The tragic deaths of the Willey family, who perished in August 1826 while attempting to flee from a massive landslide in Crawford Notch, established their homestead as one of the earliest tourists attractions in the White Mountains.
Ironically, the family’s home was left undamaged, and if the family had remained in the house, rather than attempting to reach the shelter they had built in case of landslides, they would have survived.
The rumpled beds and Bible found on the kitchen table added to the mystique, attracting thousands of tourists to the house until it burned in 1899. The strange circumstances of the family’s deaths brought national attention to the region.
N.H. Historical Society