Fort St. Frederic, Crown Point NY

Fort St. Frédéric (1734-1759) - A French Colonial fort established in 1734 in present-day Essex County, New York. Named for the French Count Maurepas (Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux) who was the French minister of the Colonies, the Navy, and Seaborne Trade. Fort St. Frédéric was situated on the west side of a narrow gap at the head of Lake Champlain on Crown Point. In 1730, the French erected a small wooden fort at Point a la Chevelure, now Chimney Point, Vermont, and thereby taking control of territory claimed by Great Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713. The gap between Crown Point and Chimney Point was less than a half-mile wide and the new fort could control any traffic up or down the lake.
Construction began in 1734 and was completed in 1737.

The limestone fort was some 300 square feet with six named bastions, three bastions protected a four-story, eight-sided stone citadel in the north corner. Walls were constructed to be twelve feet thick at the base. Watch boxes were located at the tip of each of the four corner bastions. Inside the citadel, cannons were mounted on each floor and the entrance. Swivel cannon were mounted around the perimeter of the fort’s walls. The Entry to the Citadel was gained by a drawbridge over a dry ditch. This fortress-within-a-fort contained living quarters for officers and men, a bakery, armory, and storerooms. The fort was planned to mount some 62 cannons with about a 100 man garrison.

The fort became the center of French activity along the lake and in 1750 the French established a second stockaded fort 12 miles to the south naming it Fort Vaudreuil, which they later built into the stone Fort Carillon would become known as Fort Ticonderoga. Raiding parties originating from Fort St. Frédéric, such as the one which burned Saratoga in 1745, kept British controlled frontier settlements in a constant state of alarm. More than a military presence, Fort St. Frédéric was an outpost of French culture in the Champlain Valley. Soldiers and settlers cultivated farms on both shores of the lake, and the population steadily increased under the encouragement from the French government. The fort’s chapel served soldier and civilian alike.

The British began to challenge the decades of French expansion during the Seven Years’ War. British expeditions led by General William Johnson in 1755 and General James Abercrombie in 1758 attempted to capture Fort St. Frédéric without success. First Fort Carillon fell and then Fort St. Frédéric came under attack in July 1759 by British General Jeffery Amherst and his army of 12,000 men. Fort St. Frédéric and its surrounding settlements, the first European community in the southern Champlain Valley, were hastily evacuated upon the advance of the British army in 1759. The French abandoned Fort St. Frédéric, partially blowing up a redoubt and a windmill in the process before retreating in the face of the overwhelming force of British and provincial troops. Amherst ordered the old fort leveled and began construction of a massive new fortification on an adjacent site. The new fort became Fort Crown Point.

Nice park. Didn't get to check out the Old Fort, but there are nice views of the bridge and the mountains behind the lake. You can park off the side of the road and walk on the bridge if you want to for probably even better pictures.

After reading about the strategic importance of Crown Point, it was great to finally see how it commands a choke point on the lake. The ruins of the earlier French fort St Frederic were my favorite part.

Very interesting to see! Loved being able to get up close and personal with such an old structure. Beautiful views and even found a geocache!

Wish there was more information on what the numbered signs were referring to. We never got to figure that out.