About the Graham Farm & Nature Center

The Graham Farm and Nature Center is a 491-acre educational farm nestled in the breathtaking Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County, Alabama. Operated as an educational outreach site for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the center offers a unique opportunity to connect with the natural beauty and ecological richness of north Alabama.

Our mission is to provide educational workshops and outreach events that inspire a deeper appreciation for the outdoors. The property is a diverse landscape that includes floodplains, native grasslands, mountains, rivers, and ecological transition zones. Rising more than 1,700 feet along the eastern face of Maxwell Mountain, the center offers a wide variety of outdoor learning and recreational opportunities.

The center sits on the historic family property of Nita Graham Head, who—along with her husband, Robert—generously donated the land to Alabama Extension through the Auburn Real Estate Foundation. Nita, the youngest of four children, was born and raised in the original farmhouse that still stands on the property. She attended the Princeton School as a young girl and later earned her teaching degree from Florence State Teachers College, now known as the University of North Alabama.

Nita envisioned the farm as a place of learning and discovery. At the Graham Farm and Nature Center, we honor her vision by continuing to educate and inspire both youth and adults through immersive, hands-on experiences in the natural world. Her legacy lives on through programs that focus on natural resource conservation, animal science education, ecology, historical preservation, youth development, wildlife management, ornithology, aquatics, and fruit and vegetable production.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System is the primary outreach and engagement organization for the land grant mission of Alabama A&M University and Auburn University in conjunction with Tuskegee University. Learn more at aces.edu.