Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve facts for kids
Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve is a special protected area in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, a suburb near Pittsburgh. It covers about 134-acre (0.5 km2) of land. This reserve helps protect different kinds of plants, animals, and other wildlife. Since 1977, it has been the main office for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP).
The land where Beechwood Farms is located belongs to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. They let the ASWP use the site to manage the nature reserve. The reserve has forests, open fields, small streams, and a pond. It also has more than 5 miles (8.0 km) of walking trails. These trails are open from early morning until sunset every day of the year. Some trails are even easy to use for people with special needs.
What is the Audubon Society at Beechwood?
The Audubon Society at Beechwood Farms has many helpful facilities today. These include classrooms where people can learn, a special center for teachers, a library about nature, and a store called the Audubon Nature Store. There's also a large meeting room called the Evans Nature Center auditorium.
When the education building was built in the 1980s, it used smart, eco-friendly designs. For example, it was built to let in lots of natural light and keep heat inside, saving energy. It even had special composting toilets, which are good for the environment.
How Audubon Came to Beechwood
The story of Audubon at Beechwood began with Rachel Mellon Walton and her daughter, Farley Walton Whetzel. They bought what used to be the Flinn estate. In the 1970s, these two women gave the land to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The Conservancy then chose the Audubon Society to take care of the reserve.
The History of Beechwood Farms
The Flinn estate dates back to 1903. A well-known Pittsburgh businessman and politician named William Flinn (who lived from 1851 to 1924) bought the property after he stopped working in politics. At that time, the land was much larger, covering over 350 acres (1.4 km2) on both sides of Dorseyville Road. He became a "gentleman farmer" there, meaning he farmed for enjoyment rather than for a living, and named his property "Beechwood Farms." It was famous for its special herd of Guernsey cattle, which are a type of dairy cow. These cows provided milk and other dairy products to the local community.
Today, Beechwood Farms is located in the suburb of Fox Chapel, just north of Pittsburgh. It is one of two nature reserves that the ASWP manages. The other reserve is called Todd Nature Reserve, which is about 22 miles away in Sarver, Pennsylvania.
