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Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden time line

By Staff Reports
Published: September 27, 2009

Timeline

1884: Lewis Ginter bought the property and built the Lakeside Wheel Club, a one-story destination for Richmond bicyclists that was later modified and incorporated into Bloemendaal House.
1897: Lewis Ginter died at age 73.
1913: Grace Arents, Ginter's niece, bought and remodeled the abandoned Lakeside Wheel Club. She added a second story and made it a convalescent home for sick city children. Eventually Arents moved into the house with her companion, Mary Garland Smith, and called it Bloemendaal in tribute to the Ginter family's Dutch ancestors. She developed gardens at Bloemendaal, which means "valley of flowers."
1926: Grace Arents died at 78. She willed life rights to Smith and stipulated that after Smith's death, the city of Richmond was to develop the property as a botanical garden honoring Lewis Ginter.
1968: Mary Garland Smith died at age 100. The city took possession of the property and investigated plans for a botanical garden. None came to fruition, and the property languished.
1981: A group of botanists, horticulturists and residents formed Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Inc. to uphold the will of Arents. A lawsuit ensued.
1984: An amicable settlement allowed the formation of the garden. The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden was chartered by court decree.
1989: The Garden Club of Virginia restored the Grace Arents Garden as the first site of the new Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
1993: The three-acre Henry M. Flagler Perennial Garden was completed and dedicated, a gift of the Flagler Foundation. The Robins Tea House was built and dedicated, a gift of E. Claiborne and Lora Robins.
2004: $41 million campaign completed.
2009: 25th anniversary of the garden.