Elmira Industrial Association

In 1892, a group of Elmira businessmen including Mathias H. Arnot, Spencer Mead, Charles J. Langdon, and Howard H. Hallock organized the Elmira Industrial Association. With capital stock of $100,000, the association purchased 17 parcels of land north of Elmira that amounted to nearly 500 acres. It then divided the land into 2,160 lots. Each lot sold for $200, but buyers did not get to select particular lots to buy. They made a blind purchase and the parcels were then allotted to buyers during the Great Land Lottery held at the Opera House in Elmira on October 24, 1893.