Two Famous Gardens -- Lambert Gardens and Bellingrath Gardens

TWO FAMOUS GARDENS

In October 2020, I was invited to take part in a plant-based art show at The Plant Connector in North Adams, Massachusetts. The show, entitled "A Plant Based Circle" featured several artists with a variety of plant-themed work in different media.

My contribution (left) was a collage, "Two Famous Gardens." The collage was based on a 1950s article from "Children's Activities" magazine, a forerunner to "Highlights for Children."  The article describes two gardens that readers could visit:  Lambert Gardens in Portland, Oregon, and Bellingrath Gardens outside of Mobile, Alabama.

LAMBERT GARDENS

Lambert Gardens was designed and built by Andrew Lambert, who first came to Portland in 1925.  He soon started a landscaping business by building a demonstration garden near Reed College.  The one garden eventually expanded to ten gardens over about 25 acres, each garden having a different theme.  The gardens hosted 50,000 to 75,000 visitors a year, and included pools, statuary, flamingos, and peacocks. A postcard of the Sunken Garden is shown below, as is a photo of another of the many gardens. Numerous other photos are available HERE and a home movie from 1952 can be seen HERE.

 

By 1968 Lambert was too old to maintain the gardens. He offered to sell the gardens to the city of Portland, but was turned down. So, Lambert instead sold them to developers, who ripped them out and replaced them with apartments and parking. 

Ironically, one of the apartment complexes was named Lambert Garden Apartments. Although the apartments may have been nice at one time, by 2005 or so they were in dis-repair and the subject of tenant complaints. THIS website includes several negative comments detailing some of the complaints, including ants, heating issues, insulation problems, and discolored water. New management and an expansion resulted in even more problems.  The complex, now called Wimbeldon Square and Gardens, was the subject of a rent strike in 2018, largely related to water and mold issues.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS

Bellingrath Gardens started life as a 25-acre fishing camp (below) on the Fowl River, purchased by Walter and Bessie Bellingrath in 1917. During the 1920s and early 1930s various improvements were made, including the introduction of electricity and the transformation of their fish camp into a garden estate with paved walkways. In 1932 the public was invited to tour the grounds. The response was overwhelming and the gardens soon opened to the public on a permanent basis.

Additional improvements were made, including the construction of a home (below), conservatory, guest house, and entrance building, along with improvements and expansions to the gardens themselves. Bessie died in 1943, followed by Walter in 1955. Unlike Lambert's failed attempt to maintain his garden by selling it to the state, the Bellingrath's had converted their garden over to the Bellingrath-Morse Foundation, which continues to oversee operation of the gardens and home. The gardens now cover 65 acres and remain open to the public.

Below is a recent map of the gardens, and HERE is a link to a video flyover of the gardens.

REFERENCES FOR LAMBERT GARDENS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_Gardens

http://johnrsweet.com/David/andrewlambert.html

https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/11/26/24845710/tenants-protest-landlord-neglect-at-massive-southeast-apartment-complex

https://reedquest.org/articles/2018/12/7/war-at-the-wimbledons

REFERENCES FOR BELLINGRATH GARDENS

https://bellingrath.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellingrath_Gardens_and_Home

Food Options North of the Hoosic River: Then and Now

In May 2019, I led two walking tours of former food locations in conjunction with the North Adams, MA, O+ (O positive) festival and Jane's Walk North Adams.  Since then, I've done additional research, all of which is included in an art exhibit.  The exhibit was prepared in conjunction with the River Street Art Project, Jane's Walk North Adams, and the 125th anniversary of the City of North Adams.

I am interested in both geography and history.  In geography there is the concept of the permeable barrier -- a physical barrier that can easily be crossed, but still serves to prevent crossing.  In North Adams, examples of permeable barriers are Route 2 (the Mohawk Trail), the railroad tracks, and the Hoosic River.  We tend to stay on our own side of these barriers unless there is a particular need to cross them.  Thinking about the Hoosic River as a permeable barrier led me to focus on food options north of the north branch of the Hoosic River.

The exhibit (further information is available HERE) provides a glimpse into the changing landscape of food provision, both in North Adams and in the nation as a whole.  Many years ago we walked to different stores for meat, baked goods, and vegetables, typically buying one or two days' food at a time.  Over the years this type of shopping excursion evolved to the supermarket of today, where all the shopping can be done within a single location, and food may be purchased for a week or more at a time.

A hand-drawn map, shown below, identifies 61 unique locations where food was once or is currently available.  Companion videos and printed materials are available on-line at the above link to the River Street Art Project.

