New York's Heritage Areas New York's Heritage Areas

Summer is vacation season --- at least for some! New York's Heritage Areas offer a great vacation resource, fairly close to home, starting with Whitehall in northern Washington County. For more information about the Heritage Areas throughout New York, check out the Heritage Areas Brochure (pdf).

Whitehall, once known as Skenesborough, was settled in 1759 as an early trading center. Benedict Arnold built his fleet for Lake Champlain here in 1776. Whitehall served as a home base for Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet during the American Revolution and as a prosperous port on the Champlain Canal. In 1775, Skenesborough was captured by American forces in the first aggressive action of the American Revolution in New York.

The Skenesborough Museum in Whitehall, established in 1959, tells the story of Skenesborough since its settlement in 1759. The building that houses the museum, built in 1917, was originally a canal terminal building. The Skenesborough Museum is located on Skenesborough Drive off US Route 4 (Poultney St.).