The human history of Lake Champlain and its Basin spans more than 10,000 years. The Basin's cultural heritage resources include historic structures and settlements of early Europeans, archeological sites on land and under water, sites of traditional and sacred importance to the Abenaki, Iroquois, and Mohican, military battle sites, agricultural sites, and industrial development sites.

• Cultural Heritage Sites Map & Article (LC Basin Atlas)
• National Historic Districts and Landmarks Map & Article (LC Basin Atlas)
• LCBP Historic Site Fact Sheets

Each year, millions of visitors come to the Basin to experience its rich history. Historic villages, bed-and-breakfasts, rural farms scapes and vital downtowns provide a relaxing backdrop for the casual visitor. Enthusiasts can delve into the region's history in more detail by visiting the many museums and historic sites in the Basin. Forts and battle sites that played a role in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 are found along the lake in New York, Vermont, and Quebec. Museums and historical societies provide in depth local and Lake Champlain oriented history.

A high priority for the Basin Program is to develop and promote locally planned and managed networks of heritage trails around the Lake. Heritage trails provide unobtrusive and economical access to historic places, whether for walkers, cyclists, motorists, or boaters. Since 2001 the Wayside Exhibit Program, developed by the LCBP and many partners, has designed more than 110 interpretive signs that are being installed around the Basin.

The year 2009 will mark the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival to the region. Learn more about plans to commemorate this historic event!

Interested in promoting the Lake Champlain region's rich heritage in your community? Then don't miss the Cultural Heritage Tourism Toolkit published by the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing. The 86-page toolkit is chock full of tips to make heritage come alive in your community for vital tourism initiatives. The LCBP funded $9,000 towards this project. Contact the Vermont Arts Council at (802) 828-3291 for a free copy ($6.00 shipping & handling fee) or download an online version (5MB PDF) of this document.

Ferry Audio Project

This project debuted in the Fall of 2006 on the Lake Champlain Transportation Company's Burlington, VT to Port Kent, NY Ferry. Passengers can tune in on car radios or borrow headsets to hear ten narratives about the history, culture and natural environment of Lake Champlain, all interspersed with songs from some of Vermont's favorite bands, like Phish, James O' Halloran, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. The project was made possible by several groups. Click on the image to read the rackcard, which lists all the speakers, bands and sponsors.

The report, Developing a Heritage Strategy for the Champlain-Richelieu-Upper Hudson Region, by the Quebec Labrador Foundation (QLF) is now online. During the fall of 2001, the QLF conducted a project on the development of a heritage strategy for the Champlain-Richelieu-Upper Hudson region encompassing parts of New York, Vermont, and Quebec. The project was requested through an RFP from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), in response to a directive from the U.S. Congress in the 2001 Interior Appropriations bill. The Lake Champlain Basin Program provided project oversight. This report summarizes the QLF's findings and presents their assessment of the heritage opportunities and needs, guiding principles, and six key elements of a coordinated heritage program.

• View the Heritage Strategy Report (273 KB PDF file)
• Quebec Labrador Foundation

In 1997, New York and Vermont began a joint planning project, Lake Champlain Byways, to study the feasibility of developing a 250-mile route around Lake Champlain. In 2000, New York implemented the Lakes to Locks Passage, which follows the interconnected waterway of the upper Hudson River/Champlain Canal, Lake George, and Lake Champlain. Through a partnership with Quebec, it includes the Chambly Canal and Richelieu River. In 2002, the US Secretary of Transportation awarded Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) “All American Road” status to Lakes to Locks Passage, “The Great Northeast Journey” due to its outstanding historic and recreational assets.

Vermont's portion of the byway, called the Lake Champlain Byway, runs from Vergennes to Alburg and connects with the Lakes to Locks Passage at three ferry crossings. Along the way, several new wayside exhibits have been posted. The byway is also working with the Vermont Quadricentennial Commission on the 400th commemoration of Samuel De Champlain's arrival to the region. A new Lake Champlain Byway website will be posted in 2007.

• Lakes to Locks Passage
• America's Byways Website
  

Lake Champlain and Lake George contain one of the best collections of shipwrecks in North America. These shipwrecks reflect every era of human activity from prehistory through military conflicts and on to the commercial era of the 19th century when schooners, steamboats, canal boats and barges crowded the waterways. There are nine designated dive sites in Lake Champlain's Underwater Historic Preserve System; one in New York and eight in Vermont. The State of New York has also designated three sites in Lake George. Hundreds of SCUBA divers visit the preserves each year; non-divers can experience the wrecks through the Virtual Diver Kiosk at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Shipwrecks are marked with yellow mooring buoys and include underwater interpretive signage. Booklets provide specific information about each wreck's history, features of interest, and other pertinent diving information. The preserves encourage awareness and stewardship and enhance recreational opportunities for SCUBA divers.

Management issues, degradation of water quality, nuisance aquatics, improved search technologies, and increased accessibility pose difficult challenges to protecting underwater cultural resources. Key to addressing those challenges is a comprehensive inventory. There is an added urgency in gathering as much information as possible. The proliferation of zebra mussels in Lake Champlain threatens to obscure and, in some cases, destroy important underwater cultural resources. With funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, private foundations, and other public and private funding sources, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum completed an underwater survey in 2004. Approximately 300 square miles of lake bottom was surveyed resulting in the discovery of 75 shipwrecks, including a Revolutionary War era gunboat, located in 1997. The gunboat, later identified as the Spitfire, sank in 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Island.

• Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Underwater Preserves Page
• Underwater Preserves Sites Map & Article (LC Basin Atlas)