In 1907, Eloise Butler, a high school botany teacher from Minneapolis, transformed a three-acre bog and hillside into the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary - the oldest public wildflower garden in the United States. Concerned about urban expansion encroaching on local ecosystems, she petitioned the Park Board for a native plant reserve to preserve native plants and provide students with a natural environment to study them. Today, spanning 18 acres within Theodore Wirth Regional Park, the sanctuary thrives with over 500 native plant species and more than 130 bird species in woodland, wetland, and upland meadow habitats. A century later, it continues to serve as a crucial urban biodiversity haven, offering nesting, feeding, and resting areas for numerous bird species. Eloise Butler's legacy demonstrates how early conservation efforts can preserve valuable natural spaces within developed cities.