Back to Homepage New York - Albany Albany - Points of Interest New York - Auburn Auburn - Points of Interest New York - Binghamton Binghamton - Points of Interest New York - Buffalo Buffalo - Points of Interest (Downtown) New York - Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) North Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) East Buffalo - Points of Interest (Midtown) South New York - Elmira Elmira - Points of Interest New York - Ithaca Cornell University - Ithaca, New York Ithaca - Points of Interest New York - New Rochelle New Rochelle - Points of Interest New York - New York City New York City - Points of Interest The New York Public Library Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan West Street and North (Hudson) River Water Front Lower West Side South Street Wall Street District City Hall District Bellevue Hospital Metropolitan Opera House The Empire State Building Downtown to Uptown Brooklyn The Bronx Queens Staten Island New York - Niagara Falls New York - Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie - Points of Interest New York - Rochester Rochester - Points of Interest New York - Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs - Points of Interest New York - Schenectady Schenectady - Points of Interest New York - Syracuse Syracuse - Points of Interest New York - Troy Troy - Points of Interest New York - Utica Utica - Points of Interest New York - Yonkers Yonkers - Points of Interest New York - Geology New York - Topography New York - Plant and Animal Life New York - Conservation and Recreation New York - Archeology and Indians New York - History New York - History - After the Revolution New York - Transportation New York - Agriculture New York - Industry New York - Ethnic Groups New York - Folklore New York - Religion

New York - Elmira - Points of Interest The MARK TWAIN STUDY is on Quarry Farm, off East Hill Road, about half a mile beyond the city limits. Mark Twain himself described the structure as 'octagonal, with a peaked roof, each face filled with a spacious window, and it sits perched in complete isolation on the very top of an elevation that commands leagues of valley and city and retreating ranges of distant blue hills.' The place was built for him by Mrs. Theodore W. Crane, his sister-in-law, in 1874. That summer, and many of the succeeding summers until 1903, Mark Twain did much of his writing in this retreat, including portions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tramp Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, and A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court. In town he indulged his fondness for billiards. The CHEMUNG COUNTY COURTHOUSE, Lake St. at E.Gray St., is composed of four units. The design of the older porticoed buildings reflect the Greek Revival style of the first half of the nineteenth century and are representative of Elmira's pre- Civil War boom. In the early days the courthouse, serving as community center, was also the scene of the first religious and Masonic meetings. The ARNOT ART GALLERY, 235 Lake St., occupies the Greek Revival mansion built by Mathias Arnot, one of the family of Arnots who were financial and political powers in Elmira during the last century. He bequeathed this red brick porticoed residence, as well as $10,000 for remodeling it, $200,000 for an endowment fund, and his art collection, to the community for a public art museum, which was opened in 1913. The permanent collection includes works of the Flemish, Dutch, German, and French schools. About 10 exhibits are held every year. Lectures on the exhibits are part of the curriculum of the city schools. The STEELE MEMORIAL LIBRARY, corner of Lake and E.Church Sts., a Carnegie library, is a two-story red brick building trimmed with limestone. It also houses the Chemung County Historical Society. The name is in tribute to Joel Dorman Steele ( 1836-86), one of the most popular textbook authors of his time, and for many years principal of the Elmira Free Academy. PARK CHURCH, SW. corner of W.Church and Main Sts., is built of greenish stone with red stone trim in a modified Romanesque style. It was erected during the pastorate of the Reverend Thomas Kennicut Beecher ( 1824-1900), brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher, who is especially remembered for his pioneering efforts to make his church a center for social activities. A bronze statue of Beecher stands just east of the church. In the second-floor lobby of the MARK TWAIN HOTEL, corner of N.Main and Gray Sts., are murals depicting Mississippi River steamboat scenes suggested by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and a life-size portrait of Mark Twain. There are additional murals in the taproom. GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SE. corner of W.Church and Davis Sts., is known for its beautiful interior. The pulpit was carved by Whipple in his studio at Exeter, England; the Calvary group of carvings was made in Oberammergau by leading actors in the Passion Play; and the sanctuary lamp is a reproduction of the lamp in St.Mark's Cathedral in Venice. ELMIRA COLLEGE, College Ave. at Park Place, one of the earliest colleges for women, was founded in 1855, at a time when higher education for women was considered ridiculous. The college was financed by Simeon Benjamin, a wealthy resident of Elmira. At the first commencement in 1859 there were 17 graduates; today the alumnae body numbers more than 4,000, and the annual enrollment is about 375. The curriculum includes all liberal arts studies and courses in domestic science and nursing. Cowles Hall, College Ave. at Park Place, the original college building, named for Dr. Augustus Cowles, first president of the college, has a large central octagonal rotunda with several radiating extensions. It contains the administrative offices, the book store, the recreation room, several recitation rooms, and the chapel. According to local legend, a subcellar (not open) was a depot on the Underground Railroad. WOODLAWN CEMETERY, north end of David St., contains the Grave of Samuel Langhorne Clemems (Mark Twain) ( 1835-1910), American humorist and satirist. In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon, daughter of a wealthy Elmira businessman, and thereafter spent many summers in Elmira. He is buried in the Langdon plot. In the same plot is the Grave of Ossip Gabrilowitsch ( 1878-1936), Mark Twain's son-inlaw. He studied piano in St.Petersburg, Russia, his native city, and at the age of 16 won the coveted Rubinstein prize. In 1900 a concert tour brought him to New York. He achieved his greatest honors as conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He met Clara Clemens while she was a pupil of Leschetizky, and they were married in 1909. WOODLAWN NATIONAL CEMETERY, adjacent to Woodlawn Cemetery, contains the graves of 2,963 Confederate soldiers who died in the Elmira prison camp. The prison was hastily constructed, unsanitary, and crowded; most of the Southerners, brought here in 1864, died within the year. The Confederate graves, occupying the central portion of the six-acre plot, are surrounded by the graves of 322 Union soldiers. The cemetery office has a record of the burials. The ELMIRA REFORMATORY, corner of Davis St. and Bancroft Road, is a massive brick structure painted gray, its grim buttressed side walls and towers typical of nineteenth-century prison architecture. In it are confined men between the ages of 16 and 30 convicted of a first-offense felony. Zebulon R. Brockway ( 1827-1920), superintendent from 1876 to 1901, evolved here the sytem of indeterminate sentence, under which the inmates, by accumulating credits, advanced through successive stages of increasing privileges until they received their parole. Brockway also developed industrial training, gymnastics, military drill, and a scholastic curriculum, all of which combined to make the Elmira system the pioneer pattern for modern penological methods. The AMERICAN LAFRANCE-FOAMITE PLANT, 100 E.LaFrance St., employing about 550 men, manufactures fire-fighting apparatus. The original firm was the Button Fire Engine Company, which began production in 1834 and rendered bucket brigades obsolete. Gasoline engines, power take-offs, and pumps, as well as trucks, are made in the Elmira plant. The firm also manufactures Foamite, a chemical for extinguishing fires. Train Station, Elmira, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Greetings from Elmira, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com The Lafrance Manufacturing Co. Elmira, NY Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com Mark Twain Study, Elmira College, New York, USA Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com