Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park
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Alfred B Maclay Gardens State Park | |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
Location | Leon County, Florida, USA |
Nearest city | Tallahassee, Florida |
Coordinates | |
Area | 28 acres |
Established | 1953 |
Governing body | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
The Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens is a 28 acre Florida State Park, botanical garden and historic site, located in Tallahassee, in northwestern Florida. The address is 3540 Thomasville Road.
The gardens are also a U.S. historic district known as the Killearn Plantation Archeological and Historic District. It received that designation on August 16, 2002. According to the National Register of Historic Places, it contains 18 historic buildings, 4 structures and 4 objects.
Contents |
[edit] History
The gardens began in 1923 when Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871-1944) and his wife, Louise Fleischman, bought the site. Maclay named his gardens Killearn, after the birth place of his great-grandfather in Scotland, and developed them continuously until his death. His wife continued their development, opened them to the public in 1946, and in 1953 donated some 307 acres of their estate, including the gardens, to the Florida Board of Park Service. In 1965 the gardens were renamed in Maclay's honor.
[edit] Biology
The backbone of the garden plantings are azaleas and camellias. Trees include bald cypress, black gum, cyrilla, dogwood, hickory, holly, Japanese maple, oak, plum, redbud, sweetgum, and Torreya taxifolia. Other plantings include ardisia, aucuba, coontie, Chapman's rhododendron, gardenia, ginger, jasmine, Oriental magnolia, mountain laurel, nandina, palmetto, sago palm, selaginella, wisteria, and yucca filamentosa.
[edit] Lakes
- Lake Hall
- Lake Overstreet
- Lake Elizabeth or Gum Pond
[edit] Recreational Activities
The park has such amenities as bicycling, birding, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horse trails, kayaking, picnicking areas and swimming. It also has a museum with interpretive exhibits.
[edit] Hours
The gardens are open daily; an entrance fee is charged all year.
[edit] Gallery
Chapman's Rhododendron (Rhododendron chapmanii) |
Oriental Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana) |
[edit] References and external links
- Official Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens website
- Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park at Florida State Parks
- Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park at State Parks
- Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens at Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation
- Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park Trails at Florida Department of Environmental Protection
- Maclay State Gardens at Absolutely Florida
- Leon County History at Florida Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Leon County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park is at coordinates Coordinates: