the lake is roughly 180 km (110 miles) long, and 19 km (12 miles) across at its widest point. It contains roughly 80 islands including an entire
county in Vermont.
In Colonial times, Lake Champlain provided an easily traversed water (or, in winter, ice) passage between the
Saint Lawrence and the
Hudson Valleys. Boats and sledges were usually preferable to the unpaved and frequently mud bound roads of the time. The northern tip of the lake at
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
Quebec (St. John in colonial times) is a short distance from
Montreal. The Southern tip at
Whitehall (Skenesborough in Colonial times) is a short distance from
Saratoga,
Glens Falls, and
Albany,
New York.
Forts at
Ticonderoga and
Crown Point (
Fort St. Frederic) controlled passage of the lake in Colonial times. Important battles were fought at Ticonderoga in
1758 and
1777. A significant naval battle was fought in
1776 at
Valcour Island: in the
Battle of Valcour Island,
Benedict Arnold delayed British ships enough to prevent the fall of these forts until the following year, allowing the
Continental Army to grow stronger and enabling the later victory at
Saratoga.
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Map showing the Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed |
The
Battle of Lake Champlain also known as the
Battle of Plattsburgh, fought on September 11,
1814, ended the final invasion of the Northern states during the
War of 1812. Fought just prior to the signing of the
Treaty of Ghent, the American victory denied the British any leverage to demand exclusive control over the
Great Lakes and any territorial gains against the
New England states.(See:
Battle of Plattsburgh)
Fort Blunder (more properly known as
Fort Montgomery) was built by the Americans on an arm of Lake Champlain after the
War of 1812, to protect against attacks from British Canada. Its name comes from a surveying error: the initial phase of construction on the fort turned out to be taking place three quarters of a mile north of the border. Once this error was spotted, construction stopped and resumed at the current location, safely on U.S. soil. The materials used in the aborted fort were scavenged by locals for use in their own homes and public buildings.
In the early
19th century, the construction of the
Champlain Canal connected Lake Champlain to the
Hudson River system, allowing north-south commerce by water from New York City to Montreal and Atlantic Canada.
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Lake Champlain from Burlington Vermont |
Lake Champlain briefly became the nation's sixth
Great Lake on
March 6,
1998, when
President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the
National Sea Grant Program, contained a line penned by
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, a
Democrat, declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. Following a small uproar, the Great Lake status was rescinded on
March 24 (although Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).
One of the more enduring myths surrounding Lake Champlain is that of
Champ. Reminiscent of the
Loch Ness monster,
Ogopogo and other phenomena of
cryptozoology, Champ is purportedly a giant aquatic animal that makes the lake its home. Sightings have been sporadic over time. Regardless, locals and tourists have developed something of a fondness for the creature and its legend and representations of Champ can now be found on
tee shirts, coffee mugs, and many other tourist
souvenirs. The
Vermont Lake Monsters, a minor-league
baseball team, have a cartoonish version of Champ as their mascot.
The
Alburg Peninsula (also known as the Alburg Tongue), extending south from the Quebec shore of the lake into Vermont, shares with
Point Roberts, Washington, and the
Northwest Angle in
Minnesota as well as Province Point (see below) the distinction of being reachable by land from the rest of its state only via
Canada. However, unlike the other three cases, this is no longer of practical significance since highway bridges across the lake do provide access to the peninsula within the United States (from three directions, in fact). A few kilometres to the north-east of the town of East Alburg, however, the southernmost tip of a small promontory, Province Point, is cut through by the US-Canadian border.
Mainland
The lake can be crossed by road at only one southerly point, the
Champlain Bridge, connecting Chimney Point in Vermont with
Crown Point, New York.
To the north,
Grand Isle County, Vermont connects to the New York mainland via U.S. Route 2 to
Rouses Point,
NY adjacent to the Canadian border.
Ferry
North of
Ticonderoga, NY, the lake widens appreciably; ferry service is provided by the
Lake Champlain Transportation Company at:
*
Charlotte, VT to
Essex, NY (may not travel when the lake is frozen)
*
Burlington, VT to
Port Kent, NY (seasonal)
*
Grand Isle, VT to
Plattsburgh, NY (year-round icebreaking service)
The most southerly crossing is the
Fort Ticonderoga Ferry, connecting Ticonderoga, New York with
Shoreham, Vermont just north of the historic fort.
Railroad
Through history there were four significant railroad crossings over the lake. Currently, only one such crossing remains.
* The "floating" rail trestle from
Larabees Point, VT to
Ticonderoga, NY. This crossing used a floating trestle that was abandoned in 1918 due to many accidents resulting in locomotives and rail cars being dumped in the lake. This crossing was operated by the
Addison Branch of the
Rutland Railroad.
* The Island Line
Causeway. This marble rock landfill
causeway stretched from
Colchester, VT (on the mainland) three miles north and west to
South Hero, VT. Two breaks in the
causeway were spanned by a fixed iron
trestle and a
swingbridge that could be opened to allow nautical navigation. The
Rutland Railroad (later
Rutland Railway) operated trains over this
causeway from 1901-1961. The Railway was officially abandoned in 1963 with tracks and
trestles removed over the course of the ten years that followed. The marble
causeway still remains, as does the fixed iron
trestle that bridges the lesser of the two gaps. The
swingbridge over the navigation channel was removed sometime in the early 1970s. The main three mile
causeway is a popular recreation area (called
Colchester Park) for cyclists, runners, anglers, and lovers of the outdoors. Two smaller marble rock landfill
causeways were also erected as part of this line that connected
Grande Isle, VT to
North Hero, VT and from
North Hero, VT to
Alburgh,VT.
* The
Rouses Point, NY rail
trestle. This
wooden trestle carried two railroads (the
Rutland Railroad and the
Central Vermont Railroad) over the lake adjacent and to the south of the US 2 vehicular bridge. This
trestle carried rolling stock from sometime in the late 19th Century until 1964. The iron
swingbridge at the center (over the navigation channel) has been removed, but most of the wooden piles that carried the railroads still remain and can be seen easily looking south from the U.S. 2 bridge. The
Rouses Point, NY side of the bridge has been converted, in part, to an access
pier associated with the local
marina.
* The
Swanton, VT, to
East Alburgh, VT, rail
trestle. This
wooden trestle was built in the same manner as the
Rouses Point, NY trestle. It crosses the lake just south of
Missisquoi Bay and the Canadian Border and exists directly south of the VT 78 highway
causeway This rail crossing carries the
New England Central Railroad (part of the
Canadian National Railroad) and is still being used to this day.
*
Ile aux Noix
