Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

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Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Established1985
Location4472 Basin Harbor Road
Vergennes, Vermont
Coordinates 44°11′50″N73°21′28″W / 44.1972°N 73.3577°W / 44.1972; -73.3577
TypeMaritime, history
DirectorSusan Evans McClure
Website https://www.lcmm.org

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) is a non-profit maritime museum located in Vergennes, Vermont, US. It preserves and shares the history and archaeology of Lake Champlain. LCMM studies and manages the shipwrecks discovered in Lake Champlain, and presents history of the people and culture of the Lake Champlain region through the preservation and analysis of artifacts. [1]

Contents

History

Founded in 1985, the museum took up residence in an old stone schoolhouse on the grounds of the Basin Harbor Club, a private resort situated on the lake's shoreline, and opened to the public in 1986. Since its opening LCMM has expanded to include 18 buildings at two sites housing collections and exhibits, a boat shop and small shipyard, blacksmith facilities, an archaeological conservation laboratory, a museum store, offices, and lecture space.

LCMM expanded in 2001 with the opening of the Burlington Shipyard in the city of Burlington, Vermont, some 20 miles north of LCMM's main campus. The following year the museum acquired the Capt. White Place, a c.1815 ship captain's home in Burlington, and in 2004 moved its Burlington offices and exhibits from the shipyard into the Lyman Building, a city-owned facility on the Burlington waterfront.

In June 2017, the museum announced a five phase $44 million plan to raise and preserve the Spitfire, a gunboat that was sunk in the Battle of Valcour Island. [2]

Replica fleet

The museum has a collection of replica vessels to study the region's maritime history. These replicas provide insights into the ships, their crews, and the era they represent. [3]

The first replica made was the Perseverance, a Bateau from the French and Indian War era, completed in 1986. Encouraged by its success, the museum then built the Philadelphia II, a revolutionary war gunboat, launched in 1991. [4] This replica is an accurate reproduction of the original vessel which was sunk in combat at the Battle of Valcour Island, which was raised from the lake's bottom in 1935 and is currently preserved at the Smithsonian Institution. [5]

The museum's primary vessel is the canal schooner Lois McClure, launched in 2004, built by a partnership between the museum and the Lake Champlain Transportation Company. Its design is based on the General Butler, a schooner wrecked in Burlington Harbor on December 9, 1876, and the O.J. Walker, another sailing canal boat which sank in 1895. [6]

Programming

LCMM conducts educational, boatbuilding, and boating programs, and hosts lectures, annual juried photography shows, and historical re-enactment events. LCMM also offers classes ranging from on-water exploration to traditional crafts; and staff educators conduct wintertime outreach to area schools, visiting students in their classrooms and helping them learn about the American Revolutionary War, 19th-century maritime commerce, and Lake Champlain's archaeological resources.

Area youth organizations partner with the museum to build either a Cornish pilot gig or a Whitehall pulling boat through a collaborative building process. [7]

Events

In 2005, the Lois McClure toured the lake and the Hudson River. A similar tour was carried out in 2007 on the New York State Barge Canal, the present-day incarnation of the Erie Canal.

Some of the museum's regular annual special events include rowing competitions and the Rabble In Arms historical re-enactment weekend. There is also an annual small boat show, and exhibits of photos taken by both amateur and professional photographers from around the region.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Champlain</span> Lake in New York, Vermont and Quebec

Lake Champlain is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Valcour Island</span> First naval battles of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy. Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold were captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton. However, the American defense of Lake Champlain stalled British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.

USS Enterprise was a Continental Army sloop-of-war that served in Lake Champlain during the American Revolutionary War. She was the first of a long and prestigious line of ships of the United States or by the combatant forces of the U.S. Revolutionary War to bear the name Enterprise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunboat</span> Naval watercraft designed with the sole purpose of carrying and utilizing firepower

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mystic Seaport</span> Maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut

Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seaport village. It consists of more than 60 historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre (0.077 km2) site and meticulously restored.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Champlain Transportation Company</span> Ferry company in the United States

The Lake Champlain Transportation Company is a vehicle ferry operator that runs three routes across Lake Champlain between the US states of New York and Vermont. From 1976 to 2003, the company was owned by Burlington, Vermont, businessman Raymond C. Pecor Jr., who is chairman of its board. In 2003, he sold the company to his son, Raymond Pecor III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ship replica</span> Reconstruction of a no longer existing ship

A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of a historic vessel. Some replicas may not even be seaworthy, but built for other educational or entertainment purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincial Marine</span> North American inland coastal protection service 1796–1910

Provincial Marine was a coastal protection service in charge of the waters in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and parts of Lake Champlain under British control. While ships of the Provincial Marine were designated HMS, they were operated in more of a coast guard manner than as a full-fledged navy. Operations were maintained and staffed by the Royal Navy. Most ships of the Provincial Marine were built on the Great Lakes.

