Beginning July 1, 2022, the Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) will be open Fridays through Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The new Visitor Center, located at 75 Fort George Road in Lake George, held its Grand Opening in May and has been welcoming visitors three days a week since. The five-day-a-week Visitor Center hours will continue through July and August.
“Those first few weeks taught us much in terms of what is of greatest interest to people—and the best ways to get them to the Center to see what we have here,” says Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance President John DiNuzzo. The Alliance is a not-for-profit friends organization that operates the Visitor Center. According to DiNuzzo, the facility “has seen an unexpectedly high level of attendance and enthusiasm since the Center began welcoming guests in late May.”
The VIC, which is in the lower level of the Lake George Park Commission building, illustrates the park’s history with artifacts and exhibits. Displays include panels explaining the lives of the Native Americans that fished and hunted in the region as well as significant events of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution including the 1755 Battle of Lake George, the 1757 surrender of Fort William Henry and the 1776 establishment of the Continental Army’s smallpox hospital. The Center also has interactive activities for children.
The Alliance continues to offer one-hour tours of Battlefield Park each Saturday throughout the summer. The tour includes visits to the Fort George Ruins and the burial site of the four unknown soldiers who were killed in the 1755 Battle of Lake George. Visitors may register for the tour by emailing info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org. There is no charge for admission to the VIC or to join a tour. There is free, on-site parking at the Visitor Center building.