BIRD HAVEN

Bird Haven was built about 1895, by I. H. Johnston, who served as state ornithologist for West Virginia. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.  Oddly, there's no mention of Mr. Johnston's pioneering work with birds.

 

A wonderful little publication that Johnston and the state of WV published. You can download a copy by clicking on the image.

I would have loved to read this article, but unfortunately, it was so faded that this was impossible. One of the most important contributions that Mr. Johnston made to the bird world was to stop the slaughter of America's Bald Eagles.  These birds were considered a pest and many states had a bounty on them, paying people to kill as many Eagles as possible.

We don't know what kind of Eagle this was, but today you would go to prison for doing this.

Over the years, Mr. Johnston had many articles published in the Charleston newspapers.

     

He also made movies, which a couple are on the Internet today.

                  

Notice typo here on his name.

 Fortunately,  Mr Johnston recovered from this accident.

                   

In 1939 Mr Johnston resigns and moves out West.

 

Two years later, he comes back to Charleston for a visit.

Mr. Johnston died in 1947 and was buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Charleston WV

As a life long bird lover myself, I appreciate what Mr. Johnston did for birds, not only in WV, but all over the United States and beyond...

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