John Brown's Farm and Grave
Near Lake Placid, New York
Just south of Lake Placid, on a quiet rise with a view of the High Peaks, sits a simple farmhouse and a large boulder that mark the grave of John Brown, one of the most fiercely debated figures in American history. Brown was a militant abolitionist who believed slavery could only be ended by force. In eighteen forty nine he moved his family to this remote farm in North Elba, drawn here to help Black families who were trying to settle nearby wilderness land.
Ten years later, in October of eighteen fifty nine, Brown led an armed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to spark an uprising against slavery. The raid failed. Brown was captured, tried for treason, and hanged on the second of December, eighteen fifty nine.
His body was carried back here to North Elba and buried beside this house on the eighth of December, six days after his execution. Decades later, in eighteen ninety nine, the remains of several men who fought and died with him at Harpers Ferry were reburied alongside him. Some Americans saw Brown as a terrorist, others as a martyr who helped push the nation toward civil war and emancipation.
The farm became a state historic site in eighteen ninety five, and you can visit both the house and the grave today.
