In 1888, George Vanderbilt began building a vast North Carolina estate; 26 years later, his widow...

In 1914, Edith Vanderbilt made a landmark decision by selling 86,700 acres of land to the federal government for conservation purposes, significantly below market value. This generous act was aimed at promoting her late husband's vision of preserving essential forests. The area ultimately became Pisgah National Forest in 1916, laying the groundwork for ecological protection and setting a visionary example for public land conservation in the eastern U.S.