Chimney Point, Vermont

Chimney Point State Historic Site

The historic tavern at Chimney Point
Established	1991
Location	8149 VT Route 17W Addison, Vermont
Type	History museum
Owner	State of Vermont
Website	Chimney Point State Historic Site

Chimney Point is a peninsula in the town of Addison, Vermont, which juts into Lake Champlain forming a narrows. It is one of the earliest settled and most strategic sites in the Champlain Valley.

For thousands of years, the locale was occupied by Native Americans. In 1731 it was settled by the French, who built fortifications and houses on both sides of the lake.

Along with the Crown Point peninsula across the narrows, the area was the site of conflicts between Great Britain and France as they struggled for control of North America. During the American Revolutionary War, Chimney Point was occupied at different times by both the American and British armies.

With the end of the war in 1783, American settlers returned to the Champlain Valley. In 1785, regular ferry service across the lake was established to and from Chimney Point. A tavern, once visited by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, served travelers and the community.

In 1929, the first Lake Champlain Bridge opened. It increased traffic and improved communication between Vermont and upstate New York. Following the discovery of deterioration in the piers in 2009, that bridge was demolished and replaced by a new bridge, which opened in 2011.

Chimney Point is a Vermont State Historic Site, preserving a 1785 tavern and presenting the story of three cultures, Native American, French Colonial, and early-American.

The Chimney Point peninsula is bounded by Lake Champlain and Hospital Creek. At its narrowest, Lake Champlain is about .3 miles (0.48 km) across at Chimney Point. The Lake Champlain Bridge is one of only two bridges across the lake in its length of 125 miles (201 km).

The spot is a favorite with anglers. A boat launch at Chimney Point allows access to the lake.

Archeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the Chimney Point area for as long as 7,500 years. Native Americans camped, hunted, and fished at Chimney Point. Their tools show they adapted to a warming climate and moved with the seasons to hunt, fish, and gather food. They made spear throwers and stone spear points for hunting animals, and stone tools for cutting, scraping, and working wood and other stone. In the Woodland period, the native peoples made ceramic pots for storage of foodstuff, water, and use with foods and produce.

Samuel de Champlain was the first European to explore the lake that settlers later named for him. In 1609 he traveled at least as far south as present-day Ticonderoga, 13 miles (21 km) from Chimney Point.