Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our lists from Thanksgiving in 2012 and 2014, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

Day 1: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, caretaker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 2: … the local schools that use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom and for service learning, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art, and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for resurfacing the historical WPA stage last summer in time for the park’s 80th anniversary celebration, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 621 acres (and growing!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done since 1970 to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring. We are honored to receive their Organizational Stewardship Award this year!  

Day 5: … our Nature Walk guides and monthly event leaders who volunteered their time in the past two years: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, Gary Stolz, David Hewitt, Shannon Davidson, Marcia Tate, Stephanie Gaboriault, Kyle Loucks, George Tate, the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Holly Hoffmann, Aura Lester, and Charles Randall.

Day 6: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating native trees and shrubs each year for habitat restoration plantings by other organizations – including for our past four National Public Lands Days!

Day 7: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833.  It has wonderful scientific and historical collections, and is well worth a visit. Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”  

Day 8: … EllieReed Lewis and Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandchildren of park donors George and Eleanor Butler –  for sharing their recollections from childhood in Glen Providence Park, and for celebrating the park’s 80th anniversary with us last summer!

Day 9: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most Friday mornings to work in the park. In the past 4 years, they have cleared over 250 packed contractor bags of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 10: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the past few years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered, and Girl Scout Troop #5037 and Pack 503’s Webelos II have had meetings and outings in the park!

Day 12: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Sterling Pig, and Tagine, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park.

Day 13: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 14: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this once-majestic native tree, decimated by blight in the early 1900’s. Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and we know from T. Chalkley Palmer’s 1889 writings that the park’s eastern hill was once “continuously wooded with oaks and chestnuts.” We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 15:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 17 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us.

Day 16: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles, and for leading 3 Herpetology Walks in Glen Providence Park! We’ve documented 18 species in the park so far…

Day 17: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 18: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – whether by reading our newsletter and website, attending our concerts and nature walks, or saying a kind word when they see us in the park – and of course our Facebook fans!

Day 19: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, use of their Conservation Trailer, and support for our native plantings over the past 5 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 20: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, plantings, events, and activities!

Day 21: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and all living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park.

Day 22: … Hedgerow Theatre, for their enchanting performances at the WPA stage – enacting the park’s historical Newlywed Ghost and Witch Stories for Glen Providence’s 80th anniversary last year, and bringing Shakespeare to the park this summer!

Day 23: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s. He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 24 of Thanks: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations. There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the most beloved features of the Glen Providence Park is the man-made pond at its center – created 80 years ago for fishing and skating! Like the other original park structures and trails, it was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era jobs program – which is part of what made the park eligible for the National Register of Historic Places!

Creating a pond

Samuel L. Smedley envisioned the pond when he founded Glen Providence in 1935, and effusive Chester Times articles about the new park tracked the pond’s construction. Work had begun on the “lake” by April 1936: “Entering from the Third street end… From here the nature lover, following paths recently completed by the WPA will see springs, and a small lake in the course of completion.” The pond was “nearly completed” by August.

A 1937 article about Glen Providence described the new pond in detail: “The most outstanding object of interest is “Mirror Lake,” 400 feet long, 100 feet wide, irregular in outline, constructed near the middle of the property, and to the west of Broomall’s Run. The  water supply is by a by-pass, from Broomall’s Run… A second supply is from the larger spring [the historical drinking spring near Broomall’s Dam]… the water being carried through about 500 feet of pipe and liberated over an artificial cascade into the lake, making a very attractive feature.” That cascade would later be improved in 1948 by the Providence Garden Club as the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall – with her husband, Eleanor had donated the majority of the land for the park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum.

Fishing, skating, ducks… and the Swamp Man!

True to its intended purpose, the pond was the site of years of fishing derbies for children in summer, and was regularly stocked with perch, bass, and sunfish. Enchantingly, there were lights around the pond for nighttime skating in winter! The pond also hosted a cast of feathered characters, with ducks and geese that were named by the park guards – and some of their antics made the newspapers!*

Any manmade body of water requires maintenance over time, and by the early 1980’s, the pond had virtually dried up. Under Recreation Supervisor Terry Smith, Delaware County Parks & Recreation held a “Sherlock Holmes Mystery Walk” in 1981 at the dried-up pond, which “won rejuvenation thanks to public awareness.” The pond was dredged, and in 1983 and 1984, “Great Bullfrog Releases” were held inviting volunteers “to help release bullfrogs into the park’s revitalized pond.”

