Crown Point Road in New Hampshire and Vermont-Claremont New Hampshire,sure was a mighty vital military supply link between The Fort at No.4 in New Hampshire and the Fort at Crown Point on Lake Champlain, the trace of the Crown Point Road, below you can see it as an overlay on a modern day map of Vermont showing the present day Highways and Villages.
This evening of the 8th of September 2011, folks are being invited to attend a slide show program being presented by Becky Tucker and Eileen Klymn of the Crown Point Road Association. The program is being held at the Martin Memorial Hall, which is located at 5259 Route 5 in Ascutney, Vermont, the program will start at 7:00 P.M. This here mighty fine program is about the Historic 1759 Crown Point Road. This 1759 Military Road, which goes through many of the mighty fine local area Towns, which includes Charlestown, New Hampshire, Springfield and Weathersfield, Vermont.
Crown Point Road in New Hampshire and Vermont-Claremont New Hampshire, this slide show program will be featuring many mighty fine old slides which were taken by Weathersfielder Augustus Aldrich and others, which will also include some new views of the Crown Point Road of the 250th Anniversary which took place in 2009 through hikers. The Crown Point Military Road that was built in 1759 and 1760 in order to carry men, supplies and cattle from The Fort at No.4 through Vermont up to Lake Champlain and the Fort at Crown Point, N.Y. This here program is being sponsored by the Weathersfield Historical Society. For more information, please call 802-263-5626
More than Two Hundred Fifty years ago, in 1759, the British government surveyed, constructed, and paid for Vermont's first interstate highway. Named the Crown Point Road, it was built during the French and Indian War following England's defeat of French forces at Forts Carrilon and St. Frederic on Lake Champlain. Commanding General Jeffrey Amherst, wishing to continue the campaign into Canada, was in desperate need of fresh troops and supplies. Because the established supply route from the Atlantic ports by way of Albany and Lake George was long and difficult, Amherst needed a more direct route. For centuries past, Native Americans had followed the waterways leading from Canada to the coast. One of the most-traveled routes connected Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River following Otter Creek and the Black River. By a stroke of fortune this footpath led from Amherst’s strategic position at Crown Point, New York directly to an important military post, The Fort at No.4 on the Connecticut River.
Crown Point Road in New Hampshire and Vermont-Claremont New Hampshire, the General ordered his engineers to devise a plan to improve the route, and Captain John Stark, commanding Rogers Rangers, then cut and marked the road. The road construction was primitive but served its purpose for the remainder of the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, Colonial Militias, schooled by the British during the previous war, turned the tables on them and utilized the road to their own advantage, contributing to the ultimate British defeat. With the arrival of peace, perhaps the greatest contribution of the Crown Point Road to Vermont history was as a conduit for the great influx of settlers coming to the (then) New Hampshire Grants to establish towns and homesteads. Today, it is possible to walk or drive a car on many remaining sections of this ancient road, unique in American history.
When General Jeffrey Amherst decided to build his magnificent Stone Fort at Crown Point on the site of the ruins of the French Fort St. Frederic, he needed supplies, munitions and manpower in a hurry. This was especially in preparation for the invasion of Canada but also for the construction of the Fort which he saw as essential to the defense of the British Colonies and as an encouragement to the development of the wilderness.Since the supply route then currently in use, was by way of the Hudson River and Lake George with numerous portages - was slow and cumbersome Amherst decided to utilize a well-traveled Indian trail leading from Lake Champlain across Vermont (the New Hampshire Grants then) to the Connecticut River where there was a settlement at The Fort at No.4 in New Hampshire (which is now known as Charlestown, New Hampshire) and direct connections to the Atlantic seacoast.
Crown Point Road in New Hampshire and Vermont-Claremont New Hampshire, around the eighth of August 1759, Captain John Stark and 200 members of Rogers Rangers set out from Crown Point to cut and mark a road to The Fort at No.4 in New Hampshire. Stark, already well acquainted with the culture of the Indians, was familiar with their trails which often led from Canada to the Connecticut River following smaller streams through the wilderness. The Crown Point Road would essentially follow a path laid down by the Indians along the Otter Creek and Black River. Stark and his men returned to Crown Point, NY on September 8 or 9 after roughing out a road. On October 27, 1759, the road building resumed under Major John Hawks and a crew of 250. After suffering severe hardships such as hunger, sickness and desertion these men arrived at The Fort at No.4 on November 16.
In 1760, a New Hampshire regiment of some 800 men under Col. John Goffe was ordered to Crown Point to take part in the invasion of Canada. While on their way they had orders to improve the road. The men worked on the road until arriving at the Black River Ponds at which time they were ordered to abandon the work and hurry to Crown Point. Over time the road was improved in some sections, re-routed in others and sometimes abandoned by disuse but the route constructed by these stalwarts during the French and Indian War also served the Country and Vermont mighty well during the American Revolution and afterwards during times of settlement.
Have a good one
Dale in New Hampshire
Localism information by Baker Energy Audits and Commercial Properties Inspections blog post 1,315-8 September 2011 New Hampshire Relocation Information
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Blog Post Links with helpful New Hampshire Relocation Information:
Come Discover-Explore and Live in Charlestown New Hampshire The Live Free or Die State
Relocating to New Hampshire Come and Discover Charlestown New Hampshire
Links to my blog post series about some of the Historic Homes, in Charlestown, New Hampshire
Historic Homes Charlestown New Hampshire-Series
