National Register of Historic Places

CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck

Westport, Essex County, New York
Listed
September 14, 1997
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
97000980

About this property

The steamboat Oakes Ames was built in 1868 by the Napoleon B Proctor Shipyard in Burlington, Vermont, for the Rutland Railroad. The 244-foot paddle wheeler was designed to ferry railroad cars from Burlington across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh, New York. She was named after one of the railroad's directors' Oakes Ames. She successfully trialed on 19 August 1868 and her maiden excursion ran the next day to Willsboro Bay, Plattsburg. Mr. Ames went onward to Montreal for a review of the railroad's assets. In 1874, the ship was renamed and repurposed for passenger service as the Champlain II. The following year, on July 16, 1875, the ship was wrecked when it ran aground after drifting off course while being guided by a pilot under the influence of morphine. A salvage operation shortly afterwards removed much of the superstructure, leaving about a third of the wreck in place. The site is now an archaeological site located in Lake Champlain near Westport in Essex County, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Location

Westport, Essex County, New York

Categories

MARITIME HISTORYTRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTUREHISTORIC - NON-ABORIGINAL
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Land
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Native Heritage
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Questions about this property

When was CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck listed on the National Register?

CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1997.

What type of historic resource is CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck?

CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck?

The period of significance for CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near CHAMPLAIN II Shipwreck?

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