Gramlich Bird Sanctuary

The Gramlich Bird Sanctuary welcomes the casual birding enthusiasts and experienced ornithologists alike to its serene location nestled between Highbridge Road and Limestone Creek and adjacent to the privately-owned Spring Ponds Fishery. This 10.12-acre parcel was established as the Fayetteville Bird Sanctuary in 1933 by Jacob and Belle Gramlich with the intent to provide a “forever wild” area along LImestone Creek, and as a memorial to Frederick M. Gramlich who died in the same year. 

The Fayetteville Bird Preserve was dedicated to the memory of Frederick Martin Gramlich in 1940, "for use as a bird sanctuary only."  

Park Hours
Daylight hours

Park Amenities
Bird sanctuary: Please practice "leave no trace" principles while enjoying the sanctuary

Park History
The land was originally planted with about 3,000 seedlings in the late 1920s by Fred Gramlich and his brother, J.E. Gramlich, as part of work for a Boy Scout conservation merit badge. The land was given to the village in 1933 by Jacob and Belle Gramlich to provide a forever wild area along Limestone Creek. They named it the "Fayetteville Bird Preserve" as a memorial to Frederick M. Gramlich who died in 1933, a few months after his graduation from the naval Academy at Annapolis. A bronze plaque on the east side of Highbridge St., just north of the entrance to Hullar Enterprises records the gift.

Several test wells were drilled in 1949 near Limestone Creek in an effort to locate a suitable water source, but the water was judged too hard for use.

In the 1960s, local Boy Scouts cleared paths and thinned the overgrowth. The Fayetteville Garden Club planted shrubs to provide food and nesting locations. Several clean-up projects by Boy Scouts were done during the 1970s.