Step back in time…
Early history of Lake Champlain
The land and waters surrounding Valcour Inn and Boathouse have a long history, going back a million years to the formation of the great glaciers that crept across North America in the Pleistocene period. The salt-water Champlain Sea was formed through its link to the Atlantic Ocean, and marine life, including whales, swam and thrived here. It was gradually cut off from the ocean and formed a freshwater lake.
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There is evidence of Paleoindian habitation on the eastern shores of Lake Champlain from 9300 BC and of hunter-gatherers during the Woodland period. By the early 16th century, the Iroquois peoples had come to dominate the western shores and as far north as the St. Lawrence River. In 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain traveled down the lake from the St. Lawrence with a party of Algonquins, Hurons and Montagnais warriors. Near Ticonderoga, Champlain, armed with gunpowder weapons, engaged in a confrontation with the Iroquois and began the long period of military battles for control of the lake.
Battle of Valcour Island
Valcour Island (island of pines) was claimed as part of New France until 1763. It was the site of one of the most important battles of the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Navy spent the summer of 1776 building ships on the southern end of the lake at present-day Whitehall, New York in preparation for a confrontation with the British navy. On September 30, under the command of General Benedict Arnold, fifteen vessels of various sizes, sheltered in Valcour Harbor in a position that Arnold found most advantageous for a surprise attack on the British fleet. On October 10, as the unknowing British sailed south past Valcour, the Continental Navy began a two-day battle and epic retreat down the lake that, while clearly a military defeat for the Americans, delayed the British from advancing past the fort at Crown Point. As winter began to set in, the British retreated back to Quebec, buying time for the Continental forces and setting the stage for the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777. There are many excellent books and online resources about this period of American history.
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Port Jackson and the Sibley family
The British defeat at the Battle of Plattsburgh in the War of 1812 ushered in an era of peace and commercial growth on Lake Champlain. In 1820, Robert Platt founded Port Jackson, encompassing the cove and land where the Inn and Boathouse now stand. Once a bustling commercial wharf, Port Jackson welcomed sailboats, canal boats, and steamboats, with horse-drawn wagons loading and unloading goods. By the late 1870s, Valcour gained its own railroad station, and travelers could reach Plattsburgh by steamer or train for just $0.18.
In 1897, the property was purchased by U.S. Congressman Joseph Sibley, who built a large residence and the boathouse that remains today. After the original house was destroyed by fire, Celia Sibley Wilson rebuilt it in 1926; this home is now the Inn. The property remained in the family until 1951 and was acquired in 1963 by the Plattsburgh State Teachers College Benevolent and Educational Association (now College Auxiliary Services). Still owned by CAS, it continues to host conferences, retreats, campus events, and public gatherings.