There were two sequential posts erected at Lake Champlain’s narrows, a choke point that allowed control of the lake. British Crown Point was erected adjacent to the earlier French fort St. Fr\ ed\ eric. The location was an ideal point to project imperial power, attract allies, and hold the Lake Champlain Narrows. The 1979 excavations uncovered remains of the trench built in 1755 off the southwest corner of the Fort St. Fr\ ed\ eric. The French fort was built in 1734 as a material symbol of French presence and served to attract Indian allies. When the French evacuated the position, the British immediately built their own stone-bastioned fort on the site. Now in ruins, Crown Point was the advanced British post on Lake Champlain and the staging point for further advances into French controlled Canada.