Lake Champlain Archaeology

During the Battle of Valcour Bay on Oct. 11, 1776, a cannon on the gunboat New York exploded. All but one of its pieces had been recovered. On Monday July 20, 2026, researchers brought the final piece of the cannon to the surface.

During its first year, New York's 250th Commemoration Commission plans to help heritage organizations across the state plan programming to promote events highlighting the state’s participation in the American Revolution and the formation of the United States.

The Clinton County Historical Association hosted a recent talk by Lake Champlin Maritime Museum Director Emeritus Art Cohn on efforts to raise the Revolutionary War gunboat Spitfire from the bottom of the lake.

Lake Champlain has a long nautical history. Early Native Americans used birch bark canoes on the lake. Then warships plied the waters during the…