Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens married Olivia Louise Langdon in 1870 in her hometown of Elmira, New York. For well over the next two decades, the Clemens family summered in Elmira, at the home of Olivia’s sister, Susan, and her husband, Theodore Crane. It was at Quarry Farm overlooking the Chemung Valley that Clemens reminisced of his youth on the Mississippi River, thus inspiring him to write his classic American tales The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Life on the Mississippi, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
The study where Clemens spent the majority of his time on Quarry Farm was moved to the Elmira College campus in 1952 and is now known as the number one literary attraction in America. The Mark Twain Study, Exhibit, and Statue on the Elmira College campus are open to visitors from May through Labor Day, Mon-Sat, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. From Labor Day through mid-October hours are: Sat, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Sun, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Twain enthusiasts can also view a permanent Twain exhibit at the Chemung County History Museum, as well as see the Mark Twain Gravesite at Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
Take a one-hour narrated tour of historical Elmira, NY aboard The Elmiran. Trolley Into Mark Twain Country Tours depart on the hour from the Holiday Inn Riverview, 760 East Water Street in Elmira. Tours are given from July 1st through August 31st, Tuesday through Saturday only. The first tour begins at 10:00 a.m. and the last tour begins at 2:00 p.m. There is a $4 fare for adults and children under 12 are $2 when accompanied by a parent or guardian. The 2:00 p.m. trolley will take you to Harris Hill and the National Soaring Museum only. All other tours are of the downtown historical sites. Sign-up and ticket sales for the tours are available at the Holiday Inn Riverview reception desk. To schedule a trolley tour, call 607-734-4211.
Points of interest on the Elmira tour include sites where Mark Twain lived and wrote; the beautiful Maple Avenue District; the Woodlawn National Cemetery (honoring Civil War Fallen Union and Confederate Soldiers, and modern era Armed Services Veterans); historic Near Westside District; Elmira Civil War Prison Camp; Dunn Field, home of the Elmira Pioneers baseball team; the Arnot Art Museum; the Chemung Valley History Museum; the Clemens Center ... and more!