The first purchase of this forest was in 1946, through a bequest by the late George Dudley Seymour. The original purchase of 850 acres has grown since then to about 1,500 acres today. Mr. Seymour wanted to restore the Hale farm property he had purchased in 1914 to a state comparable to that which existed during Hale's boyhood, when most of the lands were cleared and grazed by sheep and cattle. He soon saw how hopeless that idea would be, as the land reverted to forest faster than he could keep it cleared.