John Brown Farm State Historic Site
The John Brown Farm State Historic Site includes the home and final resting place of abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859). It is located on John Brown Road in the town of North Elba, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Lake Placid, New York, where John Brown moved in 1849 to teach farming to African Americans. It has been called the highest farm in the state, "the highest arable spot of land in the State, if, indeed, soil so hard and sterile can be called arable."
John Brown Farm State Historic Site | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
John Brown's house | |
| Nearest city | Lake Placid, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44°15′07″N 73°58′17″W |
| Area | 270 acres (110 ha) |
| Built | 1855 |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000840 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1972 |
| Designated NHL | August 6, 1998 |
According to a 1935 visitor, "the site which so captivated John Brown on his first visit and held his interest to the end of his life is one of the most impressive in the Adirondacks. The awe-inspiring mountains surrounding the spot look down on friendly valleys, lakes, hills, streams, homes, hamlets and villages. The panorama stresses the power, majesty and eternal verities embodied in the towering peaks; calls attention to the peace, grandeur and solitude of the region; and deepens the feeling of man's weakness, finiteness and transitory abode on mother earth.": 329
A visiting reporter described the scenery as "absolutely the grandest in all the Adirondack region, being superior to that found at Mirror Lake and Lake Placid. ...A superb view."
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1998. It has been managed by the state since 1896; the grounds are open to the public on a year-round basis, and tours of the house are offered in the warmer months.
The weather was described at the time as "six months winter and the other six months was mighty cold weather". A recent (2002) writer called it "one of the most inhospitable places in the eastern United States".