Isle La Motte

Isle La Motte, Vermont
Town
The Head at the south end of Isle La Motte
Location in Grand Isle County and the state of Vermont
Isle La Motte, Vermont Location in the United States
Coordinates: 44°51′59″N 73°19′51″W / 44.86639°N 73.33083°W / 44.86639; -73.33083Coordinates: 44°51′59″N 73°19′51″W / 44.86639°N 73.33083°W / 44.86639; -73.33083
Country	United States
State	Vermont
County	Grand Isle
Area
• Total	16.7 sq mi (43.2 km2)
• Land	7.9 sq mi (20.4 km2)
• Water	8.8 sq mi (22.7 km2)
Elevation	95 ft (29 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	471
• Density	60/sq mi (23.1/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	05463
Area code(s)	802
FIPS code	50-35875
GNIS feature ID	1457978
Website	islelamotte.us

Isle La Motte is an island in Lake Champlain in northwestern Vermont, United States. It is the most remote and northern of the Champlain Islands. It is 7 by 2 miles (11.3 by 3.2 km). It lies close to where the lake empties into the Richelieu River. It is incorporated as a New England town in Grand Isle County. The population was 471 at the 2010 census.

The island is named after French soldier Pierre La Motte who built a military outpost on the island in 1666. The island population swells many times over in the summer months. The island is the site of Fort Sainte Anne, Saint Anne's Shrine, the Methodist Episcopal Church of Isle La Motte, the Fisk Quarry and Goodsell Ridge Preserves, the Isle La Motte Elementary School, and the Isle La Motte Lighthouse.

On 9 July 1609, Samuel de Champlain debarked on the island.

In 1665 the French began building a series of forts along the Richelieu River to protect New France from the Iroquois. From north to south these were Fort Richelieu, Fort Chambly, and Fort Sainte Thérèse.

Four companies of the Carignan-Salières Regiment were sent from Québec to extend these forts further south, under Captain Pierre La Motte. They built a trail connecting Fort Sainte Thérèse and Fort Saint-Louis (Chambly).