Woodlawn Nature Center has been a key part of environmental education in Elkhart for 60 years. In 1964, the Woodlawn Nature Council, a nonprofit organization founded by Dorothy Greenleaf Boyton, was established to develop and manage a nature park on 10 acres of forest land. A year later, the council dedicated the Woodlawn Nature Center building and donated both the land and the facility to the City of Elkhart, securing its status as a public park.