Botanic Garden
Constructed: Planned 1870, never completed
<html> <a href=“/static/images/botanicgarden.jpg”><img src=“/static/images/botanicgarden_sm.jpg” alt=“botanic garden plan” /></a> </html>
During the earliest, ambitious days of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, the college's planners lavished great care on the design of the hill on the western margin of campus. The President's house overlooked the elegant Durfee Conservatory to which it was connected by a “delightful drive.”[1]
To lay the groundwork for a thorough botanic education, the Durfee Greenhouses were accompanied by a Botanic Museum and, according to the Trustees' 7th Annual Report, a “working plan” was prepared “for the laying out and planting of the botanic garden and arboretum, which should commenced at the earliest practicable date.” Flowing to the south and east of Durfee Conservatory, the garden was laid out on a little over 38 acres of land traversed by an meandering walkways, a small stream, and pond, and to the north of Durfee, were laid out a reserve garden, a vineward, and peach and pear orchards. The garden never came to full fruition.
Sources
- [1] Seventh Annual Report of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (1870)
- See also University Archives (RG 36/101).
