Crown Point
Crown Point commands a narrow pass on Lake Champlain, an ideal place to control passage on the lake. The Dutch, French, British, and Americans occupied the point successively in colonial times. Anyone journeying through the wilderness stopped here. Today, visitors crossing the bridge from Vermont can stop for information, visit the Forts at Crown Point, or settle in at the campground.
Further south, Putnam's Creek forms the axis of the town's post-Revolution history. Settlers built gristmills, sawmills, and forges at the waterfalls, creating five hamlets climbing up the course of the creek. Hammond's Corners evolved into the town center. The Essex County Fish Hatchery welcomes visitors at Crown Point Center. Penfield Museum tells the story of the Crown Point Iron Works in Ironville.
On the lakeshore, Monitor Bay Park recalls the use of Crown Point iron for armor on the Civil War warship USS Monitor. The last furnaces to smelt iron in Crown Point went out of blast here in 1892. Now campers and boaters reclaim the former industrial site. Nothing remains of the Feldspar Mill south of town except the concrete storage bins built into the cliff at Spar Bay.
Town of Crown Point
PO Box 443
Monitor Bay Park
Crown Point, NY 12928
crownpoint@cptelco.net
Town of Crown Point Historian
Joan Hunsdon
183 Russell Street
Crown Point, NY 12928
597-3863
For more information about dining or lodging, please contact:
Lake Champlain Visitors Bureau
94 Montcalm Street Suite 1
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
1-866-The Lake
(1-866-843-5253)
Points of Interest
Historic
Recreation
- Boat Launch at Crown Point Reservation
- Crown Point Iron Company Walking Tour
- DEC Crown Point Reservation Campground (Fishing Access)
- Fort to Fort Bicycle Route
- Gunnison Lakeshore Orchards
- Ledgetop Orchards
- Monitor Bay Campsites
- Monitor Bay Park and Marina
- Monroe's Produce
- Putnam Creek Fishing Access
- Putt's Creek Fishing Access
- Stoney Lonesome Bicycle Route
- Thyme to Reap Farm
- Trail to Eagle Lake picnic area, off Corduroy Road