The People's Putt-Putt -- Imagine The Possibilities

I am working on the designs for a free portable miniature golf course to be located in North Adams, MA.  In no particular order, here is a list of the ideas/themes for the holes that I've come up with thus far.  (All locations are North Adams unless otherwise specified.)  Your comments and additional suggestions are welcomed!!!

• Windmills in and around the city, including the power generating type on the hillsides and the ones on the roof of Mass MOCA
• Hoosac Tunnel
• Street map of the city
• Susan B. Anthony's birthplace in Adams
• Fort Massachusetts
• The Berkshire Street Railway that ran in the vicinity of Adams and North Adams
• The hairpin turn on the Mohawk Trail
• Drury High School
• The marble dam and Natural Bridge State Park in Clarksburg
• Union Depot
• The Corner Market
• The West End Market
• Mt Greylock Veterans War Memorial Tower
• The hospital
• The Mohawk Theater
• A blanket of snow
• Urban renewal and its consequences, especially the L-shaped mall and K-Mart
• The Appalachian Trail, Stony Ledge, the Thunderbolt Trail, the Hopper, Bascom Lodge, and other features on Mt Greylock
• Arnold Print Works, Sprague Electric, Willow Dell, the Mass MOCA complex, and other former and current mill sites
• Noel Field and the Steeplecats baseball team
• Florida turnips, especially how the turnips pop up out of the ground due to frost heaves
• Pedrin's Dairy Bar

The People's Putt-Putt -- An Introduction

About a year ago, I came up with the idea of designing a free, portable miniature golf course.  The course could be played indoors during the winter and moved out-of-doors during the summer.  It would be free for anyone to play it.  It would be based at the art studio and gallery located at 100 River Street, North Adams MA.

The designs for each of the holes are based on landmarks and/or history related to North Adams.  I used the notion of a February Fun-A-Day to kick-start the design process.  (The idea behind Fun-A-Day is to do some work on a creative project every day during the short month of February.)  I kept a notebook with me all month during February 2017, and worked pretty diligently on The People's Putt-Putt.  I'll include more details about the various holes in other posts, but below is an overview of what I have accomplished during the month.

• I made a list of what I hoped to accomplish.
• I reviewed a file of information and did research on the internet about miniature golf courses, art golf courses, and North Adams history to get ideas for the holes.
• I came up with a list of possible materials to use in building the holes.
• I made a list of possible North Adams locations to use as inspiration for the holes, and made sketches and/or notes providing additional information.
• Using an indoor space of 500 square feet, I figured out how big I could make the holes and still fit nine of them inside that space.

Following the end of February, I've continued to work on the project.  I've made schematic drawings of five holes so far (as of early June 2017), and posted them on a Facebook page called "The People's Putt-Putt" -- check it out!  I plan to continue posting both here on the blog and on that Facebook page.

Court Square Old School Graffiti

The MTA is in the process of renovating the Court Square 7 train station in Long Island City.  During the renovation,  from now until sometime in April, the 7 trains are rolling through the station without stopping.

Not a lot has been changed so far at the station -- a few walls and signs have been removed.

But, now that the signs are gone, you can see some old-school graffiti.  Apparently the corrugated wind breaks of the station had been covered in graffiti, which was in turn covered over with the signs and then painted.  So, there are about 8 to 10 spots, each perhaps 4 feet high by 5 feet wide, where the graffiti is now showing through.

UPDATE as of February 11:  Previously, I did not have any photos of the graffiti, but I managed to get two rather blurry ones while my train passed through the station.  I would also be interested in seeing any that others may have taken.  See my photos below.  (The green dot is a reflection from the window of the train.)

The graffiti must pre-date the last renovation of the station, but I haven't been able to find anything that tells me when that was.

So, I'm afraid that I don't have a lot of information, but the graffiti is pretty cool.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

East Elmhurst and the NY Times

I've already made a couple of posts on East Elmhurst, an interesting neighborhood just north of where I live in Jackson Heights.  Apparently I'm not the only one who likes this neighborhood.

A recent article in the NY Times (published January 7, 2011) talks about how the residents of the East Elmhurst census tract have stayed in their homes the longest of any of the NYC census tracts.  The median move-in date for East Elmhurst residents is 1974.  (The average for all of NYC is 1995.)

The article, written by Joseph Berger, goes on to interview several East Elmhurst residents.  Several of the points that he makes in the article echo my own observations.

Anyone interested in this area should definitely check out the article.

