Mind the Gap: Images Depicting The Short-Lived History Of the Larabee’s Point And Willow Point Rail Crossing In Southern Lake Champlain

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The connection between Larabee's Point in Shoreham, VT and Willow Point, NY was a short-lived but important southern connection across Lake Champlain during rail transportation in the late 19th and early 20th century. The history of this connection is wrought with enough challenges that some might wonder if it was cursed. More likely, the challenges were due to the harsh environment that exists in the northeast combined with engineering difficulties of carrying trains across what is essentially a floating bridge.

This poster illustrates the underwater features associated with this unique drawboat floating bridge construction spanning Lake Champlain in the late 19th and early 20th century. Features include side scan images of portions of the trestles from the VT and NY sides, draw boats that carried the rail line across the lake while swinging out to allow boats to pass, and several canal boats that have sunk in the area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• 2020 SHA Poster Submissions

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 629