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Human History and Seasons Changing

04 Dec

My phenology site is located near Centennial Brook flowing into the Winooski River making it a key location for human settlement. I found no evidence of Abenaki or other indigenous  groups occupying my site most likely due to a lack of records and documentation. However, they  most likely they did more it being a flat area with well drained soil. They could of made use of my area by using the brook for its fertile soils and active beavers on site. With the arrival of Europeans there is much more recorded land use of my area. The earliest map show is from 1810 showing how the land was marked up by plots per area of land rather than resources. My site produced many natural resources such as beaver, lumber (hardwoods and softwoods), and scouring rush to scouring pots, pans, sand wood, and more. The next major record for my land was in the late 1800s. The Ainsworth family owned my site for many years dating back till 1880 to 1904 in the Burlington Directories. Both Lorenzo and Grace Ainsworth worked on the land as farmers producing wool from merino sheep. Their production was recorded in the Agricultural Census of Vermont. Grace had family nearby on Colchester Ave. called the Edcumbe family. Also farmers, William Edcumbe operates seven acres of land and boards other family members. Lucia Edgcume boarded with William from 1882 operating two acres of land with her college Mrs. Sarah Stevens. In addition, in 1889 Geo Edgcumbe board with William to work at E W Chase company where they produced doors and other wood products. Lorenzo Ainsworth would die in 1889 making Grace the sole owner of the property when the 1890 map was drawn up. Grace would later give her property to UVM when she died in 1904 at age 73. Her land would be operated by UVM to develop Centennial Field and Centennial Forest. I went to both her and her husband’s grave at Green Mount Cemetery located nearby on Colchester Ave., also where the Edgcumbe family is buried.

 

http://www.uvm.edu/place/burlingtongeographic/maps/index.php

http://www.uvm.edu/~campus/centfield/centennialhistory.html

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmsc/Centennial%20Woods/Changing_Landscapes_Centennial_Woods002.pdf

 

Centennial field would solve UVM’s problem of a lack of space for athletic space and be home for the UVM Lake Monsters. The rest of my site would also be owned by Fred Fiske who would continue to operate the land as a farm until the 1920s. With the lack of agriculture more industries came into my site such as airlines and power lines. Vermont Electric company would come in and place power lines creating edge habitats. These edges would introduce early succession trees and new habitats for edge species such as catbirds currently present at my site during the spring and summer months. In addition, the area would be later disturbed by excess noise from Burlington Airport. However when UVM declared Centennial Forest as a protected area my site had time to regrow into healthy mature forrest with some signs of disturbance. Now it serves as a natural area for all those who want to escape  the urban setting of Burlington.

In terms of seasonal changes, winter is practically here and can be seen in the wildlife here. For the vegetation, all the herbaceous plants are non prevalent seen as in the phragmites all fallen over exposing the brook for me to see and the deciduous tree species have either lost all their leaves or lost their pigment such as beech trees. In terms of animal life there is limited bird populations such as warblers and thrushes leaving only the year-round birds such as nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, and crows. For the physical properties the ground as frozen over making it difficult for excess water from rain and snow to infiltrate the soil creating large puddles are increase the current of Centennial Brook.

 

 

 
 

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