Memories of Those Famous Brownhelm Eagles of the 1920's

Mother eagle & eaglets in the Great Nest of Brownhelm

Have you ever heard of the Great Nest of Brownhelm?

That’s the name commonly used to refer to a famous American bald eagle nest that was located on Lake Road halfway between Vermilion and Lorain. It was the largest known bird tree nest before it fell in a storm in March 1925. The Great Nest, and several of the nests that followed, were the subject of considerable on-site research by Professor Francis H. Herrick of Western Reserve University.

But while the Great Nest has attracted a lot of national attention over the years, the local angle of the story of the eagles that called it home, and the nests that came after it, has often been overlooked.

Well, now you can read the whole story – in my article in the latest issue of the Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette! It's on the newsstand now, and as usual, it's FREE. (For you locals, it's available out at the Vermilion Farm Market.)

My father used to reminisce about his grandfather taking him and the rest of the family on a Sunday drive to the outskirts of Vermilion back in the 1920's, to see the famous eagle nest in the treetops. It was a happy memory for him, and one he never forgot.

This story was written for him, and I hope you have a chance to read it. (For those of you that can't pick up an issue of the paper, I promise to tell the story here in a future multi-part blog series.)

Observation tower erected by Prof. Herrick next to one of the nests that came after the Great Nest

Photos by Professor Francis H. Herrick and are courtesy of National Geographic