SHELBURNE, Vt. (WCAX) – The Shelburne Museum on Thursday kicks off a weekend of celebrations to toast the 70th anniversary of the Steamboat Ticonderoga’s arrival on campus.
If you’ve been to the Shelburne Museum, you’ve undoubtedly seen the gigantic turn-of-the-century, landlocked steamship Ticonderoga.
Seventy years ago, the Ticonderoga became the anchor exhibit at the museum.
“If you think about the museum without this boat, it just wouldn’t be as magical as it is,” said the museum’s Tom Denenberg.
The story of the old sidewheel steamer started at the Shelburne Shipyard in 1905. The ship launched in 1906 and sailed Lake Champlain for nearly a half-century until old age threatened to scuttle it. Instead, it was rescued by museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1953.
The Ticonderoga was hoisted out of the water, placed onto tracks, and very, very slowly hoisted the roughly two miles to the museum.
“There was a little wrinkle. In April, there was a little spring thaw, as we all know in Vermont. They almost lost the boat, but they were able to shore up the tracks and continue and place the boat in the basin here,” Denenberg said.
Despite it all, the unprecedented project sailed on and the Ticonderoga reached its final home.
This weekend’s celebrations kick off Thursday night with a ticketed “Sunset aboard the Ticonderoga” event. On Saturday, there will also be a number of events, including a walk retracing the path the Ticonderoga took to the museum, lectures, and even a yoga session on the deck.
