The Lime Kiln was constructed during the mid 1880’s to burn limestone and create lime for the mortar used in the construction of the Willard House and the Strahan house. The kiln is believed to have been built by Charles and G.M. “Mack” Willard, “the Willard Boys” who built the house in Cottonwood for their widowed mother, Mary. Charles Willard is recognized as the “Father of Cottonwood”. The Kiln was excavated out of a limestone ledge in the White Hills above Cottonwood. The front was closed with rock and mud mortar, and the top is open. Today, the kiln is about 6ft. high but it originally stood as high as 20 feet and had a solid cap.

Rating: 2

Transportation: Self-drive

Meal: None

Cost: $25

Speaker: Max Licher

Max Licher is an architect with Design Group Architects and has been a resident of Sedona for 40 years. He has also been involved as a community planning volunteer, serving on several regional and city planning committees. He has had a lifelong interest in nature and has focused this interest primarily in the area of native plants. After early training with Jean Searle and Norm Herkenham, he has gone on to document the native and naturalized flora of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon (approx. 1200 species) and has made this work available on the SEINET website. He has also helped coordinate the Plant Atlas Project of Arizona (PAPAZ), which is training amateur botanists in collecting techniques and organizing documentation efforts in northern Arizona. He is an assistant curator at the Deaver Herbarium at NAU, and has co- authored with Glenn Rink treatments for the Cyperaceae (sedges) and Juncaceae (rushes) as part of the ongoing Arizona Flora revision, and for the Flora Neomexicana III. In addition, he and his wife Clare have an interest in plant medicines, and distill essential oils from a number of our local native species. He received the Herkenham Award from Keep Sedona Beautiful in 2011.