Following the French retreat from Crown Point in 1759, General Amherst began an ambitious effort to secure the area for Britain. An elaborate system of fortifications rose on the Point, where at times as many as 3,000 soldiers and artisans worked on Fort Crown Point, three smaller forts called redoubts, several blockhouses, storehouses, gardens, and military roads. A village grew near the fort walls with a tavern, store, apothecary shop, and the homes of soldiers’ families and retired officers. When control of Canada passed to Britain at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, construction ceased, leaving one barracks building unfinished. In April 1773, a chimney fire spread from the soldiers’ barracks to the log walls of the fort, causing the powder magazine to explode and virtually destroying the main fort. Troop strength then gradually declined until only a tiny garrison remained to surrender Crown Point to American rebel troops commanded by Seth Warner in May 1775.
