The Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center completes its third season of operation this Sunday (October 27) amidst a record number of visitors, a series of improvements both inside the Center and throughout the park, and plans for further program enhancements under the coordination of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance.
With one weekend remaining in the season, Alliance President John DiNuzzo reports that the total 2024 Visitor Center attendance of 3,492 represents a 45% climb over last year’s figure of 2,409 on the same date.
Fresh additions which have elevated the visitor experience in the current season include two adjacent resin “Park Orientation” signs which interpret the role of the Battlefield Park during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, at the Center’s entrance.
The signs were funded by the Lake George Park Commission and installed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation. DEC also constructed a new paved walkway which connects the VC to the network of walkways in Battlefield Park.
According to Russell Bellico, a former Battlefield Park Alliance Trustee who remains active on its Curation Committee, French and Indian War exhibits in the Center were expanded by the addition of two circa 1758 thirteen-inch diameter mortar bombs, which had been raised offshore from the park during the 1960s (loan of the State Museum).
A scale model of a colonial military bateau was completed and displayed, helping to explain the case of original bateau artifacts from Lake George (loan of the State Museum). The model was built by Paul S. Andriscin from a kit donated by Joseph W. Zarzynski.
Most recently, a live edge waterfall entry table/desk was built and given to the Center by artisan wood worker Al Rider of Hague. The table was constructed of black walnut wood donated by Northern Hardwoods of Lake George.
As the Battlefield Park prepares, under the leadership of the Town of Lake George, for the 2026 reinterment of 44 Continental soldiers and support personnel who perished here in 1776, DEC and the Alliance have been working closely to make needed improvements to walkways and to begin refurbishing the site’s iconic statues.
“I can’t say enough how beneficial our collaboration with DEC has been this year in giving this historic site the kind of attention it deserves”, notes John DiNuzzo. “With the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026 on the horizon, along with the soldiers’ reinterment and the existing remnants in the Park from two crucial 18th Century wars, Lake George Battlefield Park is poised to be a major national heritage destination for years to come”.
Alliance Trustee Bruce Venter, an occasional contributor to New York Almanack and author of the award-winning history volume, The Battle of Hubbardton, concurs on DEC’s consciousness of local historical landmarks. “I am very encouraged that DEC has indicated we should see historical signs on Diamond Island next year to celebrate the heroic efforts of Col. John Brown and his men in their attempt to destroy Burgoyne’s supply line.”
The 250th anniversary of the Battle of Diamond Island will be in 2027.
The Visitor Center will be open each day this weekend (Friday through Sunday) from 10 am until 4 pm. From November through April, groups interested in touring the Center may contact the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance at info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org to learn when off-season access might be feasible.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is a not-for-profit organization of volunteers who have an abiding interest in the Lake George
Region’s critical role in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. For more information, visit www.lakegeorgebattlefield.org.
Photo: Lake George Battlefield courtesy Wikimedia user Kenneth C. Zirkel.
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