Brookgreen Gardens

Infobox zoo
zoo_name=Brookgreen Gardens
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date_opened=1932
date_closed=
location=Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, USA
area=10,000 acres (40 km²)
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website=http://www.brookgreen.org/Infobox_nrhp | name =Brookgreen Gardens
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architect= Anna Hyatt Huntington
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added = April 15, 1978
governing_body = Private
refnum=78002510cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve just south of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Early history

Originally, what is now Brookgreen Gardens was six separate rice plantations. The actual gardens was Brookgreen Plantation. To the south of Brookgreen Plantation lay the Alston's plantation. Its tie to fame is that the owner's wife was the daughter of the infamous Vice President Aaron Burr, Theodosia Burr Alston. On a trip to see her father as governor of New York, her ship was lost at sea. Her ghost is reported to still wander the grounds of the plantation searching endlessly for her father. Also to the south, lay to Oak's plantation. To the north, lay the Laurel's plantation. During the Civil War, Confederate troops dug an earthen fort to prevent Union Troops from entering the system of creeks and canals vital to survival of the rice plantations.

The Huntingtons and all that followed

It is the creation of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington of Connecticut, who purchased the old Brookgreen rice plantation and some neighboring land to open the garden to the public in 1932. Situated on Waccamaw Neck in Georgetown County, South Carolina between the Waccamaw River and the Atlantic coast, it is the country's first public sculpture garden and has largest collection of figurative sculpture by American artists in an outdoor setting in the world. It is also a nature and historical preserve with a small zoo, and a nature exhibition center.

Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington first visited the property in 1929. They were captivated by beauty of it, so they purchased nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) of forest, swamp, rice fields and beachfront. They intended to establish a winter home on the Atlantic, but Anna saw the potential of the property and they quickly began to develop her vision. Archer, stepson of philanthropist Collis Huntington, and Anna have donated property and contributed much to US arts and culture in a number of states. Her sculpture of Joan of Arc is a feature of New York City's Riverside Park.

The Atlantic Coast side was later leased to South Carolina to form Huntington Beach State Park.

Brookfield Gardens was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The sculpture garden portion, convert|551|acre|km2, of Brookgreen Gardens was included in the designation of Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens as a National Historic Landmark in 1984.cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1876&ResourceType=Building
title=Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens |accessdate=2008-02-15|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service] citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/84002045.pdf National Historic Landmark Nomination: Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens] |32 KB|date=April 15, 1992 |author=Jill S. Mesirow and Page Putnam Miller |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/84002045.pdf "Accompanying 26 photos, exterior and interior, from 1992"] |32 KB] Atalaya Castle is just across U.S. 17 which cut through the former combined Huntington property.

About 550 works of American figurative sculpture are displayed at the Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington Sculpture Garden. Many of the works are creations of sculptress Anna, but other artists are also featured. There are boat tours to Sandy Island and a self-guided tour nature trail to show off the 2000 identified species of life, including majestic longleaf pines, Spanish moss draped live oaks, and vistas of the river and nearby marshland.

References

External links

* [http://www.multivalence.com/brookgreen/ Brookgreen In Infrared]
* [http://www.brookgreen.org Brookgreen Gardens website]

See also

*List of Sculpture Parks
*List of botanical gardens in the United States

Gallery

:Click on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYiGcZuv50 this link of Brookgreen Gardens] for more pictures on its sculptures and botanical grounds.