National Register of Historic Places

Norfolk Azalea Garden

Norfolk (Independent City), Norfolk County, Virginia
Listed
August 16, 2005
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
05000895

About this property

The Norfolk Botanical Garden (158 acres) is a botanical garden with arboretum located at 6700 Azalea Garden Road, Norfolk, Virginia. The Norfolk Botanical Garden was founded through the collaboration between Norfolk City Manager Thomas P. Thompson and horticulturalist Frederic Heutte. In 1938, the pair were granted 75 acres (300,000 m2) of high, wooded ground plus 75 acres (300,000 m2) of reservoir for a city garden. Later that year, under a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant, 200 African-American women and 20 men cleared the site. By March 1939, 4,000 azaleas, 2,000 rhododendrons, several thousand miscellaneous shrubs and trees, and 100 bushels of daffodils had been planted. and another grant was quickly secured to expand the garden. In 1958, the Old Dominion Horticultural Society took over maintenance and changed the garden's name to Norfolk Botanical Garden. The garden did at one point contain 175 acres, but the neighboring Norfolk International Airport expanded and took away 20 acres. A number of gardens were added through the 1950s and 1960s, including a Japanese garden, desert plants garden, colonial garden and rose garden. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. All-American Selections Display Garden - features All-America Selections (AAS) of new annual varieties. Annette Kagan Healing Garden - medicinal plants, stream, and pools. Bicentennial Rose Garden (1976) - over 3,000 rose plants representing more than 430 varieties. Border Walk - traditional English-style border, with tulips, daffodils, pansies, as well as azaleas, hibiscus 'Diane', impatiens, petunias, and gomphrena. Bristow Butterfly Garden (2 acres) - a habitat for butterflies and moths. Colonial Herb Garden - American herb garden of the 18th and 19th centuries, hedged with boxwood. Conifer Garden - dwarf and large conifers, including arborvitae, cryptomeria, False Cypress, juniper, and spruce. Flowering Aboretum (17.5 acres) - a collection of 336 flowering trees. Four Seasons Garden and Wildflower Meadow (1994) - more than 50 wildflower species and 10 species of grasses. Fragrance Garden (1963) - fragrance plants, including bayberry, fringetree, lavender, osmanthus, peppermint, wintersweet, and fragrant flowering bulbs. Hofheimer Camellia Garden (1992) - one of the region's largest camellia collection; more than 500 varieties. Predominant types are varieties of Camellia japonica and C. sasanqua. Holly Garden & Turner Sculpture Garden (1950s, 3 acres) - evergreen hollies in garden "rooms". The garden contains 121 varieties of hollies, including more than 20 types of American and Asiatic hollies and a dozen English hollies are grouped by geographic regions.

Location

6700 Azalea Garden rd.
Norfolk (Independent City), Norfolk County, Virginia
36.90345, -76.20573

Categories

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREBLACKSOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

L & J Gardens Neighborhood Historic District
Listed
2.1 mi
Weblin House
Industrial
2.8 mi
Ballentine Place Historic District
Industrial
3.6 mi
Lafayette Grammar and High School
Industrial
3.7 mi
Winona
Listed
3.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Norfolk Azalea Garden listed on the National Register?

Norfolk Azalea Garden was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 2005.

What type of historic resource is Norfolk Azalea Garden?

Norfolk Azalea Garden is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Norfolk Azalea Garden?

The period of significance for Norfolk Azalea Garden is recorded as the listed era.

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