Azilum, or Asylum, was appropriately named, for it provided a natural setting of undisturbed calm and pastoral serenity for a group of French exiles who settled here in the autumn of 1793.

In time, several small shops, a schoolhouse, a chapel, and a theatre appeared around the market square; dairying and sheep raising were begun; orchards and gardens were planted; a gristmill, blacksmith shop and a distillery were erected; and the manufacture of potash and pearlash was established.

Of the more than fifty structures erected by the refugees, not one remains. The four hundred-odd half-acre house and garden plots, so carefully planned and then abandoned, were absorbed into larger tracts of farmland and tilled for generations by later occupants.

Step through a doorway into the past by visiting this historic site via this website... and then in person. Today this historic site contains over 20 acres of the original settlement. Although no structures from the original town survive, an original foundation has been left exposed for public viewing. A reconstructed and relocated log cabin, circa 1790, serves as a small museum with artifacts pertaining to the settlement. We offer guided tours of the LaPorte house, our restored house museum. You can also see several outbuildings, part of the LaPorte Farm and outdoor exhibits as part of your self-guided tour of the site.