Photography by CJW_NY

John Brown Farm

And the grave is right here at this National Historic Landmark

Ten years before abolitionist John Brown led his ill-fated raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia, he established this farm outside of Lake Placid. While Brown himself spent little time there in the years leading up to his death, his wife and several children tended the farm in his absence. While a pair of ski jump towers built for the 1980 Olympic Games looms nearby, the view remains as majestic today as it was in the 19th century. Their home, too, has been preserved - a docent offers a brief tour. Brown intended to capture arms from the U.S. Arsenal in Harper’s Ferry and distribute them to enslaved African Americans, fomenting an uprising; he was captured after the 1859 raid, tried for treason and hanged two months later. Brown’s body was returned to the farm for burial shortly after.

At a glance

Each May, John Brown Lives! holds a day in Brown’s memory at the farm featuring speakers celebrating his commitment to social justice.
Several of Brown’s supporters who also died at Harper’s Ferry were interred at the farm in 1899.
The site, which was named a National Historic Landmark in 1998, is also a New York State Historic Site.