Henry Knox Trail facts for kids

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

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. They included forty-three heavy brass and iron cannons, six cohorns, eight mortars, and two howitzers. 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. 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.

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. The exact nature of the collaboration between the two states is unclear, however the work was completed in 1927. 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. 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.

Table of Knox Trail Markers

Marker #	Year installed	Title	Address	Picture
		Crown Point	21 Grandview Dr, Crown Point, NY 12928
		Fort Ticonderoga	102 Fort Ti Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
		Fort Ticonderoga	102 Fort Ti Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883
		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
		Bolton Landing	19 Rogers Memorial Park Rd, Bolton Landing, NY 12814
		Lake George Battlefield	75 Fort George Rd, Lake George, NY 12845
		Bloody Brook	1716 State Route 9, Lake George, NY 12845
		Glens Falls	626 Glen St, Queensbury, NY 12804
		Hudson Falls	220 Main St, Hudson Falls, NY 12839
		Fort Edward	219 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828
		Fort Miller	1061 State Route 4, Greenwich, NY 12834
		Northumberland	107 Starks Knob Rd, Schuylerville, NY 12871
		Schuylerville	3 Pine Lane, Schuylerville, NY 12871
		Ensign House	513 Saratoga County Veterans Memorial Highway, Stillwater, NY 12170
		Bemis Heights	1173 Old Route 32, Stillwater, NY 12170
		Stillwater	75 Hudson Ave, Stillwater, NY 12170
		Mechanicville	6 S Main St, Mechanicville, NY 12118
		Waterford	55 1st St, Waterford, NY 12188
		Klaus' Ferry	1258 New Loudon Rd, Cohoes, NY 12047
		Latham	99 Purtell Ave, Latham, NY 12110
		Albany	389 Northern Blvd, Albany, NY 12204
		Albany Riverside Park	191 Broadway, Albany, NY 12202
		Rensselaer	30 Aiken Ave, Rensselaer, NY 12144
		East Greenbush	688 Columbia Tpke, East Greenbush, NY 12061
		Schodack	1972 Route 9, Castleton on Hudson, NY 12033
		Kinderhook	1 Hudson St, Kinderhook, NY 12106
		West Ghent	6 Snyder Rd, Ghent, NY 12075
		Claverack	1202 Harlemville Rd, Ghent, NY 12075
		Old Nobletown	40 Nobletown Rd, Hillsdale, NY 12529
		North Egremont	223 Egremont Plain Rd, Great Barrington, MA 01230	Marker in North Egremont, MA, commemorating Henry Knox's "Train of Artillery" from Ticonderoga to Boston, 1775-1776
		State Line	179 Valley Rd, Great Barrington, MA 1230
		Blandford	Route 23 & North Blandford Rd., Blandford, MA 01008
			1 Wilbraham St, Palmer, MA 01069
			Warren, MA
			Northborough, MA
			Marlborough, MA
			Framingham, MA
			Wayland, MA 01778 Old Stonebridge Rd @ Sudbury River
			Weston, MA
			Waltham, MA
			Cambridge, MA
			Roxbury, MA

Photo gallery

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  Otis-Knox Trail Stone

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Palmer, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Warren, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Northborough, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Marlborough, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Framingham, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Framingham/Wayland border, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Wayland, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Weston, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail and George Washington Memorial Highway (Waltham, Massachusetts)

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  General Henry Knox Trail (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Images for kids

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  Marker located next to 117 Main St. in Spencer, MA. This location is close to a marker indicating that "Washington Slept Here"

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  Marker located at 1136 Main St. in front of the Leicester Public Library and Museum

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  General_Henry_Knox_monument_-_Worcester,_MA_-_DSC05781

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  General_Henry_Knox_Trail_(Northborough,_Massachusetts)_-_DSC04428

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  General_Henry_Knox_Trail_(Marlborough,_Massachusetts)_-_DSC04368

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  Henry-Knox-trail-marker-Framingham-MA