My site, Tyler Woods is located just behind Tyler House. In the past, Tyler House used to be known as Psi Upsilon. The building was built where a previous building had once been in 1925 and was converted into a fraternity house. Tyler Annex was built much later in 1972. The Record reported that planning of the building began in October 3^rd, 1925 and construction on Tyler House commenced on May 18^th, 1926. Members of the fraternity named the house after one of its members: Lt. John Cowperthwaite Tyler (Warren, 55, 56).

            Tyler was a member of the Williams class of 1915. After he graduated from Williams College, he went to continue his education at M.I.T. Here, he studied aeronautics and mining and majored in engineering. He graduated from M.I.T. in 1917 and joined the French Escadrille Branch soon afterward. In 1918, he was sent to fly for the U.S. Army during World War I. While he was on a mission to bombing an enemy railroad, he and his comrades were attacked and his plane went down. This occurred on September 21^st, 1918 (Warren, 55).

            Williams College received the right to use Tyler House as a residential facility in 1966 (Warren, 56), and that is what it is used as today. Thus, Tyler Woods has had at least a hundred years of exposure to human activity.

            Before the Tyler plot was owned by Williams College, it was most likely owned by the Huntoon family, specifically Eliza M. Huntoon. The deed to the land states, that the Huntoons had possession of the land in 1904 and at least until 1909. Although there is not that much information specifically relating to the ownership of Tyler Woods, it is possible that some of its nearby neighbors such as the Jeromes, Hewitts, and the Tenneys may also have owned parts of Tyler Woods since their properties bordered the woods according to a map created in 1904.

            I hope to be able to take a corer and determine how old some of the larger trees in my site are. This may give me a sense of how old the forest is. Was the forest here before the Huntoons obtained it in 1904?

            Not too far from Tyler Woods, Williams College also used to own a farm. Is it possible that Tyler Woods used to be a pasture or cultivated area? If this is true, then when did the forest begin to grow and take over?