ticonderoga Heritage Museum

Ticonderoga's Industrial History

OUR HERITAGE

The industrial history of Ticonderoga cannot be told without describing paper mills, graphite mining, and pencils. The Heritage Museum preserves and interprets that history. Housed in the "1888 building," the museum is the last remaining structure of the Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper Company that once covered the area now known as the Percy Thompson Bicentennial Park. The museum also hosts a Heritage Visitor Center along the Lakes to Locks Passage, with information about local points of interest.

The museum offers

Historically accurate exhibits

Creative children's workshops

Displays and exhibits which interpret the manufacturing techniques and the history of

- Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper Company

- International Paper Company

- American Graphite Company

- Delaware & Hudson Railroad (Baldwin & Ticonderoga Branches)

- Other area industries

For more information and details about the latest happenings related to the Heritage Museum, visit us on Facebook.

Our Earlier History - The front door to the Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper Company.

GUEST COMMENTS

"Worth visiting, part of the history of the North of the country. Lady at the front desk very friendly and nice." Carlos Chacin

"What a great place to spend half a day with the family! The hike was nice and easy which we wanted because of our son with special needs. The covered bridge is a great place for a photo-op! Not just the falls!!" Woody

"Makes for a memorable trip! It is a really nice place amazing scenery." Veteran Vapor

WE ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE SEASON.......

MUSEUM GIFT SHOP AND MUSEUM ARE OPEN FOR THE 2025 SEASON

Our first day for the 2025 season: OPEN NOW

Our last day for the 2025 season: October 19, 2025

OUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPE IS BACK FOR 2025

Thank you for your continued patronage. We will be open and extra day this year:

Thursday , December 4, 2025, 2 pm - 6 pm

Friday, December 5, 2025, 10 am - 8 pm

Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10 am - 2 pm

Share Your History With Us!

We invite everyone to share your history with the Ticonderoga Heritage Museum through the donation of photos, yearbooks, videos, paper items, and other historic materials. Do you have photographs of Ticonderoga's historical industry? How about that picture of dad in front of International Paper Company's mill or any other photo of Ticonderoga's past? Do you want a digital scan of your item? Bring it into the museum. We can scan this for you and provide it back to you on your thumb drive or other storage media. If you don't want to donate the physical item, perhaps you would consider donating the digital image and rights to the museum so we can increase our historical database and share with others while you keep the original in your possession. Ask a Museum representative for more information.

Sharing your history with us allows us to not only preserve it, but share it with others whether they be researchers or your own neighbors.

collection spotlight

For 2025. This year's (2025) project is looking at "Ticonderoga Memorabilia." We hope to have several memorabilia pieces from Ticonderoga's past on display from our members and the museum. The tentative time for this is to correspond with the annual Ticonderoga StreetFest event during the last Saturday in July. More information to come on this...

INDUSTRY WALKING TOURS

We will continue our La Chute Industry Walking Tours for Upper and Lower La Chute this year. Feedback for these tours has been incredibly positive. See below for additional schedules of both the Upper and Lower La Chute tours. Along the way for each tour (lower and upper La Chute), the guide discusses the abundance of industries which once made their living along the river, many of which used the river's power to benefit their industry. The Museum will provide each tour participant with a guide book to use during the tour. The guide book shows the location of each industry on the map, its relation to other industries, photos of how it appeared during its operation, and interesting facts. The tour guide will also point out each location and provide additional information on each location not necessarily found in the guide book.

Our Industry Walking Tour

TOUR DATES & RESERVATIONS: See the schedule of tour dates below. Space is limited so call 518-585-2696 to make a reservation to secure your spot. Tour is weather dependent so we will take your contact information and call you to inform you if the tour is postponed for any reason. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION IF INTERESTED AND WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE TOUR DATE AND RAIN CHECK DATE.

