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Huntsville Botanical Garden

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Botanical garden in Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville Botanical Garden
Huntsville Botanical Garden Guest CenterPropst Guest Center
Location4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35805
Coordinates34°42′25″N 86°37′59″W / 34.707°N 86.633°W / 34.707; -86.633
Area118 acres
Established1988
Visitors350,000
OpenYear-round
Websitehttps://hsvbg.org/

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a 118 acres (480,000 m) 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.

Gardens

Huntsville Botanical Garden Aquatic Garden
Aquatic Garden
Huntsville Botanical Garden Butterfly House
Butterfly House

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.

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.

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Roberts, Ken (January 28, 2018). "Alabama ranks top tourist attractions". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  2. "Welcome to the Garden: Fern Glade". Huntsville Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. "Bush Azalea Trail". Huntsville Botanical Garden. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Our Mission and History". Huntsville Botanical Garden. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  5. ^ Ammons, Pat (March 7, 2014). "Huntsville Botanical Garden plans for new welcome center, column courtyard". AL.com. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  6. Gattis, Paul (March 31, 2017). "Huntsville Botanical Garden unveils $16 million facility". AL.com. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  7. Huggins, Paul (September 29, 2012). "Huntsville Botanical Garden installing historic courthouse columns". AL.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.

External links

Huntsville, Alabama
Communities
Education
Closed
Transportation
Landmarks
This list is incomplete.
Marshall Space Flight Center is in an unincorporated area near Huntsville.
The vast majority of the city is in the Huntsville School District with small portions in the other three.
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