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Steward
Contact:
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Directions:
Located on Hunter Lane
about 3/4 mile off of Sardis Road
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GPS:
N 40° 28.830
W 079° 40.354
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Aerial Map:
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Drawn Map:
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Topo Map:
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Property
Description
This
reserve of 52 acres sits on a high hillside along
Hunter/Wallace Lane and Route 286. Most of the property is
wooded with a meadow on the north edge and the Power Company has
clear-cut a strip beneath the utility poles along Hunter Lane. A
parking lot has been placed beneath this power line on Hunter
Lane south of the intersection with Wallace Lane. The woods are
relatively young with a maturing stand of pioneer trees in the
higher elevations. Some late successional trees, however, are
already well established. What appears to be an old logging road
climbs the hill from the meadow. To the left of this trail as
you climb the hill is an unusually large stand of black cohosh,
a tall flowering plant that blooms in July, and a very
impressive old hollow snag that won't be standing too much
longer. Several American chestnut trees have recently made
discovered in this nature reserve, the largest of which has burs
on the ground beneath. A boundary line for this reserve crosses
the 1400-foot elevation contour line making it one of the
highest places in Murrysville. Being our newest acquisition, we
are still learning about it.
Property History
In 1993 Gerald and
Audrey McGinnis bought a 51-acre parcel that had been part of
the Wallace farm. They gifted it to the Conservancy in 2000 to
establish the McGinnis Nature Reserve. The Wallace Family was
among the early settlers of the region. David Wallace married at
35, purchased 154.36 acres from John Nesbit in 1833 when he was
40 and with his wife Margaret raised six children. Samuel Hilty
built a substantial stone house for him in 1854 when he was 61.
In his will of 1869, David Wallace refers to his stone house as
a "mansion." Stone farmhouses are comparatively rare in Western
Pennsylvania. There are only two examples standing in
Murrysville. The Stone House and its five-acre curtilage are NOT
apart of the nature reserve.
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