Collection Corner: A Welcoming Sign
“This curiously beautiful spot has been designed and perfected as a strictly private enterprise, but the proprietor has magnanimously permitted all who wish to wander at will through its leafy wonders, only asking forbearance of the despoiling hand.”
(Excerpt from the 1881 LaGrange Reporter highlighting how Sarah and Blount Ferrell allowed the public to stroll through their gardens.)
One of the most interesting garden artifacts in our collection is this old garden sign. Alice Hand Callaway, garden caretaker from 1936 until 1998, put this sign out when she was hosting a special group of garden visitors. While her garden was not open daily as it was during Sarah and Blount Ferrell’s years, she did host interested parties by appointment. Over the years, she welcomed groups of national and statewide importance including the Garden Club of America, the Garden Conservancy, the American Ivy Society, the American Boxwood Society, the Georgia Trust, and the Garden Club of Georgia.
Mrs. Callaway also hosted numerous local groups. She was proud to open the garden to raise funds for the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in March of 1949 and offered garden tours to support the preservation of Bellevue in 1953. In 1994, she recalled the joy of having a cute bunch of children come from a local daycare center while teachers would periodically bring their students.
Perhaps her most memorable garden visitors were the early Garden Club of Georgia statewide Pilgrimages. Beginning in 1937, the Garden Club organized tours of the finest gardens in the state, and the old Ferrell Gardens at Hills and Dales was a regular part of the Pilgrimage. Mrs. Callaway was honored to be part of these early tours, and this sign pointed the way to the garden. ~HM & CBW
Alice’s garden sign was used to direct visitors to the start of the garden, the bird gate. The 1972 picture above shows the sign in use. (Photo courtesy Troup County Archives)
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