Near the turn of the twentieth century, a wealthy industrialist and conservationist named Joseph Nolde purchased a plot of abandoned farmland in Berks County. When he and his family first saw the meadows, a single white pine stood among the grasses. Nolde was inspired by this one pine to create a “luxury forest”, hopefully resembling the coniferous forests of his native Westphalia. At first, he undertook the project of reforestation himself. He soon realized his goals were too ambitious for one man. Nolde hired William Kohout, a master forester from Austria, to design, plant, and maintain his woods. The natural area became Nolde’s pride and joy; nothing made him happier than bringing visitors to enjoy the forest with him.
Joseph Nolde did not live to see his forest mature, as he died in 1916. He would have been delighted to find out that his forest has become one of Berks County’s natural treasures. Since its acquisition by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1960s, it’s been used as an environmental education center for students and a state park.