USS <i>Philadelphia</i> (1776) American Gunboat in 1776

USS Philadelphia is a gunboat of the Continental Navy. She was constructed from July–August 1776 for service during the American Revolutionary War. Manned by Continental Army soldiers, she was part of a fleet under the command of General Benedict Arnold that fought against the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. Philadelphia was sunk during the battle on 11 October 1776.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gundalow</span> Type of New England sailing barge

A gundalow is a type of flat-bottomed sailing barge once common in Maine and New Hampshire rivers, United States. It first appeared in the mid-1600s, reached maturity of design in the 1700 and 1800s, and lingered into the early 1900s before nearly vanishing as a commercial watercraft.

USS Spitfire was an American gundalow that operated as a gunboat in 1776 on Lake Champlain. She was part of Benedict Arnold's small, hastily built fleet of ships whose purpose was to counter any British invasion forces passing through the lake from Canada. Her service life was brief; after only a few months patrolling the lake she was lost in the aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island. The gunboat's wreck was located and documented in the 1990s by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Champlain II</span> United States historic place

The steamboat Oakes Ames was built in 1868 by the Napoleon B Proctor Shipyard in Burlington, Vermont for the Rutland Railroad. The 244-foot paddle wheeler was designed to ferry railroad cars from Burlington across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh, New York. She was named after one of the railroad's directors' Oakes Ames.

The Poultney River is a river in southwestern Vermont and eastern New York. In its 40-mile long course, the river drains approximately 263 square miles as it flows northwards into the southern end of Lake Champlain.

New York (1776) was a gunboat built in 1776 at Skenesboro, New York. It was originally called Success prior to launch for service in General Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain. New York may be named after the City of New York, because other ships in the fleet were named after cities, however, it could be named after the State of New York, because at least one or two other ships, Connecticut and Jersey, sometimes referred to as New Jersey, were named after states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine Maritime Museum</span> Maritime museum in Bath, Maine

Maine Maritime Museum, formerly the Bath Marine Museum, offers some exhibits about Maine's maritime heritage, culture and the role Maine has played in regional and global maritime activities. Maine Maritime Museum has a large and diverse collection, made up of millions of documents, artifacts and pieces of artwork and includes an extensive research library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam and Noah Brown</span> American shipbuilders

Adam and Noah Brown were American shipbuilders, based in New York City, founded a company with its name based in New York, which was active between 1804 and 1833. They built several notable vessels, including Robert Fulton's Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, and numerous naval vessels on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, during the War of 1812.

Water Witch was constructed originally as a steamboat in Otter Creek, Vermont in 1832. In 1835, the Lake Champlain Transportation Company bought her and converted her into a schooner. Piloted by Captain Thomas Mock, who had on board his wife and three children and overloaded with iron ore, Water Witch sank in Lake Champlain during a storm on April 26, 1866. The Mocks′ infant, Roa, was in the cabin, and was lost.

USS <i>Royal Savage</i> (1775) Two-masted schooner built by the British in the summer of 1775

Royal Savage was a two-masted schooner built by the British in the summer of 1775. She was damaged and sunk by soldiers of the United Colonies during the Siege of Fort St. Jean and later raised and repaired after the fort was captured. She then participated in General Benedict Arnold's campaign on Lake Champlain. The British captured and burnt her in October 1776 at Valcour Island.

The General Butler was a schooner-rigged sailing canal boat that plied the waters of Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal in the United States states of Vermont and New York. Built in 1862 and named for American Civil War General Benjamin Franklin Butler, she sank after striking the Burlington Breakwater in 1876, while carrying a load of marble. Her virtually intact wreck, discovered in 1980, is a Vermont State Historic Site and a popular dive site; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

The O.J. Walker was a cargo schooner that plied the waters of Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. Built in 1862 in Burlington, Vermont, she hauled freight until sinking off the Burlington coast in a storm in 1895, while carrying a load of brick and tile. The shipwreck, located west of the Burlington Breakwater, is a Vermont State Historic Site, and is accessible to registered divers. It is one of the best-preserved examples of the 1862 class of sailing canal schooners, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

References

  1. "Museum Information: About Us".
  2. Ring, Wilson. Vermont museum to raise Revolutionary War gunboat from lake bottom. Savannah Morning News June 4, 2017. Accessed June 5, 2017
  3. Garrity, Patrick (June 27, 2004),"Building History", Burlington Free Press, p.2D
  4. Cohn, Arthur B.(2003). Lake Champlain's Sailing Canal Boats. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. p.104 ISBN   0-9641856-3-6
  5. "Gunboat Philadelphia, 1776". Smithsonian Institution Press. 2001. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009.
  6. Cohn, Arthur B.(2003). Lake Champlain's Sailing Canal Boats. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. pp. 118–123 ISBN   0-9641856-3-6
  7. Granstrom, Chris, "Kids, Trees, and a Boat that Floats", Northern Woodlands, Summer, 2001

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