Scenic Driving Vermont by Green Stewart M.;

Author:Green, Stewart M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493022427
Publisher: Globe Pequot

A few miles north of Shoreham, just off the drive, is Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area, at 2,858 acres the largest state waterfowl refuge in Vermont. The Dead Creek wetlands, created by water-control dams, offer excellent birding opportunities. Canada and snow geese, various species of ducks, wading birds such as bitterns and herons, and songbirds bring flocks of bird-watchers, particularly in spring and fall. Northeast of the wildlife area is the landmark promontory of 1,287-foot Snake Mountain, with a fine hiking trail up its long ridge to good summit viewpoints.

Past Shoreham, VT 74 zigzags south and west to Larrabee’s Point. This quiet village named for John Larrabee, who built a warehouse on the shore here in 1823, was once a busy commercial port and center for shipping quarried stone, lumber, and textiles. The railroad network that spread across the Northeast by the mid-1800s reduced the point’s attractiveness as a shipping hub. Historic structures here include not only Larrabee’s original warehouse but also the town’s ferry dock, still in use.

The Fort Ticonderoga Ferry runs from Larrabee’s Point to Fort Ticonderoga in New York from May through October. The fort was originally built by the French and later captured by the British. In 1775 Vermonter Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys surprised the then-British garrison, capturing the fort and its guns. These weapons were eventually used to free Boston. British General Burgoyne recaptured the fort from the colonials in 1777, but lost it again with independence. The restored stone fort, open mid-May through mid-October, displays weapons, uniforms, and artifacts in its museum.

Mount Independence, just south of Larrabee’s Point, is another Revolutionary War site, Vermont State Historic Site, and National Historic Landmark. The 400-acre site on a peninsula jutting into Lake Champlain was largely ignored by preservationists until 1975 when restoration, archaeological, and interpretative work was undertaken. Four trails lace this key military complex that faced Fort Ticonderoga. The fort, linked to Ticonderoga by a floating bridge, was built in 1776 to house 12,000 soldiers intended to protect the northwestern flank of the American colonies. It was captured by the British in July 1777 along with Fort Ticonderoga. The Continental Army, after abandoning the two forts, retreated southeast to Hubbardton where the army’s rear guard, including Seth Warner and the Green Mountain Boys, fought the British army to a standstill on July 7 in the only Revolutionary War battle fought on Vermont soil. The 1,200 Vermonters held the select British units off for 2 hours before scattering when Hessian reinforcements arrived. Their action, however, delayed the British enough so that the main American column was able to escape southward. The battlefield, 12 miles south of Sudbury off VT 30, is commemorated by a marble spire.

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