Crown Point is a town on the New York side of the Champlain Valley in the Adirondacks.

Understand

Lake Champlain Bridge

The French began building a fort at this location as early as 1731. The narrowness of the lake passage at Crown Point, now spanned by the bridge, was of crucial strategic importance.

The name of the town is attributed to a translation of the French fort name; Point au Chevalure (the crown of the head). France retreated from the area before the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War in North America), destroying limestone Fort St. Frédéric (1734-1759) when they left. The British gained control of the area and built Fort Crown Point in 1759 as a large earthen fort. Crown Point, controlled by Vermont's Green Mountain Boys militia in 1775, was employed by the British during the 1777 Saratoga campaign, a failed attempt to establish British control of the Hudson Valley. The next line of defence below Crown Point was Ticonderoga. Crown Point's log and earth fortress were destroyed by an accidental fire in 1773, but ruins of some of the other buildings on the site survive as Crown Point State Historic Site, a state park at the northern tip of Crown Point peninsula.

Vermonters began creating a permanent settlement in what would become present day Crown Point in 1800, when Stephen Spaulding and his brothers came to the area on a scouting expedition. The flat coastal plain made early settlement relatively easy as did the short distance to their Vermont homes. They traveled between their established Vermont farms and this new land as they cleared the ground, built log cabins and prepared to move their families. Residents of Crown Point still commute to work in Vermont.

Crown Point was an industrialized community with fine houses, lawyers, doctors, stores and an academy for training teachers, when the Civil War engulfed the country. Unlike the earlier wars, the town wasn’t directly trampled by soldiers in battles, yet it gained fame from the number of its citizens who went to fight in the conflict, and from the Morgan horses it supplied to the Union Army. Three of the most famous horses, Pink, Billy, and Jeff, survived the war, returned to Crown Point and are buried there.

By the end of the 20th century, the iron veins showed signs of exhaustion and the company was sold. The Essex County fish hatchery, where stock is grown, is located in Crown Point. History-seeking tourists, boaters and bicyclists are drawn to the town. At the millennium, local residents, as well as entrepreneurs escaping urban life, have re-established cottage industries in the town.

Get in

I-87 North to exit 28. Take Route 74 East to Essex County Route 2.

or take Route 9N & 22 north from Ticonderoga, south from Port Henry. From Vermont take Route 17 West to the Crown Point Bridge.

Amtrak's "Adirondack" line passes through the Town of Crown Point, but stations are at Ticonderoga to the south and Port Henry to the north.

Get around

By car, RV, motorcycle, bicycle or boat on Lake Champlain.

See

• 1 Champlain Memorial Lighthouse.  
• 2 Crown Point State Historic Site. (updated Sep 2016)

Ruins of Fort Crown Point

• Penfield Homestead Museum, 703 Creek Rd. Museum of local history. Birthplace of the Electric Age. 1826 homestead, carriage barn, church, threshing barn, cow barn. (updated Sep 2016)

Buy

• Adirondack Country Treasures', 2738 Main St, ☏ +1 518 597-4224. (updated Sep 2016)
• Champs General Store, 694 Bridge Rd, ☏ +1 518 597-9779. (updated Sep 2016)
• Gunnison Lakeshore Orchards, 231 Furnace Rd, ☏ +1 518 546-7808. (updated Sep 2016)

Eat

Frenchman’s Restaurant 2749 Main Street 597-3545

Champs Bridge Rd 597-9779

Crown Point Bread Company Rt. 9N & 22 518-597-4422

Deli Crown Pizza 1 Russell St 518-597-4242

Hap's Market 2781 Main Street 597-3040

Jan's Country Park Diner Route 9N and 22 597-3455

Drink

The Woodland Coffee and Tea Room 204 Hogback Rd. 518-597-3970

Sleep

Stoney Lonesome Bed & Breakfast 989 Stoney Lonesome Road POB 33 518-597-3754

Sugar Hill Manor B&B 225 Sugar Hill Road 518-597-9545

Harwood Homestead Bed and Breakfast 697 Creek Rd, Ironville Section 518-597-3429

The Woodland B&B 204 Hogback 518-597-3970

Go next

Routes through Crown Point

Plattsburgh ← Westport ←	N  S	→ Ticonderoga → Saratoga Springs/Jct W E
END ←	W  E	→ becomes → Jct N S → Waitsfield