Both tours are guided with tour participant guides which show you the locations along the walk (photos, maps, and related interest material). The tour guide will provide additional information at each location of interest and answer questions. Examples are included in the attached photos. Good walking shoes and water are recommended. Tour length times are approximated and depend on the number of questions and speed of the tour group (the tour is conducted at a relaxed pace).

TOUR DETAILS (Lower La Chute): This tour begins at the Heritage Museum (1888) building and follows the river west-southwest to Montcalm Street. The tour length is approximately 75 minutes and depends on the number of questions and walking speed.

TOUR DETAILS (Upper La Chute): This tour begins at the lawn on the corner of Alexandria Avenue and Lord Howe and is designed to walk downhill. The walking trail is now connected so there is no longer a detour. The tour length is approximately 75 minutes and depends on the number of questions and walking speed.

NOTICE: The Upper La Chute tour ends on Montcalm Street so you will need to be dropped off at the start location or have someone give you a ride back to the start location if you park your vehicle there. Other tour members have provided a ride to those who need one in past tours. You can walk back, but it is uphill at the very end over the new La Chute Trail Extension path.

Past Comments/Feedback:

"I travel to Ticonderoga year round for educational events. This tour added greatly to my knowledge..."

Tour Guide "was on top of everything covered and was easily heard with microphone. Thank you!!"

"Enjoyed all of it!"

"The tour was so informative and beautifully organized."

"Fascinating! Learned my new things about Ticonderoga."

"Walked the trail often - Now I have an entirely new perspective on what I see."

"This is a GREAT history lesson."

TOUR TIPS: We recommend comfortable shoes. The lower La Chute River tour route follows a fairly level path over a number of different terrain surfaces including soft grass, cement sidewalk, asphalt path, loose gravel, and stone. The Upper La Chute River tour follows a level and down hill path also over different terrain surfaces. We also suggest you bring water as summer in the Adirondacks can sometimes demand it.

UPDATE! Tour dates will be added as we assign slots. We will address foul weather impact as it gets closer to the tour date. Space is limited for all tours so contact the Museum now. Call the Museum @ 518-585-2696 or email us at tiheritagemuseum@gmail.com and provide your phone number for confirmation of reservation. If needed and if we can accommodate, additional dates are possible. Tour dates will be listed below and on social media as they are added to the schedule. More tours may be added and adjusted as needed or requested.

Everyone's safety is important to us. Our tour is naturally suited for social distancing. Masks are not required.

Industry Walking Tour - Lower La Chute River

Tour #1: Wednesday, June 17, 2025 at 3:00 pm. Private tour for TACC.

Tour #2: Saturday, TBD, 2025 at 10:00 am.

Tour #3: Saturday, September 6, 2025 at TBD.

Industry Walking Tour - Upper La Chute River

Tour #1: Saturday, TBD, 2025 at 10:00 am.

Tour #2: Saturday, TBD, 2025 at 10:00 am..

summer children's program - 2025

Get Ready for Another Successful Program

We thank your for your patience and participation during the 2024 Summer Children's Program. For the 2025 season, workshops will be held on Tuesday and Friday from 9 am to 10 am (NOTE: This is an hour earlier than the 2024 season).

This program features a series of 12 FREE one-hour workshops for children ages 5-12. This year's workshops focus on the art of many cultures in the world and North America led by a local artist.

Our theme for 2025 is DIG IN TO ART.

WHEN: July 8 to August 15 2025.

WHAT: 2025 Children's Workshop - Dig in to art.

WHERE: Heritage Museum (the 1888 building)...entrance to the Percy Thompson Bicentennial Park.

Week 1

Tuesday, July 8 - IT'S NOT YOURS, IT'S MAYAN! (MayanArt)

Students design and create their own Mayan masks.

Friday, July 11 - GRIN & BEAR IT (Inuit Art)

The polar bear is an important symbol in the Inuit culture. Students create, color, and etch designs into a polar bear template. Frame with black paper.

