Rachel Carson Homestead
Rachel Carson is probably best known as the author of Silent Spring, which she wrote in 1962 to tell the tale of the impact pesticides and other chemicals were having on bird populations. Yet, her conservation story begins much earlier than that. You can discover more about Ms. Carson at the Rachel Carson Homestead, located in Springdale, PA (just 17 miles northeast of Pittsburgh).
The Homestead is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the humble four-room clapboard farmhouse where the family lived beginning in 1901, and where Rachel was born, on May 27, 1907. At the time, the homestead included nearly 65 acres overlooking the Allegheny River. It was here that Rachel discovered the outdoors, developed her own “sense of wonder,” and read and dreamed of becoming an author. The Carson family remained there until 1930, when they moved to Baltimore.
Since 1975, the house and what remains of the property (approximately one-half acre, although a small hiking trail connects to the adjoining municipal property) are managed by the Rachel Carson Homestead Association, a group consisting primarily of volunteers and a part-time executive director. The mission of the association is to “preserve, restore, and interpret Rachel Carson’s birthplace; to design and implement environmental education programs and to educate the community, guided by her environmental ethics and sense of wonder.”
The association welcomes those who would like to volunteer at the Homestead. If you have an interest in continuing Rachel’s legacy by helping to maintain the grounds, lead tours, fundraiser, or provide administrative support, please contact the association.