Vintage Postcard: Palisades on Lake Champlain

Vintage Postcard: The Palisades (Credit: NY Public Library)

Every Monday we share an image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia. The postcard above we shared with the public last week.

The title reads: “The Palisades on Lake Champlain,” which gives us a place name, but where exactly is it? Have you been there? What can you tell us about it?

We discovered this postcard in the online archives of the New York Public Library. There was some additional information that told us the postcard was published by the Detroit Publishing Company and the date it was created was between the range of 1898 – 1931. I would guess probably toward the latter end of that date range. What do you think?

When we shared the image, we asked if this view looked familiar to anyone and if anyone could identify it. We had many comments from the community about this postcard. See those comments below to see what they had to say and to learn about the area:

Nicholas Bailey: Oh, I’ve been there…!

Peter Pierce: I think it’s between Essex and Westport.

Jane McClung TerLouw: South of Split Rock on the way to Westport.

Rick Bunning: It’s just north of Westport (Northwest Bay) on the NY side. Somehow the water stays COLD here even in the summer.

Paul Spooner: About 3 or 4 miles north of the Westport Boat launch… between Barn Rock and the Iron Ore Beds.

Dorinda Uhl: A wonderful spot to see Peregrine falcons. It’s quiet and deep.

Fred Backhaus: Just about across from Basin Harbor

Wally Day: An anticline or a syncline?

Deborah Sells Blake: Right across from Basin Harbor and you can take your boat right up to the rock wall!

Bob Craft: Just North of Westport on the NY side, across from Basin Harbor

Bill Knaus: Debbie is right. Been there many times

Ruthie Nye: This is just a little north west of Basin Harbor across the lake on the New York side…just north of Barn Rock Harbor, yes Falcons, Eagles and Osprey…love those rocks!

Karen Cumbo: It looks like the cliff we boat to where all the kids jump off. Red Rocks?

Steve Crane: Do not forget the name of the area above the Palisades, Rattle Snake Mountains. The are there too.

Ruthie Nye: Yes there is an awesome trail which leads up to Barn Rock, then wanders north where you have a super view of TP!

Charlotte Hoffman Van Duser: Love that spot !!

Dianne Lansing: Site of a diver drowning many years ago, I believe.

That’s right, the Palisades are located between Essex and Westport on Lake Champlain, although this is technically Westport (I think). It’s located along the Split Rock Wilderness Area.

Do you have more to add? Any stories to share? Leave a comment!

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About Katie Shepard

Passionate about reading and writing stories, Katie Shepard enjoys discovering more about her home while writing and editing for Essex on Lake Champlain. Katie graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2011 where she studied English literature, philosophy, and Asian studies. Her first book Essex, New York Architecture: A Doodler's Field Guide was published in 2015.