06/05/2026
🐾 GM in the Wild with Lily 🐾
This week we explored one of the most fascinating places in the White Mountains—the Willey House Historic Site in Crawford Notch.
The Willey family came to Crawford Notch in the early 1800s hoping to welcome travelers to the mountains. At the time, tourism in the White Mountains barely existed. Most of the people passing through the notch were farmers traveling between Vermont and Portland, Maine.
The house they moved into had previously been owned by Abel Crawford, whose family would later create Crawford Path—the oldest continuously maintained hiking trail in the United States and one that is still used today.
The Willey House sat at the bottom of a steep valley surrounded by cliffs and slide-prone mountainsides. After a landslide narrowly missed the house, Samuel Willey built a shelter nearby where the family could take refuge if another slide occurred.
Then, on a stormy August night in 1826, disaster struck.
When travelers arrived days later, they found an eerie scene. The house was still standing. Dinner remained on the table. A Bible lay open. The family dog wandered nearby. But the Willey family was gone.
Fearing another landslide would strike their home, the Willeys had rushed toward the shelter. Tragically, the landslide passed around the house and left it untouched, while the shelter was directly in the path of the debris.
The story became so famous that it even entered local folklore. For generations, people in the White Mountains used the phrase "It gives you the Willeys" to describe that uneasy, creepy feeling—especially while traveling through Crawford Notch on a dark or stormy night.
News of the disaster spread through newspapers from Boston to New York. People became fascinated by the story and traveled to Crawford Notch to see the site for themselves. While visitors had traveled through the White Mountains before, the Willey tragedy helped launch tourism in the region and brought widespread attention to the mountains for the first time.
In many ways, the tourism industry that the Willeys had dreamed of creating finally arrived—but too late for them to see it.
Today, nearly 200 years later, thousands of travelers still pass through Crawford Notch each year, drawn by the same dramatic mountains, powerful history, and natural beauty that captivated visitors in the 1800s. The Willey House Historic Site features exhibits about the family's story, a gift shop, ice cream, scenic views, and access to several nearby hiking trails.
Lily's favorite part? Watching the ducks on the pond. 🦆🐾
Have you ever stopped at the Willey House?
— Caitlin & Lily
