Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Fort Ticonderoga from Mount Defiance
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Location	Ticonderoga, New York
Nearest city	Burlington, Vermont
Coordinates	43°50′30″N 73°23′15″W / 43.84167°N 73.38750°W / 43.84167; -73.38750Coordinates: 43°50′30″N 73°23′15″W / 43.84167°N 73.38750°W / 43.84167; -73.38750
Area	21,950 acres (8,880 ha)
Built	1755–1758
Architect	Marquis de Lotbinière
Architectural style	Vauban-style fortress
NRHP Reference #	66000519
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	October 9, 1960

Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French military engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière between October 1755 and 1757 during the Seven Years' War, often referred to as the French and Indian War in the US. It was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the American Revolutionary War.

The site controlled a river portage alongside the mouth of the rapids-infested La Chute River in the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) between Lake Champlain and Lake George and was strategically placed in conflicts over trade routes between the British-controlled Hudson River Valley and the French-controlled Saint Lawrence River Valley. The terrain amplified the importance of the site. Both lakes were long and narrow, oriented north–south, as were the many ridge lines of the Appalachian Mountains extending as far south as Georgia, creating the near-impassable mountainous terrains to the east and west of the Great Appalachian Valley that the site commanded. The name "Ticonderoga" comes from the Iroquois word tekontaró:ken, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways".