Widow’s sale created Pisgah National Forest
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In 1914, Edith Vanderbilt sold 86,700 acres of her late husband’s estate in North Carolina to the United States federal government for $433,500, establishing the core of Pisgah National Forest in 1916.
George Washington Vanderbilt began acquiring land in the area around Asheville, North Carolina, in 1888, eventually amassing over 125,000 acres to create a mountain retreat and restore damaged forests.
He employed Frederick Law Olmsted and Gifford Pinchot to manage the land scientifically, and they later founded the first school of professional forestry in North America on the estate. Following her husband’s death in 1914, Edith Vanderbilt faced financial challenges in maintaining the vast property. Instead of selling to timber companies, she offered the land to the government at $5.00 per acre, fulfilling her husband’s conservation goals.
The Weeks Act of 1911 had enabled the federal government to purchase eastern lands for watershed and forest protection, making the sale possible. The National Forest Reservation Commission considered the price an exceptional value, as timber companies offered more for logging rights. Today, Pisgah National Forest encompasses over 500,000 acres and receives millions of visitors annually. The sale remains a landmark land purchase under the Weeks Act and continues to protect vital headwaters and wilderness areas.
