Shoreham, Vermont

The House at 215 School Street in Shoreham, Vermont is probably the town's oldest surviving house. The modest single-story Cape was built about 1795, probably by Job Lane Howe, a prominent regional master builder who was a cousin to Oliver Howe, the early town settler for whom it was built. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Shoreham Congregational Church is a historic church on School Street in Shoreham, Vermont. Built in 1846 by a local master builder, it is one of the state's finest examples of ecclesiastical Greek Revival architecture, and also housed local town meetings for more than a century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Witherill Farm is a historic farm property on Witherill Road in Shoreham, Vermont. With a history dating to the late 18th century, the farm was for two centuries managed by generations of the same family, and was a noted early exporter of merino sheep to South Africa. Most of the farmstead buildings were built before 1850. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

The District Six Schoolhouse is a historic school building on Elmendorf Road in Shoreham, Vermont. Built about 1833 and now converted into a residence, this modest stone structure is one of Vermont's oldest surviving district schoolhouses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The Colonel Ephraim and Sarah Doolittle Farm is a historic farm property on Doolittle Road in Shoreham, Vermont. It is one of the oldest colonial farm properties in western Vermont, established in 1766 by Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, a veteran of the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Hand's Cove is a historically significant geographic feature on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain in Shoreham, Vermont. It was from this area that colonial forces led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold crossed the lake for the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga, early in the American Revolutionary War. It is also home to the only known colonial-era blockhouse in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The East Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge is a historic covered bridge spanning the Lemon Fair River near East Shoreham, Vermont. Built in 1897 by the Rutland Railroad Company, it is the state's only surviving example of a wooden Howe truss railroad bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Orwell is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2020 census. Mount Independence was the largest fortification constructed by the American colonial forces. The 300-acre (1.2 km2) site is now one of Vermont's premier state-operated historic sites.

The First Congregational Church (or Orwell Congregational Church) is a historic church in Orwell, Vermont. The current meeting house was built in 1843, and is one of state's best examples of Greek Revival ecclesiastical architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Battle of Ticonderoga was a minor confrontation at Fort Carillon (later renamed Fort Ticonderoga) on July 26 and 27, 1759, during the French and Indian War. A British military force of more than 11,000 men under the command of General Sir Jeffery Amherst moved artillery to high ground overlooking the fort, which was defended by a garrison of 400 Frenchmen under the command of Brigadier General François-Charles de Bourlamaque. Rather than defend the fort, de Bourlamaque, operating under instructions from General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and New France's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, withdrew his forces, and attempted to blow up the fort. The fort's powder magazine was destroyed, but its walls were not severely damaged. The British then occupied the fort, which was afterwards known by the name Fort Ticonderoga. They embarked on a series of improvements to the area and began construction of a fleet to conduct military operations on Lake Champlain. The French tactics were sufficient to prevent Amherst's army from joining James Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. However, they also tied up 3,000 of their own troops that were not able to assist in Quebec's defense. The capture of the fort, which had previously repulsed a large British army a year earlier, contributed to what the British called the "Annus Mirabilis" of 1759.

The siege of Fort Ticonderoga occurred between 2 July and 6 July 1777 at Fort Ticonderoga, near the southern end of Lake Champlain in the state of New York. Lieutenant General John Burgoyne's 8,000-man army occupied high ground above the fort, and nearly surrounded the defenses. These movements precipitated the occupying Continental Army, an under-strength force of 3,000 under the command of General Arthur St. Clair, to withdraw from Ticonderoga and the surrounding defenses. Some gunfire was exchanged, and there were some casualties, but there was no formal siege and no pitched battle. Burgoyne's army occupied Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, the extensive fortifications on the Vermont side of the lake, without opposition on 6 July. Advance units pursued the retreating Americans. The uncontested surrender of Ticonderoga caused an uproar in the American public and in its military circles, as Ticonderoga was widely believed to be virtually impregnable, and a vital point of defense. General St. Clair and his superior, General Philip Schuyler, were vilified by Congress. Both were eventually exonerated in courts martial, but their careers were adversely affected. Schuyler had already lost his command to Horatio Gates by the time of the court martial, and St. Clair held no more field commands for the remainder of the war.

The capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. The cannons and other armaments at Fort Ticonderoga were later transported to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox in the noble train of artillery and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the siege of Boston. Capture of the fort marked the beginning of offensive action taken by the Americans against the British. After seizing Ticonderoga, a small detachment captured the nearby Fort Crown Point on May 11. Seven days later, Arnold and 50 men raided Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River in southern Quebec, seizing military supplies, cannons, and the largest military vessel on Lake Champlain. Although the scope of this military action was relatively minor, it had significant strategic importance. It impeded communication between northern and southern units of the British Army, and gave the nascent Continental Army a staging ground for the invasion of Quebec later in 1775. It also involved two larger-than-life personalities in Allen and Arnold, each of whom sought to gain as much credit and honor as possible for these events. Most significantly, in an effort led by Henry Knox, artillery from Ticonderoga was dragged across Massachusetts to the heights commanding Boston Harbor, forcing the British to withdraw from that city.