Fort Montgomery Featured in Atlas Obscura

In 2009, we included the National Register-listed Fort Montgomery on our Seven to Save list of endangered places. Ten years later, it’s still threatened. Travel and culture website Atlas Obscura recently got in touch to inquire about Fort Montgomery, “an abandoned, decaying fort on a private island,” as they put it.

Pity Fort Montgomery. The years have not been kind to the three-story 19th-century structure falling to pieces in New York State where Lake Champlain meets the Richelieu River, right on the border between the United States and Canada. Over the centuries, some of the red bricks have crumbled, so archways look like mouths that are missing teeth. Brown leaves have tumbled in through the windows. Whatever limestone walls haven’t been claimed by plants have been marked up by humans brandishing paint, pens, blades, and a bawdy sense of humor.

“And to add insult to injury, no one seems to want it.”

We were sad to report that as far as we know, there are still no plans for the site and it remains available for any interested buyer. Increasing public awareness of important at-risk sites like this one is something we take very seriously, and we were happy that Atlas Obscura took the time to give a little love to the long-neglected Fort Montgomery.

Click here to read the full article, and click through the slideshow below for more images of this New York landmark.