civilized ku # 3079-81 ~ 200+ nautical miles from the ocean

kids ~ Whitehall, NY - just outside the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
plaque ~ Whitehall, NY - just outside the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Skene Manor ~ Whitehall, NY - just outside the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

During our return from Marlborough, Mass. on Sunday, we stopped in the small village of Whitehall, NY (pop. 2,617). A town located just outside of the Adirondack PARK - by about 400 feet - near the Vermont border that is on the down side of prosperity.

Strange as it might seem, the village claims to be the birthplace of the United States Navy. Strange because the village is over 200 nautical miles form the Atlantic Ocean.

However, in 1776, Congress ordered that a fleet of ships be built. Materials, supplies, carpenters, soldiers, and sailors descended upon Skenesborough Harbor (later named Whitehall), located at the lower reaches of Lake Champlain on the Champlain Canal. The first US naval fleet was constructed that summer.

The fleet of thirteen ships, led by no other than Benedict Arnold, joined three other American vessels to form a 16-vessel naval fleet which faced the 30-vessel British fleet in the Battle of Valcour Island (northern Lake Champlain) on October 11, 1776.

Although the Americans were defeated, the Americans inflicted enough damage on the British fleet to delay their attacks on Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga and to retreat to winter camp in Canada. This allowed the Americans time to adequately prepare for the 1777 Battle of Saratoga in which the British were defeated, considered by many to be the turning point of the American Revolution.

In another who-would've-guessed-it bit of history, Whitehall was also home to quite a number of silk mills. Bringing a good deal of prosperity to the village, the mills flourished from 1848 until the mid-twentieth century at which time the advent of synthetic fibers severely reduced the demand for silk.

Who would've thought - the birthplace of the U.S. Navy and the silk trade in a tiny Adirondack village?