Powdermill was established in 1956 to serve as a field station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History for long-term studies of natural populations — their life histories, behaviors, and ecological relationships.

Powdermill Nature Reserve is both a place and a philosophy. It stands as a symbol of man's visions — both scientist and philanthropist alike. The museum's need for a natural area which could be used as a laboratory and preserved for the study of natural processes was understood and outlined in 1948 by Dr. M. Graham Netting, then Assistant Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Since he believed the Ligonier Valley to be the finest natural area in western Pennsylvania, he personally instituted a search for a suitable site for his vision.

In 1956, General and Mrs. Richard K. Mellon and Dr. and Mrs. Alan M. Scaife presented to Carnegie Institute, for the use of the Natural History Museum, eleven tracts of land totaling 1,160 acres, beginning about three miles south of Rector. The area was named "Powdermill Nature Reserve, a Research Station of Carnegie Museum." Over the next several years, additional acreage was added to the Reserve through other generous gifts, and today, Powdermill Nature Reserve offers over 2,200 acres of woodlands, streams, open fields, ponds, and thickets.

The reserve is used by scientists to monitor and study changes in the local ecology and wildlife populations. It has served as a refuge for many plants and animals now becoming increasingly rare in our region as their habitats are destroyed. Powdermill Run, the mountain spring stream that traverses the mixed deciduous forest property, was found to be one of the very few unpolluted streams available for ongoing studies of aquatic life.

Today, as the Reserve celebrates its fifty-year anniversary, it is far more beautiful than when it was established, due to the natural growth of protected vegetation and the efforts of many supporters.