Two hundred fifty years ago this week, about 10,000 American soldiers were still camped around Ticonderoga. They were building simple wooden houses on Liberty Hill before the deep cold arrived. They had held the fort against the British on October 28, 1776. Now their enlistments were running out, and Washington's army was retreating in the south. Fort Ticonderoga's Vice President of Public History, Stuart Lilie, described the moment to Sun Community News: "The whole camp at Ticonderoga was pivoting in early November 1776."
The fort is going through that winter again, one Saturday at a time, keeping close to the 250th anniversary of each event. The summer's 250th crowds have left. What follows is a monthly series that runs through spring, and most of it is free for anyone who lives in the Town of Ticonderoga.
A winter that runs on the 1776 calendar
Fort Ticonderoga calls the season Winter Quarters. From November through April it opens on select dates for living history events, workshops and virtual programs. It is not open every day. The outdoor attractions you'd use in summer have already closed for the year. The Mount Defiance season ended October 25, and the Carillon Battlefield trail is open June through October. Between now and spring, the event days below are your way into the fort.
Each living history day under the fort's REAL TIME REVOLUTION® banner is tied to what the garrison was doing at that point in 1776 or 1777. Every one-day event on the list falls on a Saturday. The Watchcoat workshop is the only one that runs through Sunday.
| Date | Event | What it re-creates | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2026 | Veterans Day | Reenlisting soldiers and readying defenses after the October 28, 1776 victory | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Nov 14–15, 2026 | Watchcoat Winter Workshop | A two-day sewing workshop where you start a shared sentry's overcoat | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Dec 19, 2026 | Riot! | Pennsylvania "Buckskins" fight New England "Yankees" | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Jan 16, 2027 | Second to None in Courage | Pennsylvania troops leave after six months at Ticonderoga | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Feb 20, 2027 | Preparing for the Coming Campaign | Artillery preparations and winter garrison life | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Mar 6, 2027 | The Bridge to 1777 | Soldiers working on the ice to build a bridge across Lake Champlain | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Apr 17, 2027 | Garden & Landscape Symposium | Northern-climate gardening, held in the Mars Education Center | 9 a.m.–4 p.m. |
The first date is this Saturday. Sun Community News lists what's planned for November 7. There will be cannon and musket demonstrations explaining how the October 28 defense was won, and camp life at the Liberty Hill encampment outside the walls. Sailmakers and harness makers will be at work, and the powder magazine will be open. Ox teams will haul baggage the way they did in the fall of 1776. Entry is free for active and retired military, Fort members and Ticonderoga Ambassador Pass holders.
The Watchcoat workshop the following weekend is the one paid exception for most people. It costs $400 for the public or $380 for members and volunteers, and covers both days, lunch, a pre-cut kit and sewing supplies.
The Christmas 1776 story behind December 19
Of all the dates, the December event covers the episode most people don't know. In a history piece, the fort explains what the "Riot!" reenactment depicts. On Christmas Day 1776, Pennsylvania soldiers attacked the camp of a Massachusetts regiment and went after its colonel. They ransacked quarters and fired on Massachusetts soldiers. The fort traces the violence to divisions of class, race and military professionalism, made worse by alcohol and boredom.
The fort is staging the riot six days early, on Saturday, December 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. January's program follows from it. "Second to None in Courage" shows the same Pennsylvania soldiers leaving after six months at Ticonderoga and preparing to march south. If you go to both, you see a winter garrison split apart and then get smaller. February's preparations and March's bridge across the lake ice then build toward the British attack the garrison expected in 1777.
What the town line is worth on a Saturday
Through the Ambassador Pass, Town of Ticonderoga residents and students in the Ticonderoga School System get free general admission. Here is how it works:
- Bring proof of residency, or a student ID, to the Admissions Booth.
- Fill out the Ambassador Pass form, which you can also download from the fort's ticket page.
- Adults 18 and older apply for themselves. Household members under 18 can be listed on an adult's pass.
