A history of North Elba,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of North Elba from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The town was first settled around 1814. In 1840 there were six families in the future North Elba, which was formed from part of the town of Keene in 1849.
The abolitionist John Brown, attracted by the views of local abolitionist Gerrit Smith, came to the town in 1849 to found a community for former black slaves. Smith was trying to resettle free blacks on land in the area, but it was not suitable for family farming. Brown left from his farm for the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish North Elba’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewJohn Brown's burial, 1859: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from North Elba
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North Elba, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as John Brown's burial (1859) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.