Lake Champlain
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| Lake Champlain | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | |
| Primary sources | Otter Creek Winooski River Missisquoi River Lamoille River Au Sable River Chazy River Boquet River Saranac River |
| Primary outflows | Richelieu River |
| Catchment area | 21,326 km² (8232 mi²) |
| Basin countries | Canada, USA |
| Max length | 180 km (110 mi) |
| Max width | 19 km (12 mi) |
| Surface area | 1130 km² (435 mi²) |
| Average depth | 19.5 m (64 ft) |
| Max depth | 122 m (400.3 ft) |
| Water volume | 25.8 km³ |
| Residence time (of lake water) | 3.3 years |
| Shore length1 | 945 km (587 mi) |
| Islands | Grand Isle North Hero Isle La Motte |
| Settlements | Burlington, Vermont Plattsburgh, New York |
| 1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article. | |
Lake Champlain (French: lac Champlain) is a large lake in North America, mostly within the borders of the United States (states of Vermont and New York) but partially situated across the US-Canada border in the province of Quebec.
The lake was named for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it in 1609.
It is a natural, freshwater lake in the contiguous United States, situated in the Champlain Valley between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St. Lawrence River near Montreal and fed by Otter Creek, the Winooski, Missisquoi, and Lamoille Rivers in Vermont, and the Au Sable, Chazy, Boquet, and Saranac Rivers in New York. Lake Champlain also receives water from Lake George via the La Chute River.
The lake varies seasonally from about 95 to 100 feet above mean sea level.
While the ports of Burlington, Vermont, Port Henry, New York, and Plattsburgh, New York are little used nowadays except by small crafts, ferries and lake cruise ships, they had substantial commercial and military importance in the 18th and 19th Century.
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[edit] A region of large freshwater lakes
Lake Champlain is one of a large number of large lakes spread in an arc from Labrador through the northern United States and into the Northwest Territories of Canada. Although it cannot be compared with the Great Lakes of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior, or Michigan, Lake Champlain is a large body of fresh water. Approximately 1130 km² (435 square miles) in area, the lake is roughly 180 km (110 miles) long, and 19 km (12 miles) across at its widest point. The maximum depth is approximately 400 feet. It contains roughly 80 islands, including an entire county in Vermont.
[edit] Colonial America and the Revolutionary War
In colonial times, Lake Champlain provided an easily traversed water (or, in winter, ice) passage between the Saint Lawrence and the Hudson Valleys. Boats and sledges were usually preferable to the unpaved and frequently mud-bound roads of the time. The northern tip of the lake at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec (St. John in colonial times) is a short distance from Montreal. The southern tip at Whitehall (Skenesborough in colonial times) is a short distance from Saratoga, Glens Falls, and Albany, New York.
Forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point (Fort St. Frederic) controlled passage of the lake in colonial times. Important battles were fought at Ticonderoga in 1758 and 1777. A significant naval battle was fought in 1776 at Valcour Island: in the Battle of Valcour Island, Benedict Arnold delayed British ships enough to prevent the fall of these forts until the following year, allowing the Continental Army to grow stronger and enabling the later victory at Saratoga.
[edit] War of 1812
The Battle of Lake Champlain, also known as the Battle of Plattsburgh, fought on September 11, 1814, ended the final invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812. Fought just prior to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, the American victory denied the British any leverage to demand exclusive control over the Great Lakes and any territorial gains against the New England states.
Fort Blunder (more properly known as Fort Montgomery) was built by the Americans on an arm of Lake Champlain after the War of 1812, to protect against attacks from British Canada. Its name comes from a surveying error: the initial phase of construction on the fort turned out to be taking place three quarters of a mile north of the border. Once this error was spotted, construction stopped and resumed at the current location, safely on U.S. soil. The materials used in the aborted fort were scavenged by locals for use in their own homes and public buildings.
Several US Naval ships have been named after this battle.
In the early 19th century, the construction of the Champlain Canal connected Lake Champlain to the Hudson River system, allowing north-south commerce by water from New York City to Montreal and Atlantic Canada.
