John Brown Farm State Historic Site
Final home and resting place of the famous anti-slavery crusader.
The tri-lakes and high peaks region of the Adirondacks is the final home and resting place for abolitionist John Brown. Many Americans know the song "John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave" or have heard about his bloody battles in Kansas and his raid on Harper’s Ferry, but many are unaware of this simple farm in North Elba, New York, where he is buried.
Visitors to the 270-acre historic site can take a guided tour of the farmhouse furnished with period belongings. The old barn on the property houses an exhibit that highlights 19th-century New York abolitionists, and guests can watch an informative video on the Underground Railroad.
Tours of the house and buildings are available May through October, from 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Monday. The farm has numerous special events. Visit the website for the latest information.
The grounds and trails are open year-round for free during daylight hours for hiking and cross-country skiing. Leashed dogs are allowed on the trails.
Visitors have year-round access to three trails:
Potato Field Loop is a 1.8-mile trail that starts near the barn
Maple Grove Trail is a 0.3-mile loop through a maple forest
Ski Jump Trail is a 0.8-mile loop between the old barn and the farmhouse.
The trails and property are excellent places to spot or hear birds, check out wildflowers and flowering shrubs, and see many butterflies and moths. The farm is considered to be one of the most picturesque sites in the ADK, with breathtaking views of the surrounding High Peaks region.
John Brown was not originally from the Adirondacks. Born in Connecticut, Brown moved numerous times throughout his life to places in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York and back again to Connecticut. Raised to detest slavery, Brown was profoundly religious and became deeply involved in the abolition of slavery. This eventually led him to move to North Elba in 1948 when he heard about the Adirondack land grants offered to poor black men to establish farms in the area. Brown’s aim was to provide guidance and aid to former slaves resettling in the area.
However, Brown’s fervor as an abolitionist drew him west to Kansas, where he played a pivotal role in events in the mid-1850s, including the Pottawatomie massacre, which took place during the night of May 24 and the morning of May 25, 1856. Under Brown's supervision, his sons and other abolitionist Kansas settlers took five "professional slave hunters and militant pro-slavery" from their residences and killed them in Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas.
Then, on the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and his followers assaulted the U.S. Arsenal at Harper's Ferry (now part of West Virginia), planning to use the captured arms in an extensive campaign for the liberation of the slaves in the South. Brown was captured on October 18, 1859, imprisoned at Charlestown, Virginia, tried by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and hanged on December 2, 1859. His body was returned to North Elba and was buried in front of his home on December 8, 1859. The remains of several of Brown's followers, who fought and died at Harper's Ferry, were moved to this small graveyard in 1899.
Brown's final prophesy--"I, John Brown, am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done" — was soon to be realized in the Civil War.
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