Ticonderoga NY

You probably wouldn't guess it by looking at the town, unless you were both a history junkie and a trekkie, but Ticonderoga has a claim both to the history of America and the futuristic pop culture phenomenon Star Trek.

The town's name comes from a Mohawk word roughly meaning "the link between two waters," and was a crossing site frequented by American Indians and soldiers in both the French & Indian Wars and the American Revolution.

Fort Ticonderoga still stands and is open to visitors, with frequent reenactments. The town is also the birthplace of James Crawley, an actor and producer known for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in several Star Trek projects, and a starship is named after the New York town. Despite these large claims to fame, Ticonderoga seems comfortable with resting on its own present-day merits, and worthily so.