Garden Plot
Summary
Name
Significance
Supporting
Description
The Garden Plot Character Area is located along the western boundary of the property. Maps published as early as the 1860s depict these fields as agricultural. Although it is unclear what grew in this location prior to the twentieth century, archival documents indicate that these fields were once used to grow alfalfa for the institution’s dairy herd. When the Board sold the dairy herd in 1951, members of the Home, including resident staff, used the Garden Plot as a community garden, growing a variety of vegetables for their own use and for competition. In the third quarter of the twentieth century the field was reduced in size when the eastern portion was turned into a driving range for the new golf course. Consequently the Garden Plot Character Area is composed of only nine acres of the original horticultural/agricultural land used by the Home until 1951.
Guidelines
none recorded
Boundary
Location Notes
The western boundary of the Garden Plot coincides with the western boundary of AFRH-W formed by Park Place and marked by an 1899 iron fence. The driving range in the Golf Course Character Area forms the eastern boundary, while Lakes Circle and the northern portion of the deciduous forest in the Lakes Character Area form the border to the south.
Related Resources
Related Inventory Resources
Tool Shed (is contained within / contains)
Alfalfa Fields/Community Garden (is contained within / contains)
Tool Shed (is contained within / contains)
Toilet Building (is contained within / contains)
Vending Shed (is contained within / contains)
Tool Shed (is contained within / contains)
