Cannon fire at night from a log fort

Fort William Henry Museum to kick off 70th-year celebration with Community Day

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Fort William Henry Museum has been bringing history to life for 70 years, and to celebrate the milestone anniversary, the Museum is holding a Community Day on Saturday, June 22. Residents of Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties will be admitted free to tour the fort and participate in activities scheduled for the event.

Stewart’s Shops will serve up Cookies N’ Cannons ice cream, an ice cream flavor renamed to recognize the fort’s 70th year. The name Cookies N’ Cannons was chosen from hundreds of entries in an ice cream renaming contest held earlier this year. The Contest winner, Katie Goodridge of Berlin, Connecticut, won a free stay at the Fort William Henry Hotel, museum passes and a special behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s collections. Cookies N’ Cannons will also be available at Stewart’s Shops.

Stewarts’s Shops will be serving Cannons N’ Cookies ice cream at the Fort William Henry Museum on Community Day/courtesy photo.

Fort William Henry Community Day schedule:

  • 9:30 a.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating 70 years in business. Free admission for residents of Warren, Washington, and Saratoga counties with proof of residency and an email address.
  • 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m.: Military demonstrations. Learn the history of the Fort and what the Lake George area was like in 1755 when it was built during the French and Indian War. See a display of musket and cannon fire. Each demonstration concludes with our uniformed tour guides recruiting children into the King’s Army.
  • 11:10 a.m.: Tour of the west barracks.
  • 11:10 a.m.: “The History of the Fort William Henry Museum,” by documentarian and archeologist Joseph W.  Zarzynski
  • 11:30 a.m.: Learn about 18th-century surgery in the casemate.
  • 12 – 3 p.m.: Cookies N’ Cannons served by scoopers from Stewart’s Shops
  • 1:10 p.m.: Carpenter’s talk in the Parade Ground
  • 3:10 p.m.: Musket maintenance in the Parade Ground

Fort William Henry Museum is a reconstruction of the fort built in 1755 under Sir William Johnson during the French and Indian War. The fort was destroyed in 1758 following a siege by the French. The reconstructed fort opened to the public in 1954 and has since been offering visitors an immersive experience with guided tours, interactive activities, reenactments and demonstrations.