In winter, the pass does more than cover general admission. The pages for January 16, February 20 and March 6 list admission at $15. The same pages say entry is free for Fort members, Ambassador Pass holders and children under five. With this Saturday's Veterans Day event included, a resident who signs up can attend four of the season's Saturdays at no cost.
The pass covers town residents only. Neighbors in Hague, Putnam or Crown Point can use Fort membership instead. Membership starts at $75 for an adult and $30 for a student. It includes twelve months of free admission, the Winter Quarters living history events from November through March, and free or discounted entry to some workshops and special events.
Some programs don't require leaving the house. Material Matters: It's in the Details is a virtual conference on January 23, 2027. Early registration costs $70 for members and $80 for everyone else through November 30, then goes up to $85 and $95. The fort's Author Series and Fort Fever Series also run online through the winter.
The downtown weekends in between
Between the fort's Saturdays, the holiday calendar fills the gaps. Most of it is downtown, a few minutes from Fort Ti Road.
- Festival of Trees: A Revolutionary Christmas at the Hancock House runs November 18 through December 31, Wednesday through Saturday, opening at 10 a.m. Its theme connects to the season on the fort's grounds.
- The 17th Annual Ticonderoga Area North Country Christmas runs from Saturday, November 28 to Sunday, December 6, organized by the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce. The regional event listing for the series includes Small Business Saturday, a holiday shopping and dining night, a holiday farmers market, breakfasts with Santa and a Parade of Lights. The Chamber's save-the-date puts Holiday Shopping & Dining Night on Friday, December 4.
- Breakfast with Santa at Burleigh's Luncheonette is on Saturday, December 5. The 6th Annual North Pole Event at Hunter Way Farm follows on Sunday, December 6.
Put the two calendars together and December fills up. North Country Christmas runs from November 28 through December 6, the fort's riot is on December 19, and the Festival of Trees is open Wednesday through Saturday the whole month.
What's different on Montcalm Street this winter
If you haven't walked Montcalm Street in a while, it has changed since last winter. The town's Downtown Revitalization Initiative money paid for much of it. Sun Community News reported in September that Sunshine Laundry, Adirondack Trading Post and Small Town Boutique completed exterior and interior renovations and held a ribbon cutting in March. Two of the three buildings are part of the town's public art initiative with murals, and the third has a new Andrew Carson sculpture. In the same article, the North Country Rural Development Coalition's Katie Long called Small Town Boutique at 110 Montcalm "a bright spot," a building "that was completely vacant being returned to active use."
Across the street, 108 Montcalm Street, the old J.J. Newberry's, is now Newberry Commons, with an LED sign matched to the original Newberry's logo. Sun Community News reported that the DRI put $1,265,000 of its $10 million into a new roof, asbestos removal and mold abatement for a building that was close to collapse. The plan is commercial space in the front and five apartments in the back. The next step is finding funding for that work.
A few doors up, the Knights of Columbus building at 103 Montcalm received $2,115,000 to become the Adirondack Performing Arts Center. The plans include lesson rooms, rehearsal space and a performance hall on the unused third floor. According to Sun Community News, the project is in a holding pattern while the team closes a budget gap that turned up when bids came in. Ticonderoga Revitalization Alliance board member Chuck Gijanto told the paper that the Ticonderoga Festival Guild's 2026 Summer Concert Series "was the biggest and best we have ever had." He said he sees no reason that kind of entertainment can't happen year-round on that third floor.
Burleigh's Luncheonette, at 121 Montcalm and the site of the December 5 Santa breakfast, is also scheduled for improvements under the program. Farther up the street, at 133 Montcalm, is the Sawmill Tavern. Sun Community News reported in June that its menu runs from Bang Bang shrimp and a salmon BLT to chicken pot pie and Gouda macaroni.
On December 19 you could spend the day watching 1776 come apart inside the fort, then end it on a block where a building that sat completely vacant is busy again and the old Newberry's has been saved from collapse.
The fort's winter programs are part of why Ticonderoga works as a year-round town and not only a summer one. At Sherwood Group, we pay attention to how winter calendars like this one shape life around the northern end of Lake George. If you own in Ticonderoga and want to know what your property is worth this season, we'll put together a valuation grounded in this market.
