Wayback Wednesday: A Little Something Wild

This week is NationalWildflower Week, and May is the perfect time to appreciate the naturally colorful beauty of native flowers at any one of the various nature preserves we have available to us through Champaign CountyForest Preserve District. 

While we can’t pick the wildflowers, we can dig into Parkland’s roots, where we can learn about an agreement in which Parkland College became the first community college in the country to manage and use Nature Conservancy land. This was Grandma Patton’s Woods, named for Jane Cade Patton,  one of the first settlers of European descent in the area, and donated by her descendants.  In 1975, Dr. Lewis J. Stannard, a trustee of the IllinoisChapter of the Nature Conservancy, met with the Parkland biology staff and Dr. Donald Swank to propose that Parkland lease the 14 acre tract of wooded land at a rate of $10 per year. By 1977, Parkland faculty, staff, and students had become stewards to the land, which was to be used for educational and scientific research purposes. 

Former Parkland professor, Earl R. Cruetzberg (see also, Parkland prairie restoration), was instrumental in this project and used his sabbatical that same year to establish an interpretive nature trail. During his time at Parkland, he also designed coursework using the land, promoted its use through open houses, and created many interpretive brochures, including this one identifying the wildflowers that could be found in the woods.

Also known as Grandma Jane Patton’s Timber Nature Preserve, the area is located in northeast Champaign County, County Line Road (3600 N) and County Road 2500 E, six miles north of Gifford on 2500 E. It is an example of a native oak-hickory forest. Today the land is owned by the Champaign County Forest Preserve.  

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Wayback Wednesday Extra: 

“Grandma” Jane Cade Patton (1824-1921), wrote her memoir, Remembrancesof a Pioneer, which is now part of the digital books collection available through the University of Illinois Library.

This information was gathered from Record Group 7-8, Series 4 of the Parkland Archives. 

Wayback Wednesday is a feature of the Parkland College Archives. If you have ideas you'd like to see in future posts, email us at archives@parkland.edu. The Archives is open to faculty, staff, students, and the public by appointment.