Hidden Local History
Tissue Lane
Levi Tissue and his family at their farmhouse.
Along Tissue Lane within Bear Run Nature Reserve, observant hikers will notice some old concrete steps, the stone foundation walls of a barn, and portions of what was once a spring house.
They are the remnants of the Tissue family farmstead, which was acquired by the Kaufmann family as they expanded the property around Fallingwater during the 1930s and 40s.
“Over the years, the house has fallen away, and the barn is gone, too,” said Fallingwater tour supervisor Denise Miner, who grew up in Fayette County and whose husband is a descendant of the Tissue family.
Tissue family descendants Betsy, Bill and Will Scarlett, on the steps of the former family farmhouse, circa 1961.
An easy walk on Tissue Lane – an old farm lane – provides an opportunity to spot the remnants of the farmstead and to see firsthand a formerly agricultural area that is now being reclaimed by forest.
“The moss-covered ruins make this a wonderfully romantic spot, a rich cultural landscape that serves as a relic of the land’s agrarian past,” said Fallingwater Curator Justin Gunther.
Miner said, “You can see areas that once upon a time were cultivated fields; you can see where the Kaufmann family planted pines; and you can see a successional forest happening right before your eyes.”
Visitors may observe plants such as lilacs that the family planted many decades ago, as well as naturally occurring butterfly weed or milkweed. Wildlife-watchers may glimpse piliated woodpeckers, migratory birds, deer or bears.
Elizabeth Amanecer and Donna Miner, Tissue family descendants, on the farmhouse steps in 2010.
Directions: Follow directions on Fallingwater.org to the Barn at
Fallingwater. From the upper parking lot behind the Barn at
Fallingwater, walk down the driveway to Highway 381. Cross
the highway (carefully!) and walk north along the shoulder for
approximately 50 feet. Then turn left (west) onto Tissue Lane.
GPS coordinates: -79.46050 39.90739
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