Town of Lake George officials announced recently that the skeletal remains of 44 people  believed to have been associated with the Continental Army when they died 250 years ago will be transported in historic U.S. military vehicles on Wednesday, May 20 from the New York State Museum in Albany, where scientists have spent seven years identifying and reconstructing the remains,  to Lake George, where they’ll be interred in a new memorial being dedicated Friday, May 22.

On the morning of May 20 at the State Museum, there will be a dignified transfer of wooden caskets to the three vehicles that will transport the remains 60 miles north via Route 9 to Lake George Battlefield Park, site of the nearly $700,000 memorial.

The motorcade for the “Repose of the Fallen” project will include New York State Police leading nine Korean War and Vietnam-era military trucks operated by members of the NY-Penn Military Vehicle Collectors Club. The convoy will include an escort provided by New York members of the Patriot Guard Riders.

The motorcade will depart from the back of the State Museum at approximately 10 a.m. The route north will take it through downtown Albany, the Albany County town of Colonie, the Saratoga County towns of Halfmoon and Clifton Park, Village of Round Lake, Town of Malta, to the city of Saratoga Springs, where the motorcade will halt for a brief patriotic observance in front of City Hall at 474 Broadway.

The procession then will continue north through the Saratoga County towns of Wilton and Moreau and village of South Glens Falls, into Warren County and the city of Glens Falls, where there will be a brief halt at the intersection of Route 9 and Bacon Street for an observance.

From Glens Falls, the motorcade will travel through the town of Queensbury to the town of Lake George. Upon entering the village of Lake George, the motorcade will turn north onto Elizabeth O’Connor Little Boulevard, then head east on Beach Road for a short distance before turning onto Fort George Road and stopping at the memorial site. The estimated time of arrival is noon to 1 p.m.

Upon arrival, most of the caskets will be immediately interred in the memorial. The remaining four caskets will be taken to a nearby church to be safeguarded until the ceremony on May 22. Volunteers will serve as round-the-clock honor sentinels at the church until the morning of the 22nd, when the four caskets will be placed upon a horse-drawn wagon and transported to the memorial site for the formal reinterment ceremony with Federal, State and local officials.

Lisa Anderson, New York State Museum Curator of Bioarcheology, said “We have spent the past seven years painstakingly working to piece together the story of the individuals whose unmarked graves were destroyed. As we close this chapter, it’s hard to put into words the gratitude my team and I have for being part of this project. It has been a privilege to help uncover the story of these veterans and we look forward to them finally having the dignified burial they deserve.” 

New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James said, “We pay our deepest honor and respect as 44 Patriots embark on their final resting place, standing as a permanent tribute to their bravery and sacrifice. May we honor their memories with our actions and always be mindful of the heroes that walk among us. Their names and stories will never be forgotten; they forever inspire us to carry on with integrity and courage.”

“We would like to thank the NY-Penn Military Vehicle Collectors Club and the Patriot Guard Riders for providing the transportation of the remains of these early American Patriots to their final resting place at the Lake George Battlefield State Park in an honorable and respectful manner,” said Larry Arnold, a member of the board of trustees of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance. “Also, we would like to thank the New York State Police for their cooperation and support during this project.”

The remains were discovered during a construction project on private property on Courtland Street in Lake George in February 2019. Subsequent recovery and scientific analyses led by the New York State Museum and the Department of Environmental Conservation determined that they are American soldiers or associated personnel who likely died in 1776, when a large Continental Army hospital was located near the lake’s southern end. Ultimately, 44 distinct people were determined to be among the remains, though current methodology to ascertain their individual identities has not been available for this effort to date.

Hundreds of Continental Army soldiers who fought in the failed invasion of Canada launched in late 1775 are known to have died from smallpox in 1776 at Lake George. They were buried in unmarked cemeteries in and near what is now the village of Lake George. Although the identities of those uncovered at the Courtland Street site are unknown, several uniform buttons found with the remains indicate that at least one of them served in the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion, known to have fought in the Quebec campaign.

Construction of the reinterment memorial began last October on a knoll along the east side of Fort George Road in Lake George Battlefield State Park. The design includes several secured columbaria for the final resting place of these early patriots, seating, interpretive signage and a new memorial plaza.

The “Repose of the Fallen” project, funded through the New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative and private donations, will be formally dedicated on May 22, beginning at 11 a.m.

It was a packed house on May 11 as members of the community gathered at the Spring Street Gallery to go over proposed changes to Saratoga Springs’ Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). 

The changes were proposed by Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford and primarily focus on the city’s Design Review Board (DRB) which reviews exterior designs in the historic and architectural review districts. 

The meeting was organized by Patty Morrison, a former member of the Planning Board and a self-described concerned citizen. It was originally set to be held at the Saratoga Springs Library but was moved to the Gallery due to space concerns. 

Over 100 people packed into the room to discuss the proposed changes.  It was the second of two meetings, the first being held May 5. 

During the meeting Safford defended the proposed changes to the DRB, saying they were part of a larger effort to improve the planning office and make things easier for builders and homeowners. During this process, Safford said he’s heard multiple complaints from people regarding the DRB, prompting the proposed changes. 

Many of the proposed changes specifically deal with the architectural review district, one of the two areas covered by the DRB. The area covers the downtown core of Saratoga Springs and approaches the city — such as the ones along Union Ave, Route 50, Washington Street, Route 9 and West Ave, among others. Safford described homes along some of these streets as “bargains” for people to buy and fix up. The problem, according to Safford, is that when they buy the homes they run into issues getting approvals to make repairs.

Safford cited a specific example where a couple bought a house with a leaky roof and were told by the DRB that they had to use slate in order to repair the roof due to historic significance, something that was cost prohibitive. 

“They asked, they begged, and there was no recourse to that,” Safford said. “Now they have a leaky roof that they can’t replace because they can’t afford a slate roof.” 

The proposal is not without controversy. During the meeting, members of the community brought up several concerns about the proposed changes including mandating that historic significance not be a factor in demolition decisions in the architectural review district, limiting the ability of the DRB to control mass and scale and creating an appeals process that would grant applicants the ability to appeal decisions to the Zoning Board of appeals. 

Samantha Bosshart, Executive Director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, spoke at the meeting and laid out some of the possible issues seen by the organization. While she agreed with Safford that there was room for improvement, specifically in the appeals process and in how historic standards are applied, she argued that removing the ability of the DRB to deny demolition on historic grounds could ruin the gateways to the city as the only protected buildings would be those with landmark status. 

“That is a significant change that could dramatically change how our gateways feel,” Bosshart said. “We have the gateways with a sign that says, health history and horses. Well, if all those lovely older homes are demolished with new construction, it’s not going to be much of an introduction to our downtown historic core.” 

It’s unclear when the new changes will be voted on by city council. While Safford had been aiming for a June passage of the reforms, due to community feedback, it’s now expected to go to a vote sometime in July or August.