Across from the ruins of Crown Point sits the 55-foot high Champlain Memorial and Lighthouse. Completed in 1912, the uniquely-designed lighthouse includes a granite tower, a copper roof, and a bronze statue of Samuel de Champlain - credited with "discovering" the lake. Stunning panoramic views await visitors who reach the top of the lighthouse's 62-step spiral staircase.
Although deactivated in the 1920's the historic and strategic significance of the site goes back several centuries. Sitting at a narrow point on Lake Champlain, between New York and Vermont, this is where the French defeated the Iroquois, the British defeated the French and the Americans defeated the British. Architecturally, this does not look like your typical East Coast postcard lighthouse. The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse is a neo-classical structure surrounded by Doric columns, incorporating bronze sculptures by Rodin and Carl Auguste Heber.