Mariton: Seventy Years of History
by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager
It was 70 years ago this year the Mary and Antonio Guerrero (Mariton’s founders and namesakes) purchased the first parcel of land that would later inspire them to preserve Mariton. World War II was winding down and they found an old farm house with some barns and several acres. Over the next few years as they made the house livable, and thought about settling on the property, they documented some of the work with movies.
I will be showing these movies (in DVD format) on Saturday night, 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. The movies mainly focus on the building renovations, but there are plenty of background shots to show how much the landscape has changed in 70 years. Twenty-five years after that initial land purchase, they legally founded Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary by establishing the Trust that still governs and helps fund Mariton. I find these movies an interesting insight into the people who would later assemble this 200 acre nature preserve.
These movies kick off the celebration of Mariton’s 45th Birthday, and the 70th anniversary of what got things started.