Whiteface Mountain
We took the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway to the parking area at the top of Whiteface Mountain. From there it was a steep hike to the top which is listed as New York's fifth highest peak at 4,867 feet.
We took the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway to the top of Whiteface Mountain which is listed as New York's fifth highest peak at 4,867 feet. The road takes you to the summit of the mountain which on a good weather day has amazing views.
The paved road rises over 2,300 feet in five miles from the Toll House. At the summit, there is a castle said to be built from native stone, a restaurant and gift shop, an elevator carved deep inside the mountain top itself, and a 360-degree, panoramic view.
Wilson Castle
Wilson Castle is a nineteenth-century estate located in Proctor, Vermont.
Wilson Castle is a nineteenth-century estate located in Proctor, Vermont. Set on 115 acres of grounds, the house contains 32 rooms on 3 stories. Its facade is built of English brick and French marble in a fanciful architecture with 19 proscenium arches, 84 stained glass windows, 2 turrets, parapet, and balcony.
Its interior includes 13 fireplaces finished with imported tiles and bronze. Furnishings include Asian and European antiques, statuary, Chinese scrolls, and oriental rugs. The property also has a large orangery (greenhouse or conservatory) and an aviary.
Fort Crown Point
Fort Crown Point was a British fort built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain
Fort Crown Point was a British fort built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on what later became the border between New York and Vermont. Erected to secure the region against the French, the fort is in upstate New York near the town of Crown Point and was the largest earthen fortress built in the United States. The fort's ruins, a National Historic Landmark, are now administered as part of Crown Point State Historic Site.
The French built a fortress at Crown Point in the 1730s with 12-foot thick limestone walls named Fort St. Frederic. British forces targeted it twice during the French and Indian War before the French destroyed it in the summer of 1759.
The Crown Point fort was constructed by the British army under the command of Sir Jeffery Amherst following the capture of Carillon, a French fort to the south (which he renamed Ticonderoga) and the destruction of Fort St. Frédéric. Amherst used the construction of the fort as a means of keeping his men working through the winter of 1759 after pushing the French into modern Canada. Israel Putnam, who would later become a major general in the American Revolution, supervised much of the construction. According to archaeologist David R. Starbuck, Crown Point was "the greatest British military installation ever raised in North America."
The fort was never directly assaulted. Mostly built after the threat of French invasion had ended, it was used largely for staging rather than as a position in its own right. On April 21, 1773, a chimney fire broke out in the soldier's barracks. It quickly spread, burning for days.In May 1774, British military engineer John Montresor described the fort (post fire) with the following words: "the conflagration of the late fort has rendered it an amazing useless mass of earth only".Montresor proposed expanding and improving one of the outworks rather than attempting to repair the main fort.
After the French and Indian War, the British left a skeletal force at the fort. They quickly yielded to Capt. Seth Warner and 100 Green Mountain Boys, a Patriot American militia, on May 12, 1775 in the battle of Crown Point at the start of the Revolutionary War. The Americans captured 111 cannons from the British at Crown Point, and transported 29 to Boston for the defense of Boston Harbor.
The fort was used as a staging ground by Benedict Arnold during the Revolution for his navy on Lake Champlain. After the destruction of that navy in 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Island, the fort was abandoned to the British in 1777 after the failure of the patriot Invasion of Canada. In 1780 the British abandoned the fort and, following their success in the Revolution, the United States had no need for it, so left it to deteriorate.
The large earthen walls of the Fort are still visible today in the 21st century. The fire of April 1773 had entirely destroyed the log and earth fortress. The stone ruins of two barracks buildings at the site are being preserved. (Source - Wikipedia )