Image of a marker on the Henry Knox Trail
Marker in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, the first marker added to the Henry Knox Trail since its establishment in 1926–27. The marker pictured was dedicated March 17, 2009, the 233rd anniversary of the end of the Siege of Boston, known as Evacuation Day in Massachusetts.

The Henry Knox Trail, also known as the Knox Cannon Trail, is a network of roads and paths that traces the route of Colonel Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" from Crown Point to the Continental Army camp outside Boston, Massachusetts early in the American Revolutionary War.

History

Further information: Boston campaign

Knox was commissioned by Continental Army commander George Washington in 1775 to transport 59 cannons from captured forts on Lake Champlain, 30 from Fort Ticonderoga and 29 from Crown Point, to the army camp outside Boston to aid the war effort there against British forces.[1] They included forty-three heavy brass and iron cannons, six cohorns, eight mortars, and two howitzers.[2] Knox, using sledges pulled by teams of oxen to haul these cannons, many weighing over a ton, crossed an icy Lake George in mid-winter.[2] He proceeded to travel through rural New York and the snow-covered Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, finally arriving to the aid of the beleaguered Continental Army in January 1776.[2]

Marker placement

In 1926, the 150th anniversary of Knox's march, the states of New York and Massachusetts both began installing commemorative plaques at 56 locations in the two states that trace the route the expedition passed through.[3] The exact nature of the collaboration between the two states is unclear, however the work was completed in 1927.[3] The New York markers' bronze reliefs were designed by Henry James Albright, and the Massachusetts reliefs by Henry L. Norton.

In 1975, the marker locations between Kinderhook, New York, and Alford, Massachusetts, were updated after new research, confirming theories originally advanced by North Egremont, Massachusetts, postmaster Joseph Elliott, found Knox did not pass through Claverack, New York.[4] A new marker was added to the trail at Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston in 2009, adjacent to a house owned by General John Thomas, who guided the weapons received from Knox to their final placement on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston.[5]

Table of Knox Trail Markers

Marker # Year installed Title Address Picture
NY-0 Crown Point 21 Grandview Dr, Crown Point, NY 12928 https://www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=555508
NY-1 Fort Ticonderoga 102 Fort Ti Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
NY-2 Fort Ticonderoga 102 Fort Ti Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
NY-3 Fort Ticonderoga Portage Road 137 Montcalm St, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Lake George 651 Black Point Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Sabbath Day Point 44 Sabbath Day Point Rd, Silver Bay, NY 12874
NY-6 Bolton Landing 19 Rogers Memorial Park Rd, Bolton Landing, NY 12814
NY-7 Lake George Battlefield 75 Fort George Rd, Lake George, NY 12845 (43°25'04.4"N, 73°42'25.9"W)
NY-8 Bloody Brook 1716 State Route 9, Lake George, NY 12845
NY-9 Glens Falls 626 Glen St, Queensbury, NY 12804 Glens Falls
NY-10 Hudson Falls 220 Main St, Hudson Falls, NY 12839
NY-11 Fort Edward 219 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828
NY-12 Fort Miller 1061 State Route 4, Greenwich, NY 12834
NY-13 Northumberland 107 Starks Knob Rd, Schuylerville, NY 12871
NY-14 Schuylerville 2 Broad St, Schuylerville, NY 12871
Ensign House 513 Saratoga County Veterans Memorial Highway, Stillwater, NY 12170
NY-15 Bemis Heights 1173 Old Route 32, Stillwater, NY 12170
NY-16 Stillwater 75 Hudson Ave, Stillwater, NY 12170
NY-17 Mechanicville 6 S Main St, Mechanicville, NY 12118
NY-18 Waterford 55 1st St, Waterford, NY 12188
NY-19 Klaus' Ferry 1258 New Loudon Rd, Cohoes, NY 12047
NY-20 Latham 206 Old Loudon Rd, Latham, NY 12110
NY-21 Albany 350 Northern Blvd, Albany, NY 12204
NY-22 Albany Riverside Park 191 Broadway, Albany, NY 12202
NY-23 Rensselaer 30 Aiken Ave, Rensselaer, NY 12144
NY-24 East Greenbush 688 Columbia Tpke, East Greenbush, NY 12061
NY-25 Schodack 1972 Route 9, Castleton on Hudson, NY 12033
NY-26 Kinderhook 1 Hudson St, Kinderhook, NY 12106

