The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Center is a green oasis amid the urban development of McKinney. Today, the 289-acre sanctuary hosts more than 240 species of animals and nearly 150 species of wildflowers in its fields, forests, and native plant gardens, while the museum contains exhibits of paleontology, shells, and animal rehabilitation. Its founder and namesake, Bessie Heard, was an unconventional woman for her time—an environmentalist, natural history collector, and “pack rat” who established the museum in her 80s as a means for storing her collection and preserving nature that was rapidly losing out to urban sprawl. When the museum opened in 1967, volunteer service was vital to the institution. When Texas Highways visited in 1985 for the article “Along the Hoot Owl Trail,” the center had about 120 volunteers maintaining the animal sanctuary and gardens, teaching classes, and leading children and adults on tours of the property’s prairie and forests. Many of those volunteer opportunities are still available today for those who want to support Bessie’s goal of connecting visitors to nature.
From the November 2025 issue
