Answer: Mill Grove, PA

At an early age, John J. Audubon took an interest in nature, particularly birds.  Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) on his father’s sugar plantation, Audubon was mostly raised by his stepmother in Nantes, France.  When he was 18, he was sent to the United States to his father’s farm, “Mill Grove,” in Pennsylvania.  Located on Perkiomen Creek, outside of Valley Forge, this farm only served as Audubon’s home for a few years; but being there gave him the opportunity to explore nature in depth, more fully develop his understanding of birds, and learn taxidermy.  Also while in Pennsylvania, Audubon met his future wife, Lucy Bakewell, the daughter neighbor William Bakewell.  Today, “Mill Grove” is located in Audubon, Pennsylvania, and the farm house serves as the site of the John James Audubon Center.

Audubon’s study of the nation’s birds, which eventually led to the creation of his seminal work Birds of America, began in the late 1800s and spanned over twenty years until the first plates of the book were printed in 1827.  Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, published in 1848, was Audubon’s final work.

HSP’s holds a copy of Audubon’s Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1848) in three volumes (Collection 3198), and our library contains published works on Audubon’s life and work, including Audubon the Naturalist: a history of his life and time, by Francis Hobart Herrick (call number Ga .9905) and John James Audubon, by Alice Ford (call number Ga .9921 F75). HSP's copy of Audubon’s Birds of America can be found next door at the Library Company of Philadelphia.

An expanded version of this article appeared in the 4/26 Currents section of the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer.