PLATTSBURGH — 1814 Commemoration Inc. offers a “Scavenger Hunt” and a “History Talk” for its programming during the Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance’s 15th Annual Museum Days, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16. (Exceptions as noted in BOX)
Museum Days was the “brainchild” of Bob Parks, then publisher of the Press Republican in 2008.
OLD POST CEMETERY
Volunteers from 1814 Commemoration Inc. will host its annual “Old Post Cemetery Scavenger Hunt” 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Old Post Cemetery, 8 Lake Forrest Drive, Route 9, Plattsburgh.
The event is for both kids and adults, who can walk and browse at their own pace as they challenge their sense of deduction using the posted clues to find the hidden locations and learn about the amazing history of those interred at the Old Post.
Individual details can be discovered on more than 150 flag markers located next to graves throughout the cemetery. Marker names and maps of the cemetery layout will be available at no charge. Attendees will receive five visitor pennies and be entered into drawing to win a copy of “Nine Days a Soldier” or “Of Lake, Land and Liberty.” This is a free community event.
“This will be the third year we will be doing this,” Tom Donahue, president, said.
“We used to do the Old Post Cemetery at the end of the Battle of Plattsburgh Weekend. It was always on Sunday afternoon. We got a very small attendance because people were kind of burnt out from three or four days of doing things. So, we decided that we would move it to sometime during the summer prior to the event, and we’ve had a good turnout the last few years.”
Today is Flag Day, and there will be more than 150 flags and markers with different information about the Veterans resting in the cemetery.
“We turn it into kind of a family fun event, but actually a history event too, because we hand out maps of the cemetery with names of markers and clues of what to look for,” he said.
“What they have to do, they have to identify a certain number of markers that they found and write down the name of the person, which means that they found the proper markers and bring them back. The challenge is not only finding the gravestone from the given clues, but at the same time they get to learn about the history of the people buried there.”
The Old Post Cemetery interments encompasses the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, to the Vietnam War.
“As well as the 136 Unknown Soldiers from the War of 1812,” Donahue said.
“It’s a fun thing. People learn so much. They didn’t know that Plattsburgh was such an important military town for all the different wars. This weekend is what the Governor has called ‘Get Outside Weekend.’ We hope it’s really good weather, so we will have a good turnout. We will do a drawing for the kids to win one of the books. We have some other little handouts that we will give them over there, too.”
HISTORY TALK
“Commodore Macdonough’s Shipyard at Vergennes: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives” is the “History Talk” presented by Cherilyn Gilligan, co-director of Archaeology at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The event will be held 2 p.m. at the War of 1812 Museum, 31 Washington Road, Plattsburgh.
The history of the shipyard where ships used during the Battle of Plattsburgh were constructed will be examined through historical data acquired by the museum as well as archaeological findings on the area. Gilligan will share personal insights and perspectives on information the museum has collected pertaining to Commodore Macdonough’s shipyard in Vergennes. Her address will be followed by a short question and answer session.
“It’s all about Macdonough’s shipyard over in Vergennes,” Donahue said.
“In the two years leading up the battle of 1814 at Plattsburgh, the shipyard produced all the ships that Macdonough had in his fleet. There are actual records that indicate that the ship, the Saratoga, went from standing timber in the woods to a completed ship in only 40 days. I just can’t get over that. It just doesn’t seem possible, you know. Evidently, they knew what was coming, and they were hard workers.”
There is nothing left on Otter Creek that serves as a remnant of the shipyard.
“Cherilyn Gilligan will be giving the talk about what their findings have been and perspectives on why they had the shipyard there,” Donahue said.
“It should be very interesting. They just went from the shipyard back into the forests, cut the timber, and shaped it into a boat. It’s an amazing feat what they did. I guess at the same time, the British were building the ships up in Canada that they brought down here to fight against us.”
BUILDING YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION
Gilligan is the Co-Director of Archaeology at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. She is RPA-certified, which is the Register of Professional Archaeologists, and holds an MA in Applied Archaeology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Museum houses archaeological collections from many of the archaeological sites of conflict from Lake Champlain and have conserved many of the archaeological materials that have been recovered from Lake Champlain – including the anchor from Confiance, that is now on display in Plattsburgh’s City Hall building.
“What we’re trying to do is we want to be more than just a three-day event in September,” Donahue said.
“We’ll like to try to create education year round about the history in the Plattsburgh area, so that’s why we’ve created other events leading up to the Battle of Plattsburgh. We will have History Talks at the battle like we do every year, but this will be the first one leading up to it.”