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The Pavilion
According to tradition, the architect Beecher Higby of Glens Falls, New York built
this gracious home around 1826 for William Ferris Pell, a merchant from New York
City, to replace an earlier home that burned in 1825.
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named The Pavilion and began to be used as lodging for the small but
growing tourist trade to the Fort. It continued to also be used as a summer residence for the
Pell family. Steamboats, coaches, and trains brought tourists to
The
Pavilion and the Fort throughout the 1800's. The Pavilion was at
times known as the Fort Hotel or the Fort House Hotel.
Visiting fashionable spas (Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa), historic sites, and the
Adirondacks was popular
throughout much of the 19th century,
especially among southerners. Their extended visit was known as the
Northern Tour.
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The Fort Ticonderoga Hotel, circa 1895
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On the grounds of The Pavilion, Pell experimented with non-native and
exotic plants. A few of his grove of black locust trees still remain. An avid horticulturalist, Pell cultivated the Pavilion
grounds on the site of the earlier 18th century Garrison Garden.
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The Pavilion |
Around 1909 The Pavilion became the private summer residence of Stephen Pell and his wife, Sarah Thompson Pell.
During their residency The King's Garden took
shape in its present form.
Today, the Pavilion is in the early stages of restoration and is not open to the public.
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