"Ho! EVERY ONE that thirsteth, let him come and drink” [Isaiah 55.1] was the motto of Noyes Academy, a racially- and gender-integrated college founded by abolitionists in 1835 in Canaan, in the rugged forest of western New Hampshire.

The school opens in March 1835, with 28 white and 17 black students. But many local residents fear or despise black people moving into Canaan. Four months after it opens, a group votes to “remove” the school.

At 7am on August 10, 300 people use 100 oxen to dismantle the building, after school leaders evacuate the students. Many Noyes students are admitted to other abolitionist colleges.

Canaan Union Academy, for whites only, is built on the site, operating on-and-off again until 1892.

The building is now home to the Canaan Historical Society and Museum