People of the Dawn
Beginning nearly 7,500 years ago, Native Americans regularly camped, hunted, and fished in the Chimney Point area. During what is called the Archaic period (7,000 - 1,000 B.C.), temperatures rose after the glaciers melted and caused the vegetation and types of animals to change significantly. Tools left behind by the first inhabitants show they adapted to the changing climate and moved with the seasons to hunt, fish, and gather food. They made spear throwers and stone spear points for hunting animals, and stone tools for cutting, scraping, and working wood and other stone.

ABENAKI EXHIBIT Deer Spirit Gourd Vessel by Dale Carson In a room that was recently reopened to the public, the Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison presents “The Light of Dawn,” a continuing exhibition of contemporary art by Abenaki artists including Fred Wiseman, Dale Carson, Cheryl Heath, and William La Prairie. Many of the pieces were part of the first all-Abenaki exhibition that debuted here in 1994 and toured to other museums as a statement of Abenaki culture to the world. Artist Gerard Rancourt Tsonakwa generously donated the collection. more

By about 1,000 B.C., Native Americans were starting to make pottery, domesticate wild plants, and live in villages. They developed the bow and arrow and made fine, sharp stone points for the arrows as well as sharp stone blades. The Lake Champlain area became an important travel route as they traded materials such as copper, shell, and a variety of stone from different regions. Archaeologists call the time from 1,000 B.C. to 1600 A.D., just before Europeans began exploring this area, the Woodland period. The Woodland people here were the ancestors to today's Abenaki or "people of the Dawnland." For more information, see archeology links.

European interests in the New World and its vast resources and the wars that followed brought dramatic and rapid change to the native culture. In order to survive many Abenaki either tried to hide their heritage or left the area. In the 1970s the Abenaki Tribal Council was reformed and in the 1970s and 1980s several demonstrations called attention to the Abenaki effort to claim aboriginal hunting and fishing rights. Today there are over 3,500 Abenaki living in Vermont.

People of New France
In 1609 Frenchman Samuel de Champlain became the first European to explore this region and the lake that bears his name, traveling at least as far south as the Chimney Point area. By the late 1600s France and Great Britain were vying for control of the land, waterways, fishing, and fur trading in the New World. In 1690 the British governor of New York sent Captain Jacobus de Warm from Albany to watch the French on Lake Champlain. At what would later be called Chimney Point, de Warm built a small stone defense that he, 12 English, and 20 Mohawks occupied for about a month.

In 1731 the French decided to firmly establish their presence on Lake Champlain and block the lake route from the British colonies to Canada by building a fort at the strategic narrows between Chimney Point and Crown Point, New York. The French called this area Pointe à la Chevelure-or Crown Point, the crown referring to the top of a person's head (rather than to the monarchy). Their fort was a wooden stockade of posts, a fort de pieux, on top of the bluff at Chimney Point. About 100 feet by 100 feet in size, it had chambers for the commandant, chaplain, and the guard, and a kitchen, bakery, and storehouse. Twenty soldiers garrisoned it the first winter and it could hold up to thirty men. This was the first permanent French settlement in the Champlain valley.

The fort protected French interests until 1734, when they began building a larger fort, St. Frédéric, on the west side of the lake. In 1743 King Louis XV granted a large tract of land, a seigneury, on the east side to Gilles Hocquart, the presiding officer or intendant of New France, to encourage settlement. Families built houses; cleared land to grow wheat, other grains, and peas; and planted apple trees. By 1753 there were 21 houses on the east side of the lake and 19 houses on the west side.

The struggle for control in the new world intensified during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). In the summer of 1759, as British Major General Jeffrey Amherst and his army closed in, the French retreated northward to Canada, blowing up Fort St. Frédéric and burning their houses. All that remained of the houses were the chimneys and a new name—Chimney Point.

General Amherst built a grand new fort at Crown Point and ordered completion of the military road across Vermont that connected Crown Point to Fort No. 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire. After the war was over in 1763 new settlers came to the area by the military road, whose terminus was two miles south of Chimney Point, and by traveling on Lake Champlain.

Chimney Point In The Revolution

With the start of the American Revolution and military activities in the Champlain Valley, most settlers left this area because they were in the path of war and danger. In the summer of 1776, as the northern American army made improvements to the old Crown Point fort, their engineer, Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, laid out some works on Chimney Point. Several regiments and Americans soldiers with small pox were stationed for a time on Chimney Point.

The next summer, when General John Burgoyne and his British and German forces pressed southward on Lake Champlain as part of his plan to split New England off from the rest of the American colonies, Burgoyne stopped for a short time at Crown Point. German General Baron von Riedesel and his men camped at Chimney Point, where Burgoyne established a guarded depot for provisions and stores. In mid-October, as the British were deciding whether or not to hold onto the captured forts of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence further south on Lake Champlain, they planned to set up a fortified camp at Chimney Point with two regiments, artillery, and supplies to maintain communication between Canada and the forts.

The 18th Century building housed a popular taproom visited by Thomas Jefferson

The Chimney Point Tavern
The main, two-story section of the Chimney Point tavern was likely constructed in the mid-1780s, after the Revolution was over and it was safe to live here again. The tavern was a welcome sight for weary travelers on the lake. County court was held here occasionally and in 1785 regular sail ferry service to Crown Point began. In May 1791 future U.S. presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison visited Chimney Point and were fascinated by many small red squirrels with black stripes.

The brick veneer was added to the wood frame building in the very early 1800s and several additions were built. In 1821 Asahel Barnes, Sr., of Connecticut bought the property. He and his family made clocks and ran the tavern, a farm, and the ferry. A post office and store also were on the property, making Chimney Point an important lakeside commercial center.

In 1890 Barnes' grandson, Millard, acquired the property. In 1897 he hired J. H. Bruffee, an architect and builder from Port Henry, New York, to update the doors and windows on the old tavern and build the sweeping porch. In 1905 Barnes added on the small post office section. The post office was closed in 1934. Barnes also added the wood-frame section and operated Chimney Point as the St. Frederic Inn, a relaxing summer resort, until about 1920. During this time the Port Henry Steam Ferry Company ran their ferry, the G. R. Sherman, from the landing at Chimney Point to Port Henry and Crown Point. The ferry ran until the Champlain Bridge opened in 1929.

The Historic Site
The State of Vermont bought the Chimney Point property from Mary Barnes, the widow of Millard, in 1966 to protect it from unsuitable private development. In 1971 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its long and significant history. Chimney Point is one of the oldest taverns in Vermont and has one of the most intact early tap rooms, as well as an intact rural post office. The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation restored the property and reopened it as a museum in 1991 with new and seasonally changing exhibits. Located at one of the most dramatic gateways to Vermont, the site offers special exhibits, programs for school groups, a variety of lively events, including the popular annual Northeast Open Atlatl Championship, and a beautiful spot for picnics.

HOURS

Open late May through mid-October Wednesday through Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

ADMISSION

Adult $3.00 Children 14 and under, free Group (ten or more), reservation required $2.00 each

NEARBY AMENITIES

Lodging ~ Dining ~ Other Attractions

HOW TO GET HERE

Chimney Point  State Historic Site 7305 VT Route 125 Addison, VT 05491 From Northern and Eastern Vermont — take Route 7 south to Route 22A, then proceed on to Route 17 west and take the left turn immediately before the Lake Champlain Bridge. From Southern Vermont — take Route 30 or Route 22A north to Route 125 west, then take the left turn immediately before the Lake Champlain Bridge. From New York State — cross the Lake Champlain Bridge, 4 miles east of Route 9N and 22, and take the first right turn immediately after crossing the bridge.

HOW TO CONTACT US

Phone: (802) 759-2412 Email: ChimneyPoint@HistoricVermont.org Or write: Site Administrator Chimney Point State Historic Site 7305 VT Route 125 Addison, VT 05491