The 200th Anniversary of the Willey Family Landslide in Crawford Notch

 

The original Willey House in Crawford Notch, late 1800s

next to the larger Willey Hotel

NH State Park photo

In 1793 the Willey Family of Bartlett, New Hampshire bought an isolated farmhouse and land in Crawford Notch.  This was about ten miles away from Bartlett, and about 20 miles from North Conway, where their extended family resided.  They named their farm the Willey House Inn, hoping to attract boarders, especially the artists and writers who passed through this area.  In the early 1800s the White Mountains were attracting fame as a tourist destination.  

In June 1826 a landslide in the notch frightened Samuel Willey, the head of the household. He built a shelter near the house to protect his family from another landslide. But later, in August 1826, following a severe two month drought, a heavy rainstorm caused a flood.  The Saco River, across from his farm, rose 20 feet, and a bigger landslide.  

The extended Willey family found the Willey House intact, but the Willey family and their hired men were missing. A rock ledge divided above the landslide divided the rubble, passing the house on both sides.  The house was untouched, but the family was still missing.  It is assumed that they fled to their shelter, but died in the attempt to flee.  Inside the house, there was a bible on the table, and unmade beds. The Conway Historical Society has artifacts from the site, including patchwork of clothing recovered from the house, and a brick. 

Later, search parties found the remains of Samuel Willey, his wife Polly, two children, and the two hired men.  The bodies of three other small children were never recovered.   If they had stayed in the house, they would have survived the disaster. Newpapers of the time carried this story all over the world, and in a twist of fate, it attracted tourists to Crawford Notch. The Willey homesite became the place of a large 50 bed hotel.  This scary story has become a famous ghost tale in New Hampshire.  It was so frightening that Nathaniel Hawthorne turned it into a suspenseful short story included in his book Twice Told Tales.  

Eventually the Willey house burned to the ground in 1898, and the area became a New Hampshire State Park. There is no longer a hotel here, but there is a campground, visitor center, restrooms, and a monument with a plaque commemorating the Willey House and the family that perished in the landslide.  The mountain behind the house was renamed Mount Willey, and the notch retains the scarred landscape of rocks and rubble from the landslide 200 years ago.

The New Hampshire State Park service will hold a commemoration on 28 August 2026 at 11:00 am at Crawford Notch State Park for the 200th year anniversary of the Willey House slide.  The ceremony will be held on the lawn across the street from the Willey home site monument.  After the ceremony, there will be a short history of the landslide.  New signage will be unveiled, and a new display in the Welcome Center will be revealed.  This event is open free to the public. 

Crawford Notch painting by Charles Codman (1880- 1933)

The Willey House can be seen on the right, amongst the rubble

This painting is at the Conway Public Library, Conway, New Hampshire

Yes, the area did attract many painters and artists, but mostly after the disaster

For the truly curious:

"This story will give you the Willeys - literally!",  posted 28 October 2025, the adventure of how I found the final resting place of the Willey family, including those lost in the 1825 landslide:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/10/this-story-will-give-you-willeys.html   

"Happy Halloween! The Story of the Willey Family of Crawford Notch", posted 28 October 2010, the history of the 1825 Crawford Notch Landslide:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-halloween-story-of-willey-family.html 

"The Ambitious Guest!", a short story from Twice Told Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1837

The Willey House, Crawford Notch, NH History, Facts and Folklore, by Rex Wiley, 2021 (available at the gift shop in the Crawford Notch State Park) 

From the Conway Daily Sun newspaper "200 years later, the Willey Slide continues to fascinate us" by Tom Eastman, 21 August 2026, https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/200-years-later-the-willey-slide-continues-to-fascinate-us/article_442f4831-55dc-4257-a9d3-93eb69a1e575.html  

The Willey Family Tree, by Sue and Rick Willey    https://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/pearl/www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/family/willeynh.pdf  

New Hampshire State Parks, Crawford Notch https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/crawford-notch-state-park  
            The Willey House site is open 9am to 5pm at Crawford Notch State Park
            Park Office 603-374-2272

Wikipedia, "Willey House (New Hampshire)"   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willey_House_(New_Hampshire)   

Appalachian Mountain Club, "The Willey Family Tragedy"   https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/the-willey-family-tragedy/    

-------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The 200th Anniversary of the Willey Family Landslide in Crawford Notch", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 26 August 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-200th-anniversary-of-willey-family.html: accessed [access date]).