The pond went on to play a role in the park’s “Halloween Hauntings” in the 1980’s –  we’ve heard from many people about the scary “Swamp Man” who hid in the pond (in scuba gear!), jumping out at passers-by!  

The pond today

While still full of wildlife including several species of turtles, fish, and frogs, the pond is again filling with sediment. Sometime since 1975, the pipes feeding the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall caved in, eliminating a source of water and aeration for the pond. A fountain was installed in the pond in the early 2000’s to help with aeration, but was ultimately vandalized. The pond’s shallowness, combined with insufficient aeration and inadequate vegetation around the pond, contribute to it being overgrown with algae in summers. 

There are potential upcoming changes to the pond as a result of the Broomall’s Dam replacement (now anticipated for 2018), including the possible creation of wetlands at one end of the pond. In any case, the pond will need dredging, stabilization of the intake and outlet, and planting of trees, shrubs, and appropriate native vegetation around, and in, the water to restore and preserve its ecosystem.

We hope that revitalization is successful, and that future generations are able to enjoy this WPA pond!   

*I’ll write more about the fishing derbies, illustrious ducks, and winter skating in future articles!

Click below to see the charming 1939 photos by local resident GJ Ulshafer showing what the new pond looked like, an undated postcard, and photos from 1944, 1959, and 2016. 

Early Spring pond panorama in 2016 – click for a closer view

Sources:

Chester Times articles researched on the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library:

Chester Times:
Club Leaders See New County Park, November 1, 1935
New Park Rich in Trees, Birds, April 2, 1936
Parks Pilgrimage, June 6, 1936
Glen Providence Nature Oddity, August 8, 1936
Delaware County Park Board Makes Progress, February 8, 1937
Glen Providence, On Edge of Media, Is Bird Haven, July 22, 1944
Swing Into Spring, April 10, 1959

The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Whodunit? At Bottom, It’s a Plot to Help Delco Parks, September 18, 1981
A Great Bullfrog Release Nears – Volunteers Restocking Media Park Pond, June 19, 1984

In the summer of 1935, George and Eleanor Butler donated the land for Glen Providence Park, the first park established by Delaware County. Its final approval was reported in the October 30, 1935 Chester Times, and the long-time park guard and caretaker James R. Stokes, Jr. started work the next day on October 31, 1935 – so Halloween is Glen Providence Park’s anniversary, and this year will be its 80th!

Glen Providence Park would not have been possible without the generosity of George and Eleanor Butler and the vision of Samuel L. Smedley, the president of the Delaware County Park Board. Mr. Smedley championed regional planning and open space in Delaware County from at least 1927, when he spoke about the county’s rapidly growing population necessitating a recreational and park system and of Delaware County’s “rolling country, intercepted by beautiful streams, making ideal conditions for living and recreation.”

Samuel L. Smedley spearheaded the creation of the Delaware County Park Board in 1932, and apparently had his eye on the Butler property during a June 1935 walk reported in the Chester Times: “There is an arboretum upon the estate of George T. Butler, a natural one, the trees just grew as nature would have them. Samuel L. Smedley, one of Delaware county’s widely known botanists, in roaming through the lovely valley and over the hillside found fifty varieties of trees. Mr. Smedley is also an ornithologist and saw a number of different birds flitting around.”

Just over a month later on July 24, 1935, George and Eleanor Butler signed a deed donating the majority of the land for the park to Delaware County, with small tracts donated by The Media Swimming and Rowing Club and James J. Skelly. From the beginning, the focus was on preserving the natural beauty and habitat of the valley. The deed dated July 24, 1935 states “That the property shall be used only as a Park and Kept in as natural a condition as possible save only for the construction of paths or trails for the use of pedestrians.” Glen Providence Park was established as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, and Eleanor Butler herself named it “because of its glen-like formation and as it is located in the heart of the Providence townships.”

