Last updated: 8/14/2022
800 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
We preserve Western Pennsylvania’s most exceptional natural land.
We have permanently protected more than 255,000 acres of land – forests, streams, meadows, farmlands and more – in Western Pennsylvania.
We restore rivers and streams. We’ve restored more than 3,000 miles of Western Pennsylvania’s local rivers and streams.
We study wildlife and their habitats. Our scientists study the region’s rare, threatened and endangered plants and animals to guide our land and water conservation efforts.
We care for Fallingwater, the internationally renowned house designed in 1935 by famed American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Fallingwater was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019 and inspires visitors from around the world as a symbol of people living in harmony with nature. Since 1963, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has owned, operated and preserved Fallingwater as a house museum to tour and experience.
About 90 minutes east of downtown Pittsburgh in the Allegheny Mountains sits a magnificent 3,000-square-mile expanse of ridges and valleys called the Laurel Highlands. Rich in natural heritage, history and beauty, the region attracts millions of visitors each year to enjoy its many offerings of outdoor recreation, parks, resorts, arts and cultural amenities.
Among the cultural amenities are three separate locations – Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob and Polymath Park – that display Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic architecture in four unique houses. To fully appreciate Wright’s visionary designs and understand the true artistic and cultural importance of his legacy, you’re encouraged to experience all three locations over two or more days.
Consider the Barn and Fallingwater. Today, the Barn at Fallingwater houses administrative offices and is also used for meetings, exhibitions, lectures, weddings, classes and other programs, social events and gatherings.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has been dedicated to protecting and restoring the region’s exceptional natural places since 1932. As a member-based nonprofit organization, we work in cities and towns across Western Pennsylvania and rely on the help of thousands of members, partners and volunteers. We are making a difference in our region’s water, land and life. We do this work for the benefit of wildlife and people who call Western Pennsylvania home, and for future generations.
Three years into the Great Depression on February 16, 1932, 10 citizens came together to start a nonprofit conservation organization with the goal to alleviate widespread unemployment through public works programs. They also wanted these programs to create a positive impact on the region’s natural resources. Their actions founded the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, known then under its former name as the Greater Pittsburgh Parks Association.
Today, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is still going strong and has protected more than 255,000 acres of natural lands in Pennsylvania, helped to establish 10 state parks, and protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. In 1963, Edgar Kaufmann Jr. entrusted the Conservancy with Fallingwater, his family’s weekend home and Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterwork in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. We also enrich our region’s cities and towns through 132 community gardens and green spaces that are planted with the help of more than 10,300 members and nearly 12,000 volunteers. We invite you to explore the challenges and successes that comprise our history of caring for water, land and wildlife in Western Pennsylvania.
We recognize that a sustainable future depends on an engaged and informed youth. We offer our properties, projects and staff expertise to schools and other organizations, partnering to cultivate our youth as conservationists. WPC Education Partnerships in Action offers a glimpse into some of those collaborations.
To learn more about potential educational partnerships, please contact Danielle Forchette, WPC education coordinator, at dforchette@paconserve.org.
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