Willey House, New Hampshire, Memorial site in White Mountains, New Hampshire, US.
The Willey House is a historical site in Crawford Notch where the remains of an old inn sit at the base of Mount Willey near the Saco River. The grounds now include stone foundations and informational markers that tell the story of what happened here.
Samuel Willey Jr. converted an existing building into an inn in 1825, but a destructive landslide destroyed it the following year. The event killed about two dozen people in the immediate area and brought unwanted fame to this remote location.
The site captured the imagination of 19th-century writers and artists, who depicted the catastrophe in stories and paintings that became part of American cultural memory.
The site is located within Crawford Notch State Park and offers parking, walking trails, and interpretive signs to explore. You can visit the grounds during daylight hours freely, though the terrain is hilly and can become slippery when wet.
A granite ridge split the 1826 landslide into two streams, which left the house standing while the residents fleeing downhill were swept away. This strange twist of fate—the structure surviving but the people perishing—haunted visitors for generations.
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