There are hundreds of articles over the ensuing decades in the Chester Times recounting events and activities in Glen Providence Park, and many extoll its beauty, plants, and wildlife, as in the September 1935 announcement of the Butlers’ donation: “The tract is the beautiful glen and woodland which adjoins the Butler residence on West Front street… Owing to the great variety of natural conditions, which includes Broomall’s Run, a rapid flowing stream, many acres of heavy timber and a great variety of natural shrubs and wild flowers, this tract is particularly well suited for a bird sanctuary. Many species of birds already frequent the spot.” A November 1, 1935 write-up invites the reader to “Come with your bird glasses, your flower guides, your tree books. Bring the school children and scout groups, and let Nature teach them her ancient lessons.”

Generations of nature lovers, hikers, families, school children, and scout groups have enjoyed Glen Providence Park, which has also hosted a wonderful array of activities and events in its 80 years. That tradition of community events, and the elegance of the park’s design and structures built by the Works Progress Administration, are why Glen Providence Park was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places!

The dedication at the park’s main entrance states, “A gift of land is a gift eternal.” Thank you to George and Eleanor Butler for this wonderful gift!

Happy 80th Anniversary, Glen Providence Park!

Thank you to William Vanleer for sharing the two entrance signs photos, from a series of 12 photographs taken circa 1939 by his grandfather GJ Ulshafer, and to Clifford Butler Lewis for sharing the portrait and photograph of his grandparents, George and Eleanor Butler!

Sources – Chester Times articles researched on the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library:

Next 25 Years to See Million in the County, February 15, 1927
Unique Arboretum on County Estate, June 14, 1935
27 Acres Given for Park Site, September 13, 1935
Fine Water Supply for Broadmeadows, October 30, 1935
Club Leaders See New County Park, November 1, 1935
Glen Providence Nature Oddity, August 8, 1936
Glen Providence Park is One of Scenic Spots in County, October 24, 1949

Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our list from Thanksgiving 2012, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

27 Days of Thanks in Glen Providence Park
We are thankful for…

Day 1: … the local schools who use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 2: … Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandson of park donors George and Eleanor Butler – for his generosity in sharing his grandparents’ photo albums with us and donating their golf clubs to Springhaven Country Club (which they founded!), and for sharing his recollections from his childhood in Glen Providence Park.

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for repairing the concert stage (damaged in July from a fallen 110-year-old tree) in time for our August concert this summer, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 11 parks with over 600 acres(!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating 75 native trees and shrubs this year for habitat restoration plantings by Friends of Heinz Refuge, CRC Watersheds, and Friends of Glen Providence Park.

Day 5: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, and Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park!

Day 6: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 7: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done for 44 years to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring.

Day 8: … our Nature Walk guides who volunteered their time to lead our walks this year: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, John Wenderoth, Ted Cavey, Stephanie Gaboriault, Marcia Tate, Aura Lester, Kyle Loucks, Holly Hoffmann, Chris McNichol, and Charles Randall.

Day 9: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, events, and activities!

Day 10: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, and support for our native plantings over the past 3 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the last 2 years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered in the park!

Day 12: … the wonderful bands who have performed at our Summer Concert Series the past 3 years: Philadelphia Brass, Springfield Clarinet Quartet, the Obsoleets, Me3, Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band, Perseverance Jazz Band, Sonoma Sound, and ViVaCe Strings!

Day 13: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s! He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 14: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most weeks to work in the park. In the past 2 years, they have cleared 179 packed contractor bags (and counting!) of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 15: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833!  Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since long before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

Day 16: … Delaware County Planning for their thoughtful work on the Delaware County Open Space, Recreation & Greenway Plan, and on our neighboring Mineral Hill Area Master Plan. Glen Providence Park and future generations will be better for it!

Day 17: … Transition Town Media, for all they do to build community and resilience, from their FreeStore, to workshops, to their lovely Annual Candlelight Gratitude Banquet for local nonprofits.

Day 18: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, care taker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 19:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 11 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us!

Day 20: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 21: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this majestic native tree! Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and they were once the dominant tree species in Glen Providence Park. We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 22: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles! We are glad to have chosen PARS for our 2014 citizen science project.

Day 23: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 24: … the Academy of Natural Sciences, for preserving and researching a wondrous amount of natural history, including early 1900’s microscope slides from Scroggie Run (now Broomall’s Run), and for their generosity and hospitality in showing us those slides.

Day 25: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and other living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park!

Day 26: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – our Facebook fans, those who read our newsletter and website, and those who have attended our concerts and history & nature walks!

