Carleton's Prize

Sunset Island is a three-acre island on Lake Champlain, located just west of the Greater Mallets Bay, Colchester, Vermont, United States. It is currently privately held, with Patricia McDonald as the majority owner. Originally named Hogback Island, the property was used by the caretaker of the Colchester Reef lighthouse for farming from 1871 until the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1933. In 1956, after the lighthouse had been relocated to the Shelburne Museum, Sunset Island went up for auction and was purchased by John McDonald and 3 other sportsmen to be used predominantly for duck hunting.There are no facilities on the island besides a one-room cabin left over from the lighthouse era that is used to store maintenance and landscaping requirements.

The Phoenix was a sidewheel paddle steamer operating on Lake Champlain between the United States states of New York and Vermont and the British province of Lower Canada (present-day Quebec). Built in 1815, she grounded, burned and sank in 1819 off the shore of Colchester, Vermont. Her surviving wreckage (approximately 40% complete) is the oldest known example of a sidewheel steamer anywhere in the world. The wreck site is a Vermont State Historic Site, which may be visited by registered and qualified divers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

South Hero is a town on Grand Isle in Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States. South Hero's population was 1,674 at the 2020 census.

The South Hero Inn is a historic commercial building at 301 United States Route 2 (corner of South Street) in the center of South Hero, Vermont. Built in 1829, it is a prominent local example of a stone building with Federal and Greek Revival features, and served as a traveler accommodation until the early 1970s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It now houses a bank.

South Hero is the primary village and a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of South Hero, Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 225, out of 1,674 in the entire town of South Hero. The CDP is in southern Grand Isle County, on the Lake Champlain island of South Hero in the center of the town of the same name. It is bordered to the north by Keeler Bay, an arm of the east channel of Lake Champlain. U.S. Route 2 passes through the village, leading southeast 18 miles (29 km) to Burlington and north 26 miles (42 km) to Alburgh.

Valcour Island is a 968-acre (3.92 km2): 6  island in Lake Champlain in Clinton County, New York, United States. The island is mostly in the Town of Peru and partly in the Town of Plattsburgh, southeast of the City of Plattsburgh. It is within the boundaries of the Adirondack Park.

Lake Champlain ( sham-PLAYN; French: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of Clinton County and Essex County. Most of this area is part of the Adirondack Park. There are recreational facilities in the park and along the relatively undeveloped coastline of the lake. The cities of Plattsburgh, New York, and Burlington, Vermont, are on the lake's western and eastern shores, respectively, and the town of Ticonderoga, New York, is in the region's southern part. The Quebec portion is in the regional county municipalities of Le Haut-Richelieu and Brome-Missisquoi. There are a number of islands in the lake; the largest include Grand Isle, Isle La Motte and North Hero: all part of Grand Isle County, Vermont. Because of Lake Champlain's connections both to the St. Lawrence Seaway via the Richelieu River, and to the Hudson River via the Champlain Canal, Lake Champlain is sometimes referred to as "The Sixth Great Lake."

Grand Isle, also known as South Hero Island, is the largest island in Lake Champlain, Vermont, United States. It has a land area of 31.61 square miles (81.9 km2). The island comprises the two towns of Grand Isle and South Hero, Vermont. The total population as of the 2000 census was 3,651.

The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. Two British forces, an army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost and a naval squadron under Captain George Downie converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh, New York. Plattsburgh was defended by New York and Vermont militia and detachments of regular troops of the United States Army, all under the command of Brigadier General Alexander Macomb, and ships commanded by Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough. Downie's squadron attacked shortly after dawn on 11 September 1814, but was defeated after a hard fight in which Downie was killed. Prévost then abandoned the attack by land against Macomb's defences and retreated to Canada, stating that even if Plattsburgh was captured, any British troops there could not be supplied without control of the lake. When the battle took place, American and British delegates were meeting at Ghent in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, attempting to negotiate a treaty acceptable to both sides to end the war. The American victory at Plattsburgh, and the successful defense at the Battle of Baltimore, which began the next day and halted British advances in the Mid-Atlantic states, denied the British negotiators leverage to demand any territorial claims against the United States on the basis of uti possidetis, i.e., retaining territory they held at the end of hostilities. The Treaty of Ghent, in which captured or occupied territories were restored on the basis of status quo ante bellum, i.e., the situation as it existed before the war, was signed three months after the battle. However, this battle may have had little or no impact in advancing the objectives of either side.

The Gordon-Center House is a historic house on West Shore Road (Vermont Route 314) in Grand Isle, Vermont. Probably built in first quarter of the 19th century, it was long been associated with the nearby ferry service to Plattsburgh, New York, and is one of the town's few surviving 19th-century stone buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Bluff Point Light, also known as the Valcour Island Light, on Valcour Island in Lake Champlain was in service from its construction in 1874 until 1930 and was one of the last lighthouses on Lake Champlain to be named. It is now part of Adirondack State Park and operated as a museum by the Clinton County Historical Association, an affiliate of the Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance (ACCA).Bluff Point Light, for which the United States Congress approved $15,000 in funding in 1870, with a base of blue limestone, stands more than 90 feet (27 m) above the shore. The grounds also include a wooden shed (which has since collapsed and was removed), a cistern and a privy. For almost sixty years, the Victorian style lighthouse and its fifth order Fresnel lens guided ships through the channel between Valcour Island and New York State. As was the case with many other lighthouses, the lighthouse keeper for Bluff Point Light was a disabled Civil War veteran, Major William Herwerth, who worked at the lighthouse from 1876 until 1881 when he died while on duty. In an unusual position for a woman at that time, Herwerth's wife Mary was given command of the lighthouse, which she maintained until 1902.In 1930, the lighthouse ceased operation when a steel tower with an automated light was built to the south of the lighthouse, rendering the lighthouse obsolete. The lighthouse remained unlit until 2002 when the United States Coast Guard lit it in August 2002, although it was not officially put back into service until 2004.After the lighthouse was taken out of service, it was purchased by Doctor Otto Raboff from Massachusetts who renovated and used it as a summer house with his family. In the 1980s, the lighthouse became a part of Adirondack State Park and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has held the deed to the house since 1986 and pays for all maintenance. Since that time, the Clinton County Historical Association worked to restore the lighthouse and preserve it as a museum. In 1999, the Association was given an award by Adirondack Architectural Heritage for their stewardship of the lighthouse.

Valcour Bay is actually a strait or sound, located between Valcour Island and the west side of Lake Champlain, four miles south of Plattsburgh, New York. It was the site of the Battle of Valcour Island during the American Revolutionary War. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 because of this association. Valcour Bay is located in the Towns of Peru and Plattsburgh, both in Clinton County, New York.