Huntsville Botanical Garden Explained

Huntsville Botanical Garden
Photo Alt:Huntsville Botanical Garden Guest Center
Location:4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35805
Coordinates:34.707°N -86.633°W
Area:118 acres
Established:1988
Visitation Num:350,000
Open:Year-round
Website:https://hsvbg.org/

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a 118acres botanical garden located at 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama, near the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. It is open year-round for a fee. The garden is ranked third on the list of Alabama's top paid tourist attractions, receiving 353,841 visitors in 2018.[1]

Gardens

The gardens include a seasonal butterfly house, and aquatic, annual, daylily, fern, herb, perennial, rose, and wildflower gardens, as well as a nature path and collection of Flowering Dogwood trees. Specific sections of the garden are as follows:

History

The idea for the creation of a botanical garden in Huntsville was first proposed by fourteen people in December 1979. In January 1980, the Huntsville-Madison County Botanical Garden Society was founded and held its first official meeting. The members of the new society persistently attended City Council meetings and politely asked for funding until they were offered 35 acres and three years to raise $200,000, which the city said that it would match. The funding goal was met in just six months.[4] [5]

In January 1983, it was decided that the gardens would be built on property leased to the city from the Alabama Space Science Commission. In late 1984, a volunteer crew began to clear the land. In October 1985, a Southern Magnolia was planted to dedicate the new botanical garden. The Huntsville Botanical Garden officially opened in 1988.

When the Huntsville Botanical Garden first opened, there were no buildings or restrooms; visitors only drove through. The first master plan for the garden was adopted in 1991. The children's garden and butterfly center opened in 2006. In 2017, the Huntsville Botanical Garden formally unveiled its new $16 million, 30,000 square-foot guest center.[6]

The Huntsville Botanical Garden has twenty Classical Doric columns from the 1914 Madison County Courthouse that was demolished in 1964. Five of these limestone columns are arranged in a circle at the entrance to the garden, and four more were used as part of the entrance gate.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Roberts . Ken . Alabama ranks top tourist attractions . 9 March 2022 . The Tuscaloosa News . 28 January 2018.
  2. Web site: Welcome to the Garden: Fern Glade. Huntsville Botanical Garden. 2016-07-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20160717035956/http://www.hsvbg.org/index.php?mainID=8&subID=65&type=default. 17 July 2016. dead.
  3. Web site: Bush Azalea Trail . Huntsville Botanical Garden . 24 October 2023.
  4. Web site: Our Mission and History . Huntsville Botanical Garden . 8 March 2022.
  5. Web site: Ammons . Pat . Huntsville Botanical Garden plans for new welcome center, column courtyard . AL.com . en . 7 March 2014 . 8 March 2022.
  6. Web site: Gattis . Paul . Huntsville Botanical Garden unveils $16 million facility . AL.com . en . 31 March 2017 . 8 March 2022.
  7. Web site: Huggins . Paul . Huntsville Botanical Garden installing historic courthouse columns . AL.com . 22 October 2023 . en . 29 September 2012.

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