Thanksgiving Day: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations.  There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were delighted and amazed to find a copy of the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park in the Media Historic Archives, after reading about it in the June 7, 1941 Chester Times.  It was wonderful on a cool, blustery, beautiful day last Saturday to walk the trail described in the guide, comparing plants and features from 1941 and now!  Along the way we referred to early park photographs and descriptions, while searching for ephemeral spring flowers.

The 1941 Glen Providence Park Supervisor James Stokes wrote, “This guide has been prepared as a seeing eye for nature lovers, in order that they may enjoy the abundance of shrubs, flowers, trees and wild life found in this lovely Glen.”  There are quotes from the Delaware County Park and Recreation Board President Samuel L. Smedley, and National Recreation Association Specialist L.H. Weir.

The self-guided 1941 trail starts by the main entrance on State Street, heading down the sledding hill past the concert stage and turning right along the Ice House Trail towards the Broomall’s Dam waterfall.  Some of the still-existing trees and plants described include Flowering Dogwood, Hemlock, large Sassafras trees, Birch, Skunk Cabbage and Iron wood (Hornbeam).

In 1941, we could have crossed “an arched rustic bridge which commands a beautiful view of the Falls”, to pass a fernery and get to the drinking spring by Broomall’s Dam.  As that bridge fell long ago, we made a stream crossing over the stepping stones, past a scenic view of the wetlands fed by the numerous natural springs along Broomall’s Run. We made our way near the drinking spring, and saw the emerging Bloodroot flowers along the trail where indicated by the 1941 Guide.  We first spotted the Bloodroot on April 3 this year during this cold spring, 17 days later than last year’s warm spring!

By the pond is the lovely but now-dry Eleanor Reed Butler waterfall, and in the pond we saw turtles and fish- but it would be two days before the American Toads first emerged.   We took the lower Shingle Mill Trail to its end along Broomall’s Run, where there was once a children’s wading pool with “a very fine view of meadowland” stretching to Ridley Creek Road.  There was also a 100′ rustic footbridge over the marsh and stream!  Still growing is an “Oddity of Nature – nine trees growing from one central root of a Sycamore tree.”

In the absence of the footbridge, we made another stream crossing and connected with the lower Mountain Laurel Trail,  abundant with the state flower Mountain Laurel, and an enchanting patch of Partridge Berry on a fallen tree.  The 1941 trail ends at the pavilion, near our Earth Day Plantings.

While it was a late-blooming Spring, it was beautiful to get a clear view of the park’s landscape with early Spring colors, before the foliage emerges. Thank you to the 14 adults, 2 lovely children and the delightful dog who joined us on our walk!

You can view the PDF version of the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park, and you can view and print our Annotated Trail Map with trail names and historical annotations!

This fall, we were delighted to confirm that we found two healthy young American Chestnut trees in Glen Providence Park!  At the beginning of the 20th century, the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, was a majestic tree dominating our eastern forests. Known as the Sequoia of the east, it was one of our tallest trees.  It was the preeminent tree from Maine to Mississippi, and constituted well over 25% of trees in Pennsylvania!

Its nuts and wood were highly valued by European colonists, and doubtless by the Okehocking who lived here before them.  According to the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF), it was the single most important food source for a wide variety of wildlife from bears to birds.

Then the Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, was discovered in 1904 on imported Asian Chestnut trees in New York City, and it spread across the east- killing an estimated 4 billion trees by 1950.  Healthy trees were cut down in a failed attempt to stop the spread of the blight.  Saplings still grow from the root sprouts, but they usually die off again when the saplings are large enough to become infected themselves.  But there are some larger survivors…

The yellow mushrooms that led us to the American Chestnuts

Finding Glen Providence Park’s Chestnuts- by accident!

While volunteering at Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery, which is led by John Wenderoth, I learned to differentiate American, Chinese and Japanese Chestnut leaves.  With John, we sent leaf samples to the ACF for identification and confirmed blighted American Chestnut saplings in Long Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Rose Valley, and a Japanese Chestnut on the Sledding Hill in Glen Providence Park!*

Then in Glen Providence Park last October, I was photographing some bright yellow mushrooms I had noticed on the eastern hill, when I looked up and marveled to see what looked like American Chestnut leaves!  There are two chestnut trees measuring about 15′ and 25′ tall.  This fall, Sara Fitzsimmons of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACF confirmed by microscope analysis that the leaves are American!  We also found chestnut burrs (the spiky nut casings) on the western hill, but have not yet located their tree…
 

1855 Map of Media by Thomas Hughes showing “Chestnut Wood” by the current Broomall’s Lake – from Media Historic Archives

History of Chestnuts in Scroggie Valley

It turns out it is not so surprising to find these chestnuts, as we uncovered historical documentation of American Chestnuts in Scroggie Valley, most of which would become Glen Providence Park.

