A little park with a big name is considered by many to be the hidden horticultural gem of Glen Osborne.
The Mary Roberts Rinehart Nature Park was born from an overgrown and trash-filled steep ravine.
Thanks to decades of community cooperation, hard work and dedicated volunteers, the public park welcomes nature-seekers year-round to the three-acre park.
Bill Boswell serves as president of the park board of directors and considers the park’s transformation as his greatest volunteer accomplishment.
“I’m here at least once a week,” Boswell said. “I was an elected public official for 30 years and the entire time that I did that, this to me is the thing I like the most. I get the most benefit out of this park. I love this park and I love that we’ve been able to create it and do it with volunteers.”
Boswell is a former mayor of Glen Osborne, a retired Air Force JAG Colonel serving 34 years and an attorney who moved from Washington, D.C., to Glen Osborne in 1978.
He graduated law school from The University of Virginia and he and his wife Barbara have been married 55 years, raised three daughters and have nine grandchildren.
He’s a member of St. James Church-Divine Redeemer Parish in Sewickley.
He previously served on Glen Osborne’s council and was president for a decade and mayor for 14 years.
“We had this land just sitting here and nothing was being done with it. With a lot of sweat equity and volunteer work, we started cleaning things up,” Boswell recalled.
The ravine went from wild to wonderful with the removal of more than 20 trees — more than 50 volunteers helped to make it happen.
“There was trash from years of people throwing things there from the boulevard and there were invasive species like Norway Maple. We got rid of them and that opened the canopy up and we had red-tailed hawks and other birds coming in,” Boswell said.
Two walking trails were blazed, a lower and a middle.
Eston Owens, a former Glen Osborne resident who has since relocated to Florida, volunteered his creativity, time and labor to create a firepit area, stone amphitheater and stone benches.
A new sewer line was installed about 12 years ago. That project resulted in the creation of an upper walking trail and planting of a now-thriving pollinator butterfly garden.
In 2008, more than 1,000 perennials were planted and the park is home to more than 100 native plants and trees.
“About 90 percent of everything we’ve planted here is a native Pennsylvania species,” Boswell said.
A split rail fence lines the upper trail and the park hosts annual events, including Fairy Day in the spring and Pumpkin Painting in the fall.
New this year is a collaboration with Fern Hollow Nature Center on a yet-to-be-named fall event.
Adding additional electric options is currently in the works and Duquesne Light will cover the cost of installing electricity near the outdoor fire pit and at the covered pavilion, if all goes to plan.
“We’d like to host events that require electricity and Duquesne Light said they’re willing to make that happen. It’s possible we could have that happen this year,” Boswell said.
Park landscape committee volunteer Kate Crouch can see the park from her house and she visits almost daily.
“This park is so beautiful in the late spring,” Crouch said.
A magical place
Glen Osborne Mayor Barbara Carrier, a retired teacher of 30-plus years at Sewickley Academy, used to bring her kids to the park to play and described it as magical — look for random fairies or whimsical tokens placed at the base of trees, like the small mushroom figurine she made next to a tree trunk.
Her son, nationally recognized metal smith artist Colin Carrier, created a custom metal fence complete with engravings that include “the butler did it” and park donor names.
The park is named after acclaimed 1920s American mystery novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart, who penned the famous phrase “the butler did it” in her novel “The Door.”
Rinehart penned more than 60 novels and screenplays and the park occupies what was once the grounds of her estate. Her autobiography, “My Story” is available at the Sewickley Public Library.
“Fairies have been involved with the naming of this park and Rinehart lived and wrote in the age when people saw fairies in the park or woods, so we started by offering free building a fairy house out of natural materials to anyone visiting,” Carrier said. “Fairy houses show up in April.”
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The park entrance sign continues the fairy theme and features a fanciful woodland fairy.
Carrier is the park treasurer and described Bill’s leadership has been steadfast.
“Bill as president, he is so practical and he knows people that can help with the park. We rely on donations and Bill even donates,” Carrier said. “We operate on a low budget.”
Former Sewickley mayor Brian Jeffe is the unofficial “gardener” of the Sewickley area and volunteers his green thumb and grass cutting skills at the park.
Jeffe co-founded the park with Carrier and Boswell.
“I have time and I’m good in the dirt,” said Jeffee, a board member and landscape division director. “It’s a great asset to our community.”
The land is owned by the Quaker Valley School District, which leases to the Osborne Trail and Park Association, the nonprofit developed to manage the park, for $1 annually.
OTPA receives public donations and was awarded grants from the Child Health Association of Sewickley, the Garden Club of Allegheny County, the Sewickley Civic Garden Council and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Dogs on a leash are permitted and the trails attract runners, walkers and bird watchers.
Wildlife sightings include deer, woodpeckers, hawks, eagles and an unofficial resident groundhog.
“We need to name him,” Crouch joked.
Potential budget buster project
Maintaining the park is a year-round task for the volunteers.
A spring replacement project along Ohio River Boulevard with a hefty $37,000 price tag is more than the park’s annual $16,000-$18,000 operating budget.
Boswell is hopeful public donations will increase to help offset the financial hit.
A 350-foot long wooden privacy sound barrier fence that keeps litter out of the park is 12 years old and rotting. It’s scheduled for replacement this spring.
Boswell lamented the high cost of maintaining the crucial barrier wall.
“Donors have paid for part of the fence and we’re willing to draw down our capital reserves to pay for the balance of it, but it’s gonna put us in a tighter situation for annual maintenance,” Boswell said.
The new fence will be concrete fortified with rebar posts for additional stability.
“That’s our big project this year,” Boswell said. “The wood is deteriorating. We had a volunteer shore up the fence last year and that bought us some time. That’s the big money eater for 2025. It’s about $15,000 more than we expected.”
Additionally, many posts need to be replaced along the split-rail fence located on the upper trail.
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