"The land that encompasses the Desert of Maine was purchased by the Tuttle family in 1821... the Tuttles’ methods of farming gradually depleted the soil of esse

"The land that encompasses the Desert of Maine was purchased by the Tuttle family in 1821... the Tuttles’ methods of farming gradually depleted the soil of essential nutrients. Combined with overgrazing by large numbers of sheep, the widespread erosion of the Tuttles’ topsoil exposed a deposit of glacial sand that was lying underneath. The initially exposed small patch of sand gradually spread and overtook the entire farm. The Tuttles abandoned the land in 1890... The farmhouse burned down in 1919. In 1926, Henry Goldrup purchased the land for $400 ($7.50/acre), and converted it to a tourist attraction... The site is preserved as a natural curiosity...."[1] Though I object to the use of the word "natural," here (about as "natural" as the Centrailia mine fire[2]), I gotta hand it to Goldrup for turning an ecological catastrophe into income. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Maine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Maine [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire