A history of Champlain,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Champlain from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Nearby Lake Champlain was an important military and trade route during the colonial period. The lake and the town were named in honor of Samuel de Champlain, who first surveyed the area in 1609. It was part of Canada until 1763 and became part of the United States in 1783.
The town was formed in 1788, the same year the county was established. In 1799, the town was reduced by the formation of the town of Chateaugay (now in Franklin County). The founding of the towns of Chazy and Mooers, in 1804, further reduced Champlain.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Champlain’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewChamplain (Township), 1869: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Champlain
See all 9 →
Champlain, decade by decade
LOCHotel Champlain, early morning on Lake Champlain, Bluff Poi…1900
LOCHotel Champlain, early morning on Lake Champlain, Bluff Poi…1900
LOCSteamer Vermont, Lake Champlain, N.Y1900
LOCSteamer Vermont, Lake Champlain, N.Y1900
LOCSteamer Chateaugay, Lake Champlain, N.Y1900
LOCSteamer Chateaugay, Lake Champlain, N.Y1900
LOCSteamer Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, N.Y19001990s
Nothing in Champlain is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Champlain has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is U.S. Inspection Station-Mooers, New York in Champlain, 1.7 miles away.
Champlain and the nearest listed places
Closest to Champlain
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Com. MacDonough's victory on Lake Champlain Sept. 11th 1814 (1815) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the Library of Congress (9). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.