Airdrie Forest Preserve

1. Entrance Hall - Carol McBride

Airdrie Forest Preserve, the oldest of the Conservancy’s properties, was established in 1940 with a gift of 63 acres from Miss Lydia Robinson, heir to Airdrie Farm. The original house on the Airdrie Farm property dated from about 1720, and was owned by Welsh Quaker farmers, who made up the majority of early Tredyffrin settlers. Around 1865, the house was enlarged and remodeled, becoming more of a country estate than a working farm. Witmer’s atlas of 1873 shows the owner as being Clement Biddle (1810-1879), a Philadelphia lawyer. Upon Biddle’s death, the property was conveyed to Moncure Robinson, Jr. in 1880. Robinson’s wife was Lydia MacFunn Biddle, niece of Clement Biddle. Moncure Jr. worked with his father in the railroad business, serving as director of the Seaboard and Roanoke and the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroads. The Airdrie name is derived from the Biddle’s ancestral home in Scotland.

During the Robinson’s tenure, the wooded acres destined to become the preserve served as a woodlot, a common practice in the area, where fertile limestone soils in the Great Valley were used for raising crops, while the stony soil of the North and South Valley Hills served to provide timber for building, fencing, and fuel. Mr. Robinson died unexpectedly on December 12, 1896. His obituary in the New York Times states “Mr. Robinson owned a stock farm and a beautiful country house at Paoli, near Philadelphia. He was the owner of several noted horses, and was very successful on the turf. He was a member of several prominent local clubs, was connected with the Philadelphia City Troop of the State National Guard, and active socially.” Mr. and Mrs. Robinson had one child, a daughter, who was named Lydia, like her mother. Miss Robinson remained active socially for many years, but never married, so there were no heirs with an interest in calling Airdrie Farm their home.

In 1913, a group of local residents formed the Great Bear Tract, Inc. for the purpose of preserving the natural woodlands bordering North Valley Rd. Mrs. Robinson was a member of the organization, which purchased the land immediately to the south of the Robinson’s property on North Valley Rd. The curious name “Great Bear” was derived from nearby Bear Hill Road, so named because it led from the valley to an inn named the Black Bear on what is now Route 252 in Paoli.

In 1965, Miss Robinson donated an additional 1.3 acres. In 1972, 9.3 acres along North Valley Road were acquired from Great Bear Tract, Inc., bringing the total to 73.6 acres. The Preserve remained at that size until 2004, when Emily Hipps subdivided her Park Rd. property and donated 1.2 acres along the Hollow Rd. tributary on the Preserve’s southern border. In 2006, The Benson Companies, developer of Knobb Hill, donated a 50’ x 100’ rectangle (0.1 acre) at the Preserve’s North Valley Rd. entrance opposite Hawthorne Place. Also in 2006, Mr. T. Bennett Dickerson subdivided a property on Biddle Rd. and deeded 0.5 acres on North Valley Road at the southern border of the Preserve. The Preserve now stands at 75.4 acres.

The initial acquisition is mentioned in the Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, July 1940. p.48:

Miss Lydia S. Moncure Robinson of Airdrie, Paoli, has recently conveyed to the Chester County Horticultural Society [predecessor to the Open Land Conservancy] of which Howard S. Okie, Esq. is president, some 63 acres of woodland on the South Valley Hills overlooking the Great Valley.

This gift fulfils one of the Society’s main objects, that of the “acquisition of land suitable for wild flower and forest preserve”, the development of which will require energy and enthusiasm. We see in the future sparkling fern-bordered pools in the three branches of the Valley Creek, the steep sides of the wooded ravines glowing with shade-loving native flowers, and easy paths throughout the mile-long park. Should the dells and trails be named after the wild flowers, or commemorate the names of our Country’s great men of peace and war? Surely our loyal citizens, especially those of Tredyffrin and Easttown, will give their hearty support to this worthy project.

In the present day, we can still enjoy the ferns, the three branches of Valley Creek, the wooded ravines, and the trails. White-tailed deer have devoured many of the native wildflowers, although a number of deer-resistant Virginia Bluebells were recently transplanted to the streambank of the Hollow Road tributary from elsewhere in Tredyffrin, and other spring ephemerals can be found throughout the woods. A mature canopy of oak, tulip poplar, beech, and other hardwoods remains in place throughout the preserve, providing a natural buffer between the development on the ridge of the South Valley Hills and the Great Valley below. Home to pileated woodpeckers, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, and other notable wildlife, Airdrie remains largely as it was when Miss Robinson made her initial gift over 70 years ago. For more information on the Airdrie Forest Preserve, including a trail map, please visit https://openlandconservancy.org/Airdrie_Forest_Preserve.html