T. Chalkley Palmer’s detailed 1889 description of Scroggie Valley mentions chestnuts: “The northwest wall is… nearly devoid of trees.  The southeast wall is wooded continuously with oaks and chestnuts.” And he described the singing of the Hermit Thrush “…of a morning, from the top of the chestnut tree on the hill.”

Even earlier, an 1855 map of Media labels as “Chestnut Wood” the area to the east of Broomall’s Run, near what is now Broomall’s Lake.  Some of those may have been submerged when dam was built in 1883, and according to a 1905 article about the Media Grackle Roost near Broomall’s Lake, the rest were logged: “On the eastern side of the lake and stream the old “Camp Meeting Woods,” principally chestnut, was wrought up for commercial purposes”. 

By 1912 the blight had hit our area: according to a Chester Times report of a Chestnut Blight talk at the Delaware County Institute of Science, the blight was “generally spread” in Eastern Pennsylvania, but had not yet spread to the Western part of the state.

In 1915, the Chester Times lamented the near-decimation of the chestnuts and their beautiful woods: “Many of the hills in and near Media, which have in past years been noted for their beauty because of the forests which crowned them, will, before the end of the present summer, stand bare except for the disfiguring stumps, mute reminders of the old conditions.”

Japanese Chestnut branch with burrs in Glen Providence Park- the (very prickly!) burrs contain nuts

Amazingly, as recent as 1935 there is documentation of chestnuts in the park- the Chester Times described chestnut saplings on George Butler’s estate, which would soon be donated for Glen Providence Park: “A close observer of nature finds many young chestnut trees coming up on the estate of Edward B. Creighton and Mr. Butler.”   The article recalls, “In days gone by… those having nut trees on their estates and farms would have house parties and their guests would carry back to their homes baskets filled with nuts…”

While over time most of those saplings would have succumbed to the blight, we now know that at least two have survived!  We provided these historical records to the ACF, and we will continue to monitor these two American Chestnuts for them- and look for more!  We also hope to plant more American Chestnuts in Glen Providence Park, with the help of the ACF’s research…
 

American Chestnuts in North Carolina in 1910 – courtesy of the Forest History Society, Durham, NC

Restoration efforts:

There have been a variety of efforts to save the American Chestnut since the blight was discovered, from fungicides to irradiation.  As a result of decades of “backcrossing” Chinese and American Chestnuts by the ACF, there is now a hybrid “restoration chestnut”  with 94% American genes, but with just enough Chinese traits to provide blight resistance.  Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery grows trees to provide nuts to help preserve a genetic stock of pure American Chestnuts.

On a personal note, I learned that my grandfather worked on restoring the American Chestnut for decades in his retirement, which I didn’t know until after I became interested in American Chestnut restoration and started volunteering!  His work is cited in Susan Freinkel’s 2007 book “American Chestnut- The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree.”

Keep your eyes out in the park (and in your family records!), you really never know what you will find!

* I had actually been tipped off about there being a chestnut tree on the Sledding Hill when HACC Biology Professor Geremea Fioravanti of the Delaware County Institute of Science posted a photo of a chestnut burr on our facebook page!

For more information:

– Visit the American Chestnut Foundation and PA Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation websites

– Read  “The chestnut resurrection,” Nature, October 4, 2012

– Volunteer at Tyler Arboretum’s American Chestnut Nursery!

Surviving American Chestnuts & restoration efforts in Pennsylvania include:
– Natural Lands Trust’s Mariton Preserve in Easton, PA
– Jenkins Arboretum in Devon

Additional Sources:

– “Scroggie,” T. Chalkley Palmer, The Student, Germantown, PA, December 1889 & January 1890

– “The Media Grackle Roost,” Samuel Omensetter, Cassinia, Proceedings of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, No. IX, Philadelphia, PA, 1905

– “American Chestnut – The Life, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree,” Susan Freinkel, University of California Press, 2007

Chester Times articles:
– No Known Cure for Chestnut Blight – August 13, 1912
– Passing of the Woods – May 1, 1915
– Relics of Chestnut Blight – Gaunt Skeletons Rear Themselves in Every Wood Tract – August 10, 1916
– Unique Arboretum on County Estate – June 14, 1935

You can click on any photo for a closer look, and scroll through the photos below.

