Timbuctoo, New York, was a mid-19th century farming community of African-American homesteaders in the remote town of North Elba, New York. It was located in the vicinity of 44°13′N 73°59′W / 44.22°N 73.99°W / 44.22; -73.99, near today's Lake Placid village (which did not exist then), in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Contrary to the information given out by donor Gerrit Smith, who said that the lots were in clusters, they were spread out over an area 40 miles (64 km) north to south, and 15 miles (24 km) east to west.

Timbuctoo has acquired a mythical status in the history of New York State. The name was given to the settlement many years after its inception, by John Brown. The land is reforested and the exact location of the houses is unknown. While a historic marker was installed in July 2022, the settlement is not found on any local maps. There are no surviving buildings nor known foundations of buildings. There are no known photographs. (One frequently seen was in fact not taken in New York State.) It is not even clear who came up with the name, which was not widely used. The only thing remaining is the restored (to its 1859 state) house of its farming instructor John Brown, in whose barn a permanent exhibit on Timbuctoo is installed. However, that farmhouse of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site had not yet been built; the rented house he and his family lived in was destroyed by fire in 1900.

The story of Timbuctoo—in the 21st century becoming the subject of artistic works—is a tale of sin and redemption. An unfair, discriminatory measure—New York's imposition of a property qualification on black voters only—was to be made right by a saintly act, the wealthy Gerrit Smith's grand measure, giving black men he deemed worthy enough property (land) that they could vote. In theory, the project would have changed black urban wage workers into self-sufficient black land owners. But the redemption was only partial. A lot of Smith's land was very remote. What was supposed to have been a healthful escape from disease-ridden cities ended up being a great deal of hard work felling trees in a very cold climate. Only one black settler family remained permanently.

In its Constitution of 1821, New York State enacted a law that required free black men (only) to own real estate worth at least $250 (equivalent to $8,958 in 2025) or a house in order to be able to vote. An 1846 referendum on repealing this requirement failed by a large margin, at least 150,000, without carrying a single county. (In New York County, "for" 5,137; "against" 29,948.)

Gerrit Smith, a wealthy abolitionist, announced in 1846 his plan to remedy this situation, giving away 120,000 acres of land to 3,000 needy black New Yorkers in 40 acres (16 ha) lots. It created rural land ownership and self-sufficiency for black people as an alternative to urban city life; gave black men access to the right to vote; and was an alternative response to the influx of Irish and white immigrants competing for urban employment.

Rural life seemed a way to escape from slave catchers looking for fugitives, some of whom would kidnap and sell free blacks into slavery. It was also a solution to the housing shortages and epidemics that plagued their crowded neighborhoods. "It seemed probable, the [scandalous?] political aspect would be exhibited of a town in New York controlled by negro suffrages, and represented in the county Board by colored supervisors."

Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland Garnet worked with Smith to promote the land distribution and recruitment to the Adirondacks. Smith wanted a certain type of person to inhabit Timbuctoo as they would be representing the masses. Some of the characteristics that those who wanted to live in Timbuctoo should possess included being completely sober, showing self-restraint, being responsible, and having good morals.

There were similar initiatives in Vermontville, near Bloomingdale, and Blacksville, near Loon Lake, New York.