Week 2

Tuesday, July 15 - LEARN THE "CLAY" OF THE LAND (Hopi Art)

The Hopi people are known for their work with clay. Students will create their own clay object. Then they will paint Hopi symbols on a clay flowerpot.

Friday, July 22 - MAKE "MOOSE" IC (Abenaki)

The moose is an important animal for the Abenaki people. Students will do a step-by-step drawing of a moose, then decorate it..

Week 3

Tuesday, July 22 - MAYAN WORRY DOLLS (Mayan)

Students hear the history of worry dolls and their place in Mayan society, then make their own.

Friday, July 25 - GIVE A HOOT (Aborigines)

Owls symbolize wisdom, magic, and messengers. Students create and decorate an owl, then use different colors of paint to make a background.

Week 4

Tuesday, July 29 - BUILD A TOTEM POLE (Tlingit)

Totem poles represent family history and culture. Students will create a totem pole to represent their family.

Friday, August 1 - PUT YOUR STAMP ON IT

Study maps then make your own Stamp Gallery. This is in collaboration with the TIconderoga Stamp Club.

Week 5

Tuesday, August 5 - WEAVE A BASKET (Navajo)

Students learn the art of basket weaving.

Friday, August 8 - LEAF THE PAINTING TO ME (Japinka)

Have fun and be creative with this leaf project.

Week 6

Tuesday, August 12 - SHAKE, RATTLE, AND RULE (Native American)

Rattles signify independence. Design and create your own native rattle.

Friday, August 15 - YOU NEED A "T" TO MAKE ART (Many Cultures)

Participants bring their own T-shirt or piece of fabric to create a mandala to wear or hang.

This project is partially funded from:

The Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the NY State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the NY State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.

The Essex County Arts Council Cultural Assistance Program with funding provided by Essex County.

Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match Program.

WE ARE YOUR MUSEUM!

Please feel free to stop by our Museum if you have any questions.

SCANNER DAY!

What is scanner day you ask? Scanner day is part of our Collection Spotlight series of events and was conceived and designed to encourage the Ticonderoga community to bring in their photographs or other historical documents for the purpose of scanning the item(s), returning the item and a digital image to the owner, and obtaining rights to the digital image for Museum use, thereby adding it to the Museum's collection, or possibly obtaining an outright donation of the item(s) to the Museum by the owner. The whole purpose is to increase the Museum's collection so that these images and documents can be turned around and shared with the community as well as researchers.

Thank you to all those who have participated in scanner day in the past. We hope to offer this again in 2025. If you have items you would like scanned, please stop by the museum during regular business hours.

Collections Management Activities

Your Ticonderoga Heritage Museum is making great strides to preserve Ticonderoga’s industrial history. We say “your museum” because this museum and the history it represents and shares belongs to all of us…all of you. Many of our plans every year involve you, your family members, and your friends as we open up our historical preservation mission to Ticonderoga. This process doesn’t stop at simply preserving what currently resides in the museum, but expands to sharing what we have with you through social media and special events like Collection Spotlight.

Database work and scanning continues all year round as new items enter our collection and as we endeavor to classify and identify items which have been in the collection for years.

Collection management - scanning & archiving photos.

Board members Terry Smith, Steve Boyce, Mark Wright, and Barbara Riley prepare coleslaw packages.

FUNDRAISER EVENTS

Our primary annual fundraiser occurs twice during the season in the months of May and October. The meal consists of a chicken BBQ cooked by our fine partners at the Ticonderoga Knights of Columbus, Father Jogues Council 333. They do a marvelous job. This consists of a half chicken, coleslaw, baked potato, roll and butter, and desert. We may shake things up a bit this year so stay tuned.

To our wonderful museum Board and Staff members who help with this event...thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Meal pickups usually begin at 5 pm until sold out. Pre-orders are highly encouraged as these dinners sell quickly.

BBQ #1: May 16, 2025; Chicken BBQ at Knights of Columbus. Cost $15.

EVENT #2: TBD

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