This fertile plain was once the floor of a prehistoric sea that receded to create Lake Champlain. When the French built Fort Carillon, known to the English as Ticonderoga, these rich lowlands supported a large garden to supplement the limited rations issued to soldiers. As the fort changed hands during the conflicts of the 18th century, the gardens nourished each army that held the peninsula—French, British, and American. The ground went fallow following the Revolution as the military value of the site diminished. Merchant William Ferris Pell purchased the land in 1820, and in the same soil that had nurtured the garrison gardens he planted an extensive arboretum. The Pell family eventually rented the Pavilion and its surrounding land to a series of tenants who ran it as a hotel, welcoming guests from coaches and from an adjacent steamboat dock, while a supporting farm operated for the rest of the 19th century. Although the hotel ceased operation around the turn of the 20th century, a tenant farmer worked much of the land until the restoration of the fort's ruins in 1909 brought more attention to the area. Stephen H.P. Pell and his wife Sarah G.T. Pell, who were responsible for the restoration, made the Pavilion their summer home and planted extensive private gardens. The King's Garden reflects both the richness of the land and Ticonderoga's enduring draw across centuries of military, agricultural, and visitor use.
