Seminary Woods St. Francis

Last updated
Seminary Woods
Beech Tree.png
One of the beech trees located in Seminary Woods with vandalism etched along its trunk. (St.Francis, Wisconsin)
Seminary Woods St. Francis
Location Saint Francis de Sales Seminary
Nearest city St. Francis, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°58′55″N87°52′16″W / 42.982°N 87.8711°W / 42.982; -87.8711
Created1855
Operated bySaint Francis de Sales Seminary
Website http://www.mkeconservancy.org/seminary-woods.html

Seminary Woods is a historic woodland in St. Francis, Wisconsin, on the grounds of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. It is one of the last surviving beech-maple mesic forests in Wisconsin. The forest was founded in 1855 when the seminary moved to St. Francis from Milwaukee and the land that was originally purchased by the Lake Drive Franciscan Sisters became part of the newly established seminary. The forest consists of 68 acres and is located near Lake Michigan. It attracts attention from naturalists for the forest's beech-maple composition and wild flowers that bloom in the spring. A striking feature of the forest is the seminary's cemetery that lies hidden among the trees.

Contents

History

Although the woods lie on seminary property, the forest was first owned by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in 1833. The land was acquired by the sisters from the Potawatomi Indians living in the area at the time. It was not until 1855 that Saint Francis de Sales Seminary was built and the forest became part of its property. [1] The forest has survived colonization and urbanization because its natural beauty led it to be used as a place for reflection by members of the seminary.[ citation needed ]

Natural history

Deer in front of the Saint Francis de Sale Seminary. These deer live within Seminary Woods. Doe in front of the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary .png
Deer in front of the Saint Francis de Sale Seminary. These deer live within Seminary Woods.

The forest obtained its distinct beech-maple forest from soil deposits made by glacial movement 11,000 years ago. Several species of wildflowers, wildlife, and trees are spotted in the forest. Mature trees found in the forest include, basswood, sugar maple, beech, red oak, and paper birch. The forest also has a small stream that flows into nearby Lake Michigan. Wildflowers include, trillium, white trout lily, yellow trout lily, bloodroot, the endangered blue stemmed goldenrod, and hepatica. Wildlife found in the area include great horned owls, white tailed deer, coyotes, and migratory birds. [2]

Trees
Common nameScientific name
American beech Fagus grandifolia
American basswood Tilia americana
Sugar maple Acer saccharum
Red oak Quercus rubra
Paper birch Betula papyrifera
Fauna
Common nameScientific name
Great horned owl Bubo virginianus
White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus
Plants
Common nameScientific name
Tri flower Trillium sp.
White trout lily Erythronium albidum
Yellow trout lily Erythronium americanum
Hepatica or liverwort Hepatica sp.
Bloodroot Sanguinaria sp.
Blue-stemmed goldenrod Solidago caesia

Invasive species

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has declared Seminary Woods an area in need of protection from invasive species because of its natural environment and historical significance. [3] Although the forest does contain invasive species, they are low in number.

Invasive species
Common nameScientific name
Common buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica
Garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata
Bell's honeysuckle Lonicera × bella

Structural remains

In the forest are the remains of previous structures, a grotto and the cemetery that is a final resting place for individuals who were affiliated with the seminary

Seminary cemetery

Seminary cemetery Seminary Cemetery St. Francis .png
Seminary cemetery

The cemetery is located towards the middle of the forest. Multiple pathways within the forest lead to the cemetery. The cemetery contains burials of sisters of St. Francis, archbishops, and children from St. Aemilian's orphanage. [4]

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in Seminary Woods .png
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

The 10-foot (3 m) grotto found in the forest near the cemetery honors Our Lady of Lourdes and was built in 1894 by Paul Dobberstein. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fredonia (town), Wisconsin</span> Town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

Fredonia is a town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,903 at the 2000 census. The Village of Fredonia is surrounded by the town. The unincorporated communities of Little Kohler and Waubeka are also located in the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grafton (town), Wisconsin</span> Town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

The Town of Grafton is a town located in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and is in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The town was created in 1846 and at the time of the 2020 Census had a population of 4,157.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saukville (town), Wisconsin</span> Town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

Saukville is a town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The Village of Saukville is located in the town's southeast quadrant. The population was 1,755 at the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saukville, Wisconsin</span> Village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin

Saukville is a village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located on the Milwaukee River with a district along Interstate 43, the community is a suburb in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 4,258 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest</span> Nature preserve in northern Wisconsin, U.S.

The Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest is a 1,530,647-acre (6,194.31 km2) U.S. National Forest in northern Wisconsin in the United States. Due to logging in the early part of the 20th century, very little old growth forest remains. Some of the trees there were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The national forest land trees and vegetation are part of the North Woods Ecoregion that prevails throughout the upper Great Lakes region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Park</span> Public park in Chicago, Illinois

Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue, on the south, to near Ardmore Avenue on the north, just north of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue. Two museums and a zoo are located in the oldest part of the park between North Avenue and Diversey Parkway in the eponymous neighborhood. Further to the north, the park is characterized by parkland, beaches, recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors per year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited city park in the United States, behind Central Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driftless Area</span> Geological region in the Midwestern US

The Driftless Area, also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau, is a topographical and cultural region in the Midwestern United States that comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. The Driftless Area is a USDA Level III Ecoregion: Ecoregion 52. The Driftless Area takes up a large portion of the Upper Midwest forest–savanna transition. The Blufflands refers to the eastern section of the Driftless area in Minnesota, due to the steep bluffs and cliffs around the river valleys. The western half is known as the Rochester Plateau, which is flatter than the Blufflands. The Coulee Region refers to the southwestern part of the Driftless Area in Wisconsin. It is named for its numerous ravines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Francis de Sales Seminary</span> Catholic seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Saint Francis de Sales Seminary is a seminary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, located in the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis, Wisconsin. Its main building, called Henni Hall, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<i>Erythronium propullans</i> Species of flowering plant

Erythronium propullans, the Minnesota dwarf trout lily, Minnesota adder's tongue or Minnesota fawnlily, is a rare plant endemic to the Cannon River and North Fork Zumbro River watersheds in Rice County, Goodhue County and the extreme northern edge of Steele County, Minnesota, in the United States. The plants are believed to be a mutation or sport of the white trout lily and evolved following the most recent ice age. It was listed as an endangered species of the United States under the Endangered Species Act in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Wilcox</span> Kettle lake in Richmond Hill, Ontario

Lake Wilcox is a kettle lake in the Oak Ridges neighbourhood of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The lake measures 1.5 kilometers across and covers 55.6 hectares or 0.55 square kilometres, making it the largest kettle lake on the Oak Ridges Moraine. Lake Wilcox, Lake St. George and their associated wetlands form a "provincially significant wetland".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beech–maple forest</span> Closed canopy hardwood forest

A beech–maple forest or a maple beech forest is a climax mesic closed canopy hardwood forest. It is primarily composed of American beech and sugar maple trees which co-dominate the forest and which are the pinnacle of plant succession in their range. A form of this forest was the most common forest type in the Northeastern United States when it was settled by Europeans and remains widespread but scattered today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powers Bluff</span> United States historic place

Powers Bluff is a wooded hill in central Wisconsin near Arpin. American Indians lived there until the 1930s, calling it Tah-qua-kik, or Skunk Hill. Because of their religious and ceremonial activities, Tah-qua-kik is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiwaukee Prairie</span> Prairie in Wisconsin, United States

Chiwaukee Prairie is a 485-acre (1.96 km2) prairie in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is located on Lake Michigan at the Illinois state line and includes grassy wetlands, wooded areas, and the Kenosha Sand Dunes at its northern tip. It is home to an abundance of wildlife. It was designated a Wisconsin State Natural Area in 1967 and a National Natural Landmark in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods</span> Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Shorn Cliff And Caswell Woods is a 69.2-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1986. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Great Lakes forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in Canada and the United States

The Western Great Lakes forests is a terrestrial ecoregion as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It is within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome of North America. It is found in northern areas of the United States' states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in southern areas of the Canadian province of Manitoba and northwestern areas of the province of Ontario.

Bartlett Woods is a 23 acres (9.3 ha) Nature Preserve located in Lee County, Illinois, USA, situated along the bank of the Big Bureau Creek. It is a remnant of a larger forest which is no longer extant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goll Woods State Nature Preserve</span> State Nature Preserve in Fulton County, Ohio, United States

Goll Woods State Nature Preserve is a 321-acre (130 ha) nature preserve in western Fulton County, Ohio, near Archbold. It has been designated a National Natural Landmark for its oak–hickory forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lac-Témiscouata National Park</span> National park in Quebec, Canada

Lac-Témiscouata National Park is a provincial park located in Quebec, Canada south of the Saint Lawrence River, near the border with New Brunswick. It contains Lake Témiscouata, which is "the second-largest lake south of the Saint Lawrence River" within some unspecified area, perhaps within Quebec, with a length of around 40 km (25 mi). Touladi River can also be found within the park's boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Creek (Geauga County, Ohio)</span> River in Ohio, United States

Big Creek is a 15.6-mile-long (25.1 km) tributary of the Grand River and flows through Lake and Geauga counties in Ohio. It rises in glacial till near Chardon, Ohio, and cuts through the Defiance Moraine on its way north and exposes rock formations from the Paleozoic Era, including the fossiliferous Chagrin Shale. It joins the Grand River in Painesville Township in Helen Hazen Wyman Park.

References

  1. "Saving Seminary Woods". Shepherd Express. October 1, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  2. Milwaukee County LWRMP (April 2006). "Chapter 2. Physical Description of Milwaukee County and Natural Resource Initiatives" (PDF). gomilwaukee.
  3. Conservancy, Milwaukee Area Lanc. "Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy - Seminary Woods". www.mkeconservancy.org. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  4. "St. Aemilian's Orphan Asylum/Home". Milwaukee County Historical Society. 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  5. "St. Francis Seminary Woods Cemetery, Burials, Interments Milwaukee County Wisconsin - Milwaukee County Wisconsin". www.linkstothepast.com. Retrieved 2017-12-11.