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Chemung Valley Living History Center

  • 455 Oneida Road
    Elmira, NY 14901
  • (607) 733-0950
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Newtown Battlefield State Park sits high on a forested hilltop with a commanding view of the Chemung River Valley below. It is located in the beautiful southern-tier area of New York State, near Elmira. Full of pristine, quiet, natural beauty, and rich with history going back hundreds of years, the park is an excellent location for anyone searching for any of these things. The park is the "home" of the Chemung Valley Living History Center, a group of people who annually present several Living History Re-enactment events. In 1779, General George Washington ordered General John Sullivan to gather an army and form an offensive against the Iroquois Nations and their allies. Because of repeated attacks against the white settlers, his orders were to drive the Indians out of the wilderness of New York, to burn their villages and destroy their crops so they could not return. The army was to push its way northward to the shores of Lake Erie and to capture the British Forts Oswego and Niagara. As the army of about 5,000 soldiers pushed northward from Pennsylvania, they came to this hill and here, on August 29, 1779, near an Indian Village called New Town, they engaged in a battle... The Battle of Newtown.