Beech Hill Preserve, Nature reserve and historic site in Rockport, United States.
Beech Hill Preserve covers 295 acres in Rockport, Maine, including the 533-foot summit of Beech Hill, one of the few bare-topped hills in the area. A dirt road climbs from Beech Hill Road past stone piers that once held timber gates, built in 1913–15 by landscape architect Hans Heistad. At the top stands a stone hut with a sod roof and an east-facing veranda on stone piers, with a circular stone garden in front.
The Gribbel family began buying land on Beech Hill in 1909 and had Hans Heistad build the summit road and hut in 1913–15. Grace Cutting sold the property in 1986 to Jane Watson Stetson, who placed a conservation easement with Maine Coast Heritage Trust. In 2003 the 295-acre preserve was sold to Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which transferred the easement to Coastal Mountains Land Trust three years later.
The Beech Nut structure at the summit shows early 20th-century building methods and was constructed using Norwegian sod-roofing techniques. This building shapes how visitors experience the hilltop today.
Two parking areas provide access to the preserve: one on Beech Hill Road for the Summit Trail and another on Rockville Street for the Woods Loop. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear and bring rain gear.
The summit hut, its access road and the gate on Beech Hill Road were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Beechnut Hut Historic District, a roughly 12-acre area within the 295-acre preserve.
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