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Halifax County also has a ‘Sylvan Heights’
When our state representative, attorney Phil Haire, called the other day to say he had a story for me, I expected something of a political nature.
After Phil arrived in the newsroom I found out otherwise, though the story does begin in Raleigh, where Phil had occasion to meet the mayor of the town of Scotland Neck, Robert Partin, a few weeks ago.
During his conversation with Partin, Phil mentioned his hometown, prompting the Scotland Neck mayor to describe a similar-named park recently established in Halifax County. It seems that when officials there were choosing what to call a new waterfowl park and ecological center, they came up with “Sylvan Heights,” which is the name of the Sylva residential area across Business 23 from Mark Watson Park.
In another twist to the tale, Phil learned that a key person involved in the creation of the waterfowl park was Hank Marion, a name known locally in connection with the Parris Branch development Marion Forest.
While our Sylvan Heights likely was named for the town, Scotland Neck’s Sylvan Heights probably derived its identity from the poetic adjective “sylvan,” which an online dictionary describes as “consisting of or associated with woods.” According to the same source, the word’s origin is from the French “sylvain” or Latin “Silvanus” (woodland deity) or “silva” (a forest).
The town of Sylva, on the other hand, is named for William Sylva, a Danish wayfarer who lived in Sylva for a time and worked for E.R. Hampton. When Hampton, who once operated a sawmill near the east intersection of Main and Mill streets, applied for a post office, he chose “Sylva” as the new town’s name because his daughter, Mae, suggested it.
After he got back to Scotland Neck, Mayor Partin sent Phil a couple of brochures about their Sylvan Heights, which is home to more than 2,500 birds representing 170 species and six continents, including many rare and endangered species. The idea for Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center grew from the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Breeding Center, which has made significant contributions to the survival and expansion of many threatened species through is captive breeding programs and is home to the largest captive waterfowl population in North America.
In collaboration with the N.C. Zoological Society, Sylvan Heights established the Rare and Endangered Species Fund as a way for donors to contribute directly to maintaining and expanding the park’s collection of some of the world’s most threatened waterfowl species.
The park, which opened in 2006, came from a desire to expand Sylvan Heights’ outreach and to make the Sylvan Heights experience available to everyone. To accomplish this goal, the facility teamed with the state Zoological Society to create a world-class eco-tourism facility where visitors can explore aviaries representative of the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Australia. It’s designed to become a hub for programs and projects to preserve endangered waterfowl around the world. Pioneering research conducted at the Breeding Center includes work with Magellanic Steamer Ducks, African and Indian Pygmy Geese and White Backed Ducks.
Scotland Neck’s Sylvan Heights is open to the public. There is an admission fee, but those who join the society enter at no cost. The park is open Tuesday-Sunday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. from April through September and Tuesday-Sunday 9 a.m.-4 p.m. October through March. For information, call (252) 826-3186 or visit online at www.shwpark.com.
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