Cecelia Johnson, the daughter of farmers and immigrants, was born in Manchester Village in 1920. After the war years, she and her husband started Johnson’s Fuel Service, where they balanced hard work with retreats to Lake Champlain for recreation and reflection. They raised their family, as well as cows, horses, and dogs on Sunny Lea Farm, a wet spot along a bend in the Battenkill River. Cecelia said that Sunny Lea was the most beautiful spot on Earth; she loved to watch the sun and moon rise over East Mountain.
In recent years, this land has flooded again and again – including in July 2023, when the Battenkill River overflowed and ponded in the wetland and field. Shortly after that flood, the family of Cecelia gathered around a kitchen table in Manchester. She was there in spirit, celebrating as we finalized a river corridor and wetland easement along her beloved Battenkill, forever protecting “the most beautiful spot on Earth” and keeping communities safer during floods.
With the farm retired and the natural wetland communities able to mature, this site will eventually have shady banks, a wider floodplain with meander bends, and less erosive potential, which will reduce nutrient and sediment pollution. These conditions are ideal for native Brook Trout, which will happily call this spot along the Battenkill home.
Parking: 100 Richville Rd, Manchester Center, VT 05255 (43°07’56.0″N 73°04’45.2″W)
From Manchester or Manchester Center, take Vermont Route 7A South. Turn left onto River Road and continue 2.1 miles. Turn right onto Richville Road. A gravel pull-off maintained by Vermont Fish & Wildlife is just past the river on the right (south) side of the road. The protected property is on the north side of Richville Road, and can be accessed via a mowed path across the street from the pull-off parking.
From U.S. Route 7, take exit 4 for VT-11/VT-30 toward VT-7A/Manchester Center. Continue 0.4 miles. Turn onto VT-11 W/VT-30 N/Depot Street and continue about a mile. Turn left onto Richville Road and continue almost to the end. Just before crossing the Batten Kill River and reaching the T intersection with River Road, park at the gravel pull-off on the right side of the road.
A portion of the site is open to public access for fishing and paddling. Parking is available at a narrow pull-off on the south side of Richville Road. At the bridge crossing, follow a mowed path on the upstream/right side of the river and see what this river and wetlands have to offer fish and humans.
