Lake George, New York, Steamship Poster

"Lake George Steamship and Fort William Henry, New York" by Catherine Sherman. A steamship is docked near the replica of Fort William Henry at the southern end of Lake George, New York. Fort William Henry was a British fort, which was part of a chain of British and French forts along the important inland waterway from New York City to Montreal, and occupied a key forward location on the frontier between New York and New France. In 1757, the French general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm conducted a successful siege that forced the British to surrender, depicted in James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans." After the 1757 siege, the French destroyed the fort and withdrew. While other forts were built nearby in later years, the site of Fort William Henry lay abandoned for two centuries. In the 19th century, the ruins of the fort became a destination for tourists. Interest in the history of the site revived in the 1950s, and a replica of the fort was constructed. It is now operated as a living museum and a popular tourist attraction in the village of Lake George. Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains, in the northeastern portion of New York. The lake extends about 32.2 mi (51.8 km) on a north-south axis, is 187 feet (57 meters) deep, and ranges from one to three miles (1.6 to 4.8 km) in width, presenting a significant barrier to east–west travel. Although the year-round population of the Lake George region is small, the summertime population can reach more than 50,000 residents, many in the village of Lake George region at the southern end of the lake and in the numerous summer residences along the shores of the lake. Lake George drains into Lake Champlain to its north.