Boiling Spring Lakes Conservation Preserve History
Terri Buckner
The Boiling Spring Lakes Nature Preserve wraps around the town of Boiling Spring Lakes like one of Granny’s patchwork quilts. Prior to 1950, the area now known as Boiling Spring Lakes was roughly 11,500 acres of longleaf pines, Carolina Bays, pocosins, and limestone sinks interspersed with myrtle thickets, Venus flytraps, and a wide variety of rare plant species.
In 1960 Reeves Broadcasting Corporation bought the entire tract, subdivided it into .25 to 10 acre lots, created the new town of Boiling Spring Lakes (BSL), and proceeded to market “America’s Greatest Real Estate Value” around the world. The developer’s first project, the Boiling Spring Dam, created 10 miles of white, sandy shoreline/waterfront lots around the affectionately named Big Lake, which shows on maps today as Patricia Lake.
Within a few years, the area became a “booming resort community” with its own shopping center, country club, motel, golf course, 50 freshwater lakes (the majority of which were man-made), and dozens of new homes. According to a 1960 issue of Our State magazine, 600 lots were sold within 30 days of the first marketing effort.
Over the next 30 years, many new owners found they could not build on their lots, and sales of new lots tapered off. Thanks to the high-water tables and the sandy soil types in the area, problems with septic systems and sink holes were rampant.
In 2000, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) entered into an agreement with Reeves Telecom to purchase their unsold lots and transfer ownership to the Department of Agriculture Plant Conservation Program. At the same time, TNC was closing on a number of privately held lots that had not yet been developed. Between the Reeves purchase and the private acquisitions, 5,550 acres were acquired to create the Boiling Spring Lakes Plant Conservation Preserve, owned by the Plant Conservation Program (PCP) and managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Additional private lots have been acquired since the initial transaction was signed in 2000, wrapping the Preserve around the north, west, and south boundaries of the town and bringing the current size to 6,691 acres, 6,580 of which consists of the Primary Management Area.
The Primary Management Area encompasses all the rare plant and animal populations within the community subtypes of Wet Pine Flatwoods (Pleea Flat and Sand Myrtle). Pond Pine Woodlands, High Pocosin, Xeric Sandhill Scrub and Coastal Fringe Sandhill. In other words, the Boiling Spring Lakes Nature Preserve is an incredibly special and unique ecosystem.
Over 400 vascular plant species have been identified throughout the Preserve including the federally listed rough-leaf loosestrife (Lysimachia asperulifolia), Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), savanna milkweed (Asclepias pedicillata), Hooker’s milkwort (Polygala hookeri), short-bristled beaksedge (Rhynchospora breviseta), and spoonflower (Peltandra sagittifolia).
Although the Plant Conservation Program (PCP) discourages the public use of its rare plant Preserves, there is a public trail through one section of Boiling Spring Lakes that The Nature Conservancy created before PCP took ownership of the property. If you are interested in visiting the area, the trail can be found branching off the Disc Golf Course at the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center.
The Friends of Plant Conservation and the North Carolina Botanical Garden are hosting a field trip to Boiling Spring Lakes and Green Swamp on June 5 for those who would like an introduction to the area by our knowledgeable excursion leaders, Julie Moore and Roger Shew.
In 1960 Reeves Broadcasting Corporation bought the entire tract, subdivided it into .25 to 10 acre lots, created the new town of Boiling Spring Lakes (BSL), and proceeded to market “America’s Greatest Real Estate Value” around the world. The developer’s first project, the Boiling Spring Dam, created 10 miles of white, sandy shoreline/waterfront lots around the affectionately named Big Lake, which shows on maps today as Patricia Lake.
Within a few years, the area became a “booming resort community” with its own shopping center, country club, motel, golf course, 50 freshwater lakes (the majority of which were man-made), and dozens of new homes. According to a 1960 issue of Our State magazine, 600 lots were sold within 30 days of the first marketing effort.
Over the next 30 years, many new owners found they could not build on their lots, and sales of new lots tapered off. Thanks to the high-water tables and the sandy soil types in the area, problems with septic systems and sink holes were rampant.
In 2000, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) entered into an agreement with Reeves Telecom to purchase their unsold lots and transfer ownership to the Department of Agriculture Plant Conservation Program. At the same time, TNC was closing on a number of privately held lots that had not yet been developed. Between the Reeves purchase and the private acquisitions, 5,550 acres were acquired to create the Boiling Spring Lakes Plant Conservation Preserve, owned by the Plant Conservation Program (PCP) and managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Additional private lots have been acquired since the initial transaction was signed in 2000, wrapping the Preserve around the north, west, and south boundaries of the town and bringing the current size to 6,691 acres, 6,580 of which consists of the Primary Management Area.
The Primary Management Area encompasses all the rare plant and animal populations within the community subtypes of Wet Pine Flatwoods (Pleea Flat and Sand Myrtle). Pond Pine Woodlands, High Pocosin, Xeric Sandhill Scrub and Coastal Fringe Sandhill. In other words, the Boiling Spring Lakes Nature Preserve is an incredibly special and unique ecosystem.
Over 400 vascular plant species have been identified throughout the Preserve including the federally listed rough-leaf loosestrife (Lysimachia asperulifolia), Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), savanna milkweed (Asclepias pedicillata), Hooker’s milkwort (Polygala hookeri), short-bristled beaksedge (Rhynchospora breviseta), and spoonflower (Peltandra sagittifolia).
Although the Plant Conservation Program (PCP) discourages the public use of its rare plant Preserves, there is a public trail through one section of Boiling Spring Lakes that The Nature Conservancy created before PCP took ownership of the property. If you are interested in visiting the area, the trail can be found branching off the Disc Golf Course at the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center.
The Friends of Plant Conservation and the North Carolina Botanical Garden are hosting a field trip to Boiling Spring Lakes and Green Swamp on June 5 for those who would like an introduction to the area by our knowledgeable excursion leaders, Julie Moore and Roger Shew.
Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurpea venosa) Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
