In the 1840s, Dutch and German immigrants farmed this land near Milwaukee County’s northern limit. In 1885, the site was acquired by three brothers of the Uihlein family, owners of the Schlitz Brewing Company. In 1887, they deeded the property to the brewery and it became the Nine Mile Farm, named for its distance from Wisconsin Avenue. Here draft horses were bred and footsore brewery horses were brought to rest. Resident caretakers raised dairy cattle and poultry, and intensive planting of evergreen seedlings began about 1910.

In 1969, when the Schlitz Foundation considered disposing of the farm, its future became a controversial issue. Bayside residents opposed its development into a residential or shopping center and organized to urge preservation of the 185-acre natural habitat. As a result the property was offered to the National Audubon Society for the creation of a nature center. The Uihlein family and others donated sufficient funds for the center’s development. An interpretive center designed by Milwaukee architect Fitzhugh Scott was opened in 1974. The Dorothy K. Vallier Environmental Learning Center opened to the public in May 2003 and is one of the most environmentally sensitive buildings in the nation.