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| Visitors at the dedication of the Tom Burke Preserv |
Tom Burke Memorial Preserve
7.5 acres
McLain Street & Broad Brook Road, Bedford Hills
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Trail Map
The Tom Burke Memorial Preserve, in Bedford Hills, is perfect if you're looking for a short stroll in an open area, for birdwatching or botanizing or for letting your eyes stretch over acres and acres of field.
Almost all of the 7.5-acre preserve consists of an open meadow, wet in the center, bordered by a stone wall, and a good spot for watching swallows and yellow-warblers feed in May and June. We mow the meadow once a year, in late fall, to maintain the habitat, and we keep a short trail cleared along the west side of the preserve. Consider wearing boots, because the preserve and parts of the trail itself can be very wet.
As long ago as the early 1970s, Bedford residents had identified the field, which is at the intersection of McLain Street, West Patent Road and Broad Brook Road, as a priority for preservation.
It was known as Knapp's Field, and its prominent location in Bedford Hills, its openness, and its wildflowers and meadow grasses made it a local landmark.
Following the passage of Bedford's land referendum in 2000, the town's open space committee reaffirmed Knapp Field's high ranking for preservation.
In November 2002, thanks to the financial support of over two dozen area residents, Westchester Land Trust bought Knapp's Field, for $300,000.
At the suggestion of the property's neighbors, the Land Trust named the property the Tom Burke Memorial Preserve, after Thomas Burke, who died on September 11, 2001, in the attack on the World Trade Center. Mr. Burke lived on McLain Street, across from Knapp's Field, and his family continues to make their home there.
The entrance to the preserve is on McLain Street, at the intersection of Springhurst Road. Park on the shoulder on the north side of McLain and east of Springhurst Road