Elmira
[key], city (2020 pop. 26,523), seat of Chemung co., extreme S central
N.Y., on the Chemung River; settled 1788, inc. 1864. It is a distribution
and manufacturing center with plants that make electronic and fire-fighting
equipment, automobile parts, and iron and steel products. The Treaty of
Painted Post, ending warfare between settlers and the Iroquois Confederacy, was signed there
in 1791. The city was the site of a Civil War prison camp in 1864–65;
3,000 Confederate prisoners are buried there. The well-known Elmira
Correctional Facility (est. 1876) led the way in prison reform. Mark
Twain spent many
summers in Elmira and is buried there. Places of interest include Twain's
study, built in the shape of a riverboat pilot's house; the Arnot Art
Museum; and a Native American historical museum. Elmira College and a
business institute are in the city. Nearby are Harris Hill, site of an annual national glider
contest, and Newtown Battlefield State
Park, with a John Sullivan
Monument.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography
