Description: Fort Skenesborough: 1759, 1775-77, 1812, Washington County, Whitehall. The first structure here was a blockhouse in 1759 with a barracks on a hill to the west of Wood Creek, which still existed in 1775. The site is between the Presbyterian Church and the Masonic Temple. At the start of the Revolutionary War the Americans took Skenesborough (Philip Skene was a Loyalist) and built new fortifications strating in October 1776. This site was also the shipyards for General Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet. Built very near the 1759 site was a barracks and a fortified stockade described as an irregular polygon. Retreating before Burgoyne in July 1777 the Americans attempted to burn the fort. The British repaired and garrisoned the fort along with fortifying Skene's stone barn, for three weeks before continuing on to Saratoga. During the War of 1812 a new blockhouse was constructed within the ruins of the old fort to protect the shipyards.