Wheeler Nature Park

The first European-American who settled the property and constructed the original farmstead was Rufus Crossman, circa 1800. Over the next century the majority of the land had been cleared for agriculture where a smaller natural forest stand remained, most likely cultivated as a sugar bush for maple syrup. Aerial photos taken in 1937 indicated four structures, including a large barn existed on the northwest corner of the property.^[4]

On February 22, 2011, the South Burlington City Council voted to name the natural area as "Wheeler Nature Park", based on a 2010 unanimous recommendation from the South Burlington Natural Resources Committee (SBNRC) that had deliberated other historically related names, including Crossman and Calkins. "Wheeler" was considered most reflective of the property's heritage, due to Herman H. Wheeler who had constructed the three-story brick farmhouse on the property in 1903. Wheeler had served as the city's Town Clerk, Treasurer, and as a representative to the Vermont Legislature, where for a some time the farmhouse served as Wheeler's office. The Wheeler family maintained ownership of the property for nearly 40 years, before Rena Calkins purchased the property in the mid-1940s.^[4][1]

In 2011 the City of South Burlington voted to exchange 7.25 acres of the Park for 21.27 acres of adjacent land (i.e. “the leg”) then called the “Wheeler Nature Park Connection Parcel”, which increased the park to approximately 119 acres. The referendum called for the City Council to commit the Wheeler Nature Park into a third-party conservation easement. The City revised the management plan over the next four years.^[1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wheeler Nature Park (South Burlington, Vermont).

• Official website City of South Burlington, Vermont: Wheeler Nature Park