ORWELL/HUBBARDTON —Delve into the past the weekend of Aug. 25 and 26, with either or both of the special programs at Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, and the Hubbardton Battlefield in Hubbardton.
At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25, the 7th annual driving tour exploring a section of the 1776-77 Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road starts at Mount Independence. Explore the leg of the road from the Mount to Hubbardton with leader Jim Rowe, president of the Crown Point Road Association. Drivers meet at Mount Independence with their own vehicles for an orientation. The tour will make stops along the route, ending at the Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site at 3:30 pm. The cost for the trip is $5 for adults, free for children under 15 and includes admission to both historic sites.
The tour continues on Sunday, Aug. 26, from 2-4 p.m., with a look at the East Hubbardton Cemetery. Site interpreter Bob Franzoni and Hubbardton Historical Society president Grace Calvin are your guides. Meet at the Hubbardton Battlefield site with your own vehicle. After an orientation at the museum, drive down to the cemetery and “meet” many of the early settlers of Hubbardton. Learn about their roles in the Revolutionary War and Battle of Hubbardton, and life after the war. Tickets are $3 for adults, free for children under 15.
The Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road was built after the September 7, 1776, order of Gen. Horatio Gates to connect the American Revolutionary War fortification being constructed at Mount Independence on Lake Champlain to Hubbardton and Rutland, Vermont, and Fort No. 4 in New Hampshire. Gates considered the road “so essential to the Interest of the United States” and “the safety and protection of the inhabitants of all the Middle States of this Union.” The road was used in 1777 by the American soldiers withdrawing from Mount Independence, and played a role in the July 7, 1777, Battle of Hubbardton.