The Foy family walked these woods beside Poplar Grove Plantation for years. It’s where their ancestors cut logs for lumber and dammed a pond for grinding corn. But about three years ago, they decided as a family to donate 67 acres of these woods, including the millpond, to the Coastal Land Trust. The Abbey Nature Preserve was born.

The Foys wanted to ensure their land did not succumb to development, but they also wanted a memorial for Margaret Abbey Foy Moore, a family member who died of breast cancer four years ago, said Betty Foy Taylor, Margaret’s sister and site manager at Poplar Grove.

“She was always interested in preservation. Well, we all are,” Taylor said. “We just thought that would be something really cool for her; to put that aside.”