It is noted for being one of the last locations in the Rio Grande Valley with a profuse grove of sabal palms, an edible-heart-bearing palm much prized by pre-Hispanic inhabitants and noted by early explorers.

The plantation's produce was shipped directly from the riverbank; the successful plantation's Queen Anne mansion, built by Frank and Lillian Rabb in 1891–1892, was adaptively remodeled in 2013 to serve as the Sanctuary's visitor center.

[1] With modern transportation, much of the Valley's land was replanted for industrial citrus farming.

In 2010, the Gorgas Science Foundation, a Valley-based nonprofit organization, leased the Sanctuary from the Society to operate and interpret it for the public.

[1] The Sanctuary currently operates approximately 5 miles (8 km) of signed nature trails through the palm grove and adjacent habitats, including an old oxbow lake that is currently evolving into a wetland resaca.