90th Street in East Elmhurst

Josip Brletic recently commented on my East Elmhurst 11369 post asking about the stone columns that are on either side of 90th Street, just north of 30th Avenue toward Astoria Boulevard. He asked if there is any historical significance to these columns. I had not noticed these columns before, but took a ride over there on my bike to check them out. I don’t yet know the entire story, but this block has really piqued my interest. Josip, thanks for your question!!

THE COLUMNS

The top picture, of the east column, was taken by my wife on our recent visit.  The bottom picture is from  Google street view, and shows the west column.

In the Google photo, the column has a planter on top, but (as you can see from the top photo) when I visited (July 2010) there were no planters and the columns are pretty plain. The columns have also seem to have been painted over, probably to cover graffiti. There are no such markers at the north (Astoria Boulevard) end of the block, but that end has been redeveloped, so if markers were originally there they could have easily been removed by now.

These columns (and the block) had been noted before (scroll down towards the bottom, past his discussion of the Fair Theatre) by Kevin Walsh of Forgotten New York, always a great source of information about any area in the city.

INTERESTING ARCHITECTURE

The second interesting thing about this block is that all of the houses on the block are clearly of the same design, and all were definitely built at the same time as part of the same development. A few of the houses have been remodeled, but it’s easy to see their common origins. Here are some photos of a few of the houses.

Below is a screen shot from the NYC OASIS website and you can easily see that the lot size of these stand-alone single-family houses differs from those in the surrounding blocks, which are all row houses. OASIS also tells us that all of the houses on this block were built in 1934.

Astoria Boulevard was improved and widened to handle truck traffic from the Triborough Bridge.  Robert Moses took over construction of the Triborough in 1934. Further research would be needed to identify any definitive connection (if there is any) between this block on 90th Street and the nearby work on Astoria Boulevard.

THE QUEENSMARK DESIGNATION

Another interesting thing about this block is that it was recognized by the Queens Historical Society’s Queensmark program. This program was designed to honor and recognize structures and sites that have an outstanding cultural, historical, or architectural significance. The program started in 1996, and has continued on and off since then, honoring sites around the borough. In 1999, the un-remodeled houses on this block were honored and plaques noting the honor were mounted on the front of the homes. I was unable to find any information about the specifics of the award using internet searches, but an email to the Queens Historical Society yielded the following information:

"We were told by one of the residents that these structures were built as summer homes in the 1920s. While we cannot verify this information, members of the Queensmark Committee thought they were attractive. They were Queensmarked as part of our Corona and East Elmhurst celebration that was held at the Queens Hall of Science about ten years ago. The residents were very supportive. The homes were Queensmarked because of their appearance (i.e., architectural significance) rather than their history which unfortunately we know little about.

"We use a similar process as the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) in choosing Queensmark (a program that is run by the Queens Historical Society) by choosing sites of historical, cultural, or architectural significance. While a Queensmark acknowledges the merit of a structure, it unfortunately does not protect it from demolition. The Queensmark program was created to help raise awareness of important structures and to hopefully catch the attention of the LPC and eventually have it considered for NYC Landmark status.

A 1999 article in the New York Times about the Queensmark winners of that year gave the following brief mention to the block and its homes:

"25-25 THROUGH 25-61 AND 25-28 THROUGH 25-60 90TH STREET -- This row of Tudor style homes with tile roofs was built in the 1920s to cater to a middle class looking for a uniform, almost suburban ambiance.

Note the Queensmark references to the 1920s, versus the data from the city that indicates 1934. Again, further research might be needed to get a more accurate date for the construction of the homes.  Below is a photo of one of the Queensmark plaques, which are mounted on the facades of many of the homes on this block.

ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE PARK

Finally, another interesting tidbit about this block is that the northern end (at Astoria Boulevard) was the location of the last one room schoolhouse in Queens, and is the current location of One Room Schoolhouse Park, and is also mentioned in Forgotten New York. Interestingly, and perhaps not coincidentally, the schoolhouse was torn down in 1934, the same year that the houses were built and that Moses took over the Triborough -- a busy time in the neighborhood!

The schoolhouse opened in 1879 and served the Frogtown community, which was located by the swamp on the other side of Astoria Boulevard. The swamp was no doubt the remains of the Jackson Mill Pond. The map below shows an overlay of the “old” grid from 1909 and a current street layout. You can see the boundaries of Jackson Mill Pond and how it relates to the current street grid. The New York Public Library has a nifty site that has overlaid old and new maps, where you can play with relative transparency of each. The link to this particular map is here.