NY-27 West Ghent 6 Snyder Rd, Ghent, NY 12075
NY-28 Claverack 1202 Harlemville Rd, Ghent, NY 12075
NY-29 Old Nobletown 40 Nobletown Rd, Hillsdale, NY 12529
NY-30 / MA-1 Alford, MA MA-71

179 Green River Valley Rd.[6]

MA-2 North Egremont, MA 223 Egremont Plain Rd.
MA-3 Great Barrington, MA Intersection of Route 23 and Route 7
MA-4 Monterey, MA Route 23
Otis, MA Route 23
MA-5 Blandford, MA Route 23 & North Blandford Rd., Blandford, MA 01008
MA-6 Russell, MA Intersection of General Knox Road and South Quarter Road
MA-7 Westfield, MA Main Street at N 42° 07.252; W 072° 44.892
MA-8 West Springfield, MA Route 20 [7]
MA-9 Springfield, MA Boston Post Rd. (State Street)
MA-10 Wilbraham, MA Route 20 & Main Street
MA-11 Palmer, MA 1 Wilbraham Street
MA-12 Warren, MA Route 67 (Main St.) at the intersection with Washington St.
MA-13 Brookfield, MA State Route 9 at the intersection with State Route 148
MA-14 Spencer, MA next to 117 Main St.[8]
MA-15 Leicester, MA 1136 Main St., in front of the Leicester Public Library and Museum

MA-16 Worcester, MA Main Street at Lincoln Square

MA-17 Shrewsbury, MA Main St. at Shrewsbury Common
MA-18 Northborough, MA 63 Main Street (in front of Town Hall)

MA-19 Marlborough, MA

MA-20 Southborough
MA-21 Framingham, MA
MA-23 Wayland, MA Old Connecticut Path and Cochituate Rd.
MA-24 Weston, MA Boston Post Rd. and Town House Rd.
MA-25 Waltham, MA Route 20 (Weston St.) & Main Street
MA-26 Watertown 481 Mt Auburn St, Watertown, MA 02472
MA-27 Cambridge 42° 22.593′ N, 71° 7.313′ W,

Corner of Garden St and Mason St in the Cambridge Commons, Cambridge, MA[9]

MA-27.5 Roxbury, MA
MA-28 South Boston

Photo gallery

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Henry Knox Trail.
  1. ^ "New York State Education Department: The Knox Trail - Introduction". Archived from the original on 2010-01-07.
  2. ^ a b c "New York State Education Department: The Knox Trail - History". Archived from the original on 2008-05-12.
  3. ^ a b "The Knox Trail – Monument Design". Archived from the original on 2009-12-11.
  4. ^ "New York State Education Department: Knox Trail map". Archived from the original on 2012-08-05.
  5. ^ "The Knox Museum joins Evacuation Day celebration" (PDF). General Henry Knox Museum. Spring 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  6. ^ "Knox Trail Marker - Alford, MA - U.S. Revolutionary War Memorials on". Waymarking.com. 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  7. ^ The site is where General Reidesel and his Hessian Soldiers encamped on October 30 and 31, 1777 on their way to Boston after British General John Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga.
  8. ^ This location is close to a marker indicating that "Washington Slept Here"
  9. ^ "Gen. Henry Knox Trail Historical Marker".
  10. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 5 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  11. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 11 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  12. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 12 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  13. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 18 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  14. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 19 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  15. ^ Knox Trail Monument No. 21 (Massachusetts) Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 22 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  17. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 23 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  18. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 24 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  19. ^ Knox Trail Monument No. 25 (Massachusetts) Archived 2012-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Knox Trail Monument No. 27 (Massachusetts)". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2013-05-30.

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