The diversity of such habitats in such a concentrated area make it a natural magnet for all forms of wildlife. The refuge has five varied habitats: freshwater tidal marsh, impounded water, woods, meadow and field. In 1991, the refuge was renamed posthumously to honor Senator John Heinz and his commitment to the conservation of the marsh. In 1972, Congress passed legislation authorizing the protection of up to 1,200 acres and established Tinicum National Environmental Center. They worked together to begin a long series of legal injunctions, public hearings, and extraordinary efforts that stopped both the highway's rerouting and the landfill's operation. Local residents and organizations began to take action, as they had seen enough habitat destruction done to the marshlands. In 1969, threats to Tinicum Marsh continued to rise with the proposed routing of Interstate 95 through the marsh and the construction of a landfill. The areas of open water along with the adjacent heavily vegetated tidal wetlands, formed an ideal habitat for thousands of migratory birds. This area, administered for the benefit of wildlife and people, was known as Tinicum Wildlife Preserve. The group successfully fought the destruction of Tinicum Marsh and a non-tidal area of 145 acres, adjacent to the eastern end of Tinicum Marsh, was donated by the Gulf Oil Corporation to the City of Philadelphia in 1955. He banded together with other birders and activists to form the Philadelphia Conservationists (later known as Natural Lands, the region's oldest and largest land conservation organization). In 1953, Allston Jenkins, a birdwatcher who lived in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, learned of Gulf Oil's plans to dredge the Schuylkill River and dump the spoils into the Marsh. His son, Christopher, tries to circumvent the will and is sued by Quakers Thomas Shipley & Isaac Hopper working through The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.īy the 1950s, Tinicum Marsh had gone from more than 5,000 acres to only 200 acres. The will forbids that they be sold or hired out of the area. TIn the meantime, custody is split between his two sons. Their names are: Frank, Joe, Betts, Rack, Young Primus, Dina, Peter and Nance. Through the deal brokered by the Darby Friends Meeting and written into Enoch's will, they are to be manumitted when they reached 30 years of age. He also provides for eight negroes besides Old Primus. In his will, he gives a house and 2 acres of land at Smith Field (now part of Tinicum Wildlife Preserve) and a pension, to his slave Old Primus, who is freed immediately. After at least 25 visits, Elliot and the visiting committee come to an agreement ( 1765). A committee of Nathan Garrett & William Horne are sent to negotiate a settlement. This is contrary to their orders of discipline. In the late 1760's it is discovered by the Darby Society of Friends that the Elliot family were running a slave plantation on Smith Island. Over the years, as the Philadelphia region grew, the marshes continued to disappear. These settlers drained and filled the marshes to provide grazing and farming land. The Lenape lived off the plentiful bounty of the marshland, fishing, hunting, and gathering in the around the marshes until the mid-1600s when European settlers arrived. It was a marshland that spread for more than 5,000 acres across the landscape. The Lenape called this land Tennakon Minquas or "islands of the marsh". For generations, these indigenous people stewarded the land we know as Tinicum Marsh. The Lenape people are the first known settlers of the area that is now known as Philadelphia. Philadelphia is easily visible from the refuge.
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