Batsto Nature Center

[ranger1]

Can anyone assist with some research ... I am looking for information on the original Batsto naturalist Annie M. Carter and the original nature center on the hill aside Batsto Lake (# 21 on Batsto brochure). I have the publication"Bits Of A Batsto Year" by Annie Carter published by the Batsto Citizens Committee. Any recollections of visits to the Nature Center and/or more biographical information on Annie Carter's hire and time as Batsto's naturalist would be appreciated. Unfortunately, the structure is in bad shape and not being maintained ... very little reference in Batsto's publications discuss this building or its history. Any assistance or references would be appreciated. Thank you.
George

 

[Teegate]

Thanks for posting. There should be people who frequent the site who may know that information.

 

[46er]

Might contact the Batsto Citizens Committee. http://www.batstovillage.org/batsto-committee.htm

Also, the state should have records as naturalists are state employee's. The interpretive center bears her name.

 

[Erik Kiviat]

Can anyone assist with some research ... I am looking for information on the original Batsto naturalist Annie M. Carter and the original nature center on the hill aside Batsto Lake (# 21 on Batsto brochure). I have the publication"Bits Of A Batsto Year" by Annie Carter published by the Batsto Citizens Committee. Any recollections of visits to the Nature Center and/or more biographical information on Annie Carter's hire and time as Batsto's naturalist would be appreciated. Unfortunately, the structure is in bad shape and not being maintained ... very little reference in Batsto's publications discuss this building or its history. Any assistance or references would be appreciated. Thank you.
George

Good evening, George,

I came across your post because I was telling a hiker friend about the Batona Trail. I hiked the trail in April, probably 1971, and ended up at the nature center. I fondly remember a wonderful conversation with Annie who answered my questions about beaver foods in the Pine Barrens, goldenclub, and probably several other subjects. She gave me a copy of the first edition of Fowells, Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States. As a young naturalist, I was very impressed with her. Dale Schweitzer named a new species of moth after her: https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1980s/1983/1983-37(4)301-Schweitzer.pdf (see p. 304). The moth is now called Photedes carterae. Annie is named in a recent field trip report that mentions a 1959 search for a rare plant: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26727157. I recall seeing an obituary in a botanical journal or newsletter that I can't find now. Good luck in your biographical search!

-Erik Kiviat

 

[ranger1]

Thank you for your reply!

 

[GSMmusicBob]

Hello;
Sorry I just found this about 6 years after it was posted. My family and I knew Annie Carter quite well when I was a kid. I grew up near Batsto and frequently visited her along with a few other kids. She was always very patient and kind to us and I would consider her to be a mentor because of all she taught us and the unique lifestyle she had. I'd be glad to let you know more about her if you'd like. I always found her to be quite a private and independent person and knew her when I was young but can relay experiences my family, friends and I had with her. Her parents were from Scotland and she was either born here, or was born in Scotland and moved here when she was a child. To my knowledge, she had no family here after her parents died. I do know she grew up in Weymouth, NJ.

 

[Boyd]

Welcome to the site! But please don't post your e-mail address in public here, there are security concerns about doing this and it will also expose you to a lot of spam, so I have removed it. People who would like to contact you can do it with the Private Conversation feature of the forum, just click/tap on the icon of any user (on the left side of the post) and choose "start conversation" to send a private message.

 

[GSMmusicBob]

Welcome to the site! But please don't post your e-mail address in public here, there are security concerns about doing this and it will also expose you to a lot of spam, so I have removed it. People who would like to contact you can do it with the Private Conversation feature of the forum, just click/tap on the icon of any user (on the left side of the post) and choose "start conversation" to send a private message.

OK. Thanks very much! I'll be sure to omit any email addresses in the future.