McFarlane Nature Park Archives

Spring break is winding down, but spring weather is just getting into swing. East Cobb weekend events over the next few days include the first of several plant sales and garden tours in the community during the season, as well as a lot of kid-focused activities at library branches as they conclude their week away from school:

Georgia Native Plant Society Spring Plant Sale: The lush grounds at McFarlane Nature Park (280 Farm Road) provide the backdrop from 10-2 Saturday. Admission is free, and parking is on the back pasture. Related events in East Cobb in April include two by the Cobb Master Gardeners, a free azaleas and wildflower tour next Thursday at the Wright Environmental Education Center and its garden fair and plant sale April 20-21 at East Cobb Park;
A month-long Holocaust exhibition, “In Her Father’s Eyes,” started this week at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) and continues Monday-Saturday from 11-6 through May 2. It’s the story of Kitty Weichherz, a Czech girl born in the same year as Anne Frank, and told through family photographs and the diary of her father, who survived the Sobibór death camp. Holocaust Remembrance Day is next Thursday, April 12;
On Friday, kids 8 and under can enjoy Friday Flicks from 3-5 at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road). The story of “Lorax” is about a grumpy but charming creature who fights to protect his world. From 7-9 on Friday, teens are invited to the black box theater at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) for “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” Four teens plot their escape from a magical video game;
Murderino Movies return from 11-1 Saturday at Sewell Mill with a screening of the “Cat’s Meow,” but this one’s adults-only. Like all black box theater events, participants can bring their own food and drink;
Also at Sewell Mill, from 2-4 Saturday, is the “Spoken Word Show,” in honor of National Poetry Month. An open mic starts at 2, and at 3 local featured performers Derrick Standifer, Wanesha Spencer, and Justin Patton will take the stage. This event is for all ages, and book and album signings will follow the show;
At the Mountain View branch, kids can learn how to build a chair made only out of newspapers from 3-5 Saturday, but participants will need to register;
At the East Cobb Library on Saturday, a Teen STEAM Virtual Reality Roller Coasters session takes place from 3:30-5:15, and you’ll need to sign up.

Check out our full calendar listings, for the weekend and beyond, for more.

Did we miss anything? Do you have an event to share with the public? E-mail us at: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post it.

Have a great weekend!

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McFarlane Nature Center — *The McFarlane Nature Park features a 1940s-era country home and nature garden that’s open to the public. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)*

At the end of a short gravel road off Paper Mill Road is a slice of Southern rural life that’s been preserved close to what its longtime owner had in mind. In addition to a rustic farm home and wide open green spaces, the McFarlane Nature Park also includes a nature garden that was featured on Sunday as part of the first East Cobb Garden Tour. Four nearby private homes also were part of the tour.

McFarlane Nature Park — *The dining room of the 1941 home, designed by Henry Toombs, architect of the Little White House in Warm Springs. Florence and William McFarlane bought the house in 1958.*

The McFarlanes rode horses and raised lineage dogs on their property, which at one time stretched to 1,500 acres. When Florence McFarlane died in 1990, she stated in her will a desire to keep the remaining 11.5 acres of her property for a natural preserve and green space, instead of suburban development.

After court rulings, the non-profit Cobb Land Trust became the lease owner of the McFarlane property in 1992, and the nearby Chattahoochee Plantation Community Association donated funding for repairs and renovations that were needed. Restoring McFarlane was the first project for the Cobb Land Trust, which preserves land and property with historical and cultural value.

Before the McFarlanes lived here, the land was part of a larger agricultural spread owned by Hughes Spalding Sr., a noted Atlanta attorney.

Flowers and plants on the McFarlane property are tended to by volunteers from Cobb Master Gardeners, which has a spring flower show here in the spring. Continued support also comes from the Chattahoochee Plantation Women’s Club and there have been Art in the Park fundraisers since 2013.