For Immediate Release
September 22, 2023

Vermont Division for Historic Preservation Offering Lecture on Mapping of Revolutionary War Artifacts at Mount Independence

Orwell, Vt. – On October 1, 2023, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation will host a lecture on recent geographic information systems (GIS) mapping of the locations of Revolutionary War-era artifacts excavated at Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell. The GIS mapping is part of the Mount Independence Collections Stewardship Project, funded in 2021 by an American Battlefield Protection Program grant awarded to the State of Vermont. 

Regional Historic Sites Administrator Elsa Gilbertson will provide a project overview and archaeologist Hutch McPheters of Northeast Archaeology Research Center will report on the GIS mapping. The lecture is free and open to the public on Sunday, October 1 from 12:00 to 1:30 pm. 

Mount Independence State Historic Site is one of the nation’s most significant Revolutionary War archaeological sites. This National Historic Landmark is jointly owned and managed by the State of Vermont’s Division for Historic Preservation and the Fort Ticonderoga Association. From July 1776 to July 1777, Mount Independence played a critical role in the effort to defend northern New York, New England, and the cause of American liberty from the British. After the war, the Mount faded from public consciousness, quickly becoming an archaeological site. Investigations by the State of Vermont began in 1965 with integrated surface and subsurface mapping, exploratory excavations, analyses of recovered artifacts, and geospatial mapping of the landward portion of the site. The Collections Stewardship Project continues the State’s ongoing efforts to ensure the preservation and interpretation of this accumulated data. The geospatial maps to be summarized in the lecture accurately record the locations of individual finds in detailed three-dimensional space, in effect mapping the activities of the people who lived and labored at the site 244 years ago.

History and nature unite at Mount Independence with a one-of-a-kind experience recounting the gripping story of this significant Revolutionary War fortification and the lives of the soldiers who battled to survive the challenges of war and Mother Nature. Each year special events include guided nature and history hikes on the site’s trails, historical lectures, archaeological investigations, Soldiers Atop the Mount living history weekend, and the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence. The site offers six miles of trails along the archaeological remains of the fortification, including the Baldwin Trail that meets outdoor trail standards for handicapped accessibility. Mount Independence is open from 10 am to 5 pm daily until October 15.

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