[edit] Modern history
Lake Champlain briefly became the nation's sixth Great Lake on March 6, 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. Following a small uproar, the Great Lake status was rescinded on March 24 (although Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).
One of the more enduring myths surrounding Lake Champlain is that of Champ. Reminiscent of the Loch Ness monster, Ogopogo and other phenomena of cryptozoology, Champ is purportedly a giant aquatic animal that makes the lake its home. Sightings have been sporadic over time. Regardless, locals and tourists have developed something of a fondness for the creature and its legend and representations of Champ can now be found on tee shirts, coffee mugs, and many other tourist souvenirs. The Vermont Lake Monsters, a minor-league baseball team, have a cartoonish version of Champ as their mascot.
The Alburg Peninsula (also known as the Alburg Tongue), extending south from the Quebec shore of the lake into Vermont, shares with Point Roberts, Washington, and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota as well as Province Point (see below) the distinction of being reachable by land from the rest of its state only via Canada. However, unlike the other three cases, this is no longer of practical significance since highway bridges across the lake do provide access to the peninsula within the United States (from three directions, in fact). A few kilometres to the north-east of the town of East Alburgh, however, the southernmost tip of a small promontory, Province Point, is cut through by the US-Canadian border.
[edit] Lake crossings
[edit] Mainland
The lake can be crossed by road at only one southerly point, the Champlain Bridge, connecting Chimney Point in Vermont with Crown Point, New York.
To the north, Grand Isle County, Vermont connects to the New York mainland via U.S. Route 2 to Rouses Point, NY adjacent to the Canadian border.
[edit] Ferry
North of Ticonderoga, NY, the lake widens appreciably; ferry service is provided by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company at:
- Charlotte, VT to Essex, NY (may not travel when the lake is frozen)
- Burlington, VT to Port Kent, NY (seasonal)
- Grand Isle, VT to Plattsburgh, NY (year-round icebreaking service)
The most southerly crossing is the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry, connecting Ticonderoga, New York with Shoreham, Vermont just north of the historic fort.
[edit] Railroad
Through history there were four significant railroad crossings over the lake. Currently, only one such crossing remains.
- The "floating" rail trestle from Larabees Point, VT to Ticonderoga, NY. This crossing used a floating trestle that was abandoned in 1918 due to many accidents resulting in locomotives and rail cars being dumped in the lake. This crossing was operated by the Addison Branch of the Rutland Railroad.
- The Island Line Causeway. This marble rock landfill causeway stretched from Colchester, VT (on the mainland) three miles north and west to South Hero, VT. Two breaks in the causeway were spanned by a fixed iron trestle and a swing bridge that could be opened to allow nautical navigation. The Rutland Railroad (later Rutland Railway) operated trains over this causeway from 1901-1961. The Railway was officially abandoned in 1963, with tracks and trestles removed over the course of the ten years that followed. The marble causeway still remains, as does the fixed iron trestle that bridges the lesser of the two gaps. The swing bridge over the navigation channel was removed sometime in the early 1970s. The main three mile causeway is a popular recreation area (called Colchester Park) for cyclists, runners, anglers, and lovers of the outdoors. Two smaller marble rock landfill causeways were also erected as part of this line that connected Grand Isle, VT to North Hero, VT and from North Hero to Alburgh, VT.
- The Rouses Point, NY rail trestle. This wooden trestle carried two railroads (the Rutland Railroad and the Central Vermont Railroad) over the lake adjacent and to the south of the US 2 vehicular bridge. This trestle carried rolling stock from sometime in the late 19th century until 1964. The iron swing bridge at the center (over the navigation channel) has been removed, but most of the wooden piles that carried the railroads still remain and can easily be seen looking south from the U.S. 2 bridge. The Rouses Point side of the bridge has been converted, in part, to an access pier associated with the local marina.
- The Swanton, VT, to East Alburg, VT, rail trestle. This wooden trestle was built in the same manner as the Rouses Point trestle. It crosses the lake just south of Missisquoi Bay and the Canadian border, running directly south of the VT 78 highway causeway. This rail crossing carries the New England Central Railroad (part of the Canadian National Railway) and is still being used to this day.
[edit] See also