Following the example of some of our friends, throughout November we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on facebook.  It is amazing how much there is to be thankful for! Here are those daily thanks- these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

22 Days of Thanks in Glen Providence Park

We are thankful for…

Day 1: … all that Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association has done for 42 years to protect, conserve and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area.

Day 2: … the local schools who use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, and Penncrest High School- and homeschoolers!

Day 3: … the wonderful restaurants in Media that donated delicious refreshments for our park events and fundraiser: 320 Market Cafe, Desert Rose, Diego’s Cantina And Tequila Bar, Media Pizza & Grill, Planet Hoagie, Seven Stones Cafe, Shere-E-Punjab Indian Restaurant, & Sinfully Delicious Gourmet Pastries!

Day 4: … the Birding Club of Delaware County and its members who have helped us so much with our Park Bird List this year: by leading bird walks, birding in the park, and even identifying species from photographs we email!  Thank you, Dave Eberly, Tom Reeves, Nick Pulcinella, Nick Crocetto, and the ever-helpful Al Guarente.

Day 5:  … all of the volunteers who have spent time working in Glen Providence Park through the years– both the dozens of people who have helped at our 5 volunteer days, and the countless who volunteered in the park before us.

Day 6: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors, Media Recreation Board and Blueberry Bog Vintage & Handmade, who made possible the magical performance by Philadelphia Brass in September, reviving the decades-long tradition of concerts in Glen Providence Park!

Day 7: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their Mini-Grant and help planning our 2012 Earth Day Plantings, and for their guidance planning plantings for 2013.

Day 8: … the Media Historic Archives and its volunteers who preserve so many important pieces of Media history, including historical maps, documents, newspapers, and even wonderful early photographs of Glen Providence Park.

Day 9: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for its many years of caretaking and managing its 11 parks with over 600 acres(!) of open space for the public… now that is a daunting job!

Day 10: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833!  It has wonderful scientific and historical collections, and is well worth a visit! Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since long before it was a park–  40(!)-year DCIS President T. Chalkley Palmer wrote in detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, and a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

Day 11: … the Reformation Lutheran Church of Media, for its unsolicited generosity in donating matching funds for our Earth Day Plantings in April! This seems to just be representative of its ongoing environmental stewardship- it even received a national Energy Star award in 2010!

Day 12: … the Delaware County Library System, for its fantastic online archives of historic newspapers that enabled us to learn so much about the history of Glen Providence Park. And even more online archives are accessible with a library card.

Day 13: … our Founding Funders, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, events and activities- and for our Anonymous Donor who matched those gifts!

Day 14: … Delaware County Planning for their thoughtful work, and soliciting public opinion, on the Delaware County Open Space, Recreation & Greenway Plan and on our neighboring Mineral Hill Area Master Plan. Glen Providence Park and future generations will be better for it!

Day 15: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us 123 years later to read about the landscape, flora and fauna of Glen Providence Park in the 1800’s! He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 16: … Samuel Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning.  He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 17: … our Nature Walk guides and other experts who have generously shared their knowledge and helped us identify (non-bird) species in the park (turtles, frogs, insects, fungi, trees and more!)– including Dr. Mac Given, the PA Fish & Boat Commission, Dr. Anne Bower, John Wenderoth, the American Chestnut Foundation, Tom Reeves, Aura Lester, Dr. David Hewitt, Marcia Tate- and our knowledgeable facebook fans!

Day 18: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and fungi in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park!

Day 19: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work in 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, care taker, supervisor and park ranger- personally making picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, and teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife.

Day 20: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve & enhance Glen Providence Park- our facebook fans, those who read our newsletter and website, and those who have attended our history & nature walks, events and concert!

Day 21: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939- with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and volunteer projects. And a Brownie troop meeting just this fall!

Thanksgiving Day: We are thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations.  There would be no park without them- we are so grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!