Welcome

First incorporated in 1974 and reorganized in 1999, the Willsboro Heritage Society’s mission is to gather, preserve and study the history of Willsboro and to create and maintain an interest in it.

The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit membership organization located in downtown Willsboro in the former Champlain Bank building at 6 Gilliland Avenue. The building serves as the Willsboro Heritage Center and Museum and houses the collections and archives of Willsboro’s past. The Museum is open during the summer months and by appointment.

Early beginnings

Willsboro, on Lake Champlain, was first settled in 1765 by William Gillilland, a New York City merchant who had purchased 9,000 acres granted by the British Crown to veterans of the French and Indian Wars. Razed by the British during the War for Independence, Willsboro was rebuilt after the war and organized as a town on March 7th, 1788.