About This Location
Fort Ticonderoga was built as Fort Carillon by the French in 1755. The British suffered over 1,000 casualties trying to take it in 1758 before succeeding in 1759. In 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured it for the American Revolution. The fort changed hands multiple times, witnessing tremendous bloodshed. Today, visitors can explore 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain between the Adirondacks and Green Mountains.
The Ghost Story
The Legend of Ticonderoga is among history's most famous ghost stories. Major Duncan Campbell of Scotland's Black Watch Regiment was visited by his murdered cousin's ghost, who warned him they would meet again at "Ticonderoga" - a word Campbell had never heard. Years later, Campbell was mortally wounded at the fort, realizing too late the Native American name meant "the place where two waters meet." Nancy Coates, mistress of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, drowned herself in Lake Champlain after fearing abandonment; her apparition floats on the water, her sobbing echoing across the lake. Ghost Hunters investigated and declared "I firmly believe that you have paranormal activity going on here" after an officer's spirit lit up a room in the barracks.