Bartram's Garden facts for kids
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John Bartram House
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John Bartram's house and upper garden at Bartram's Garden
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| Location | 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia |
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| Built | 1728 |
| Architect | John Bartram |
| Architectural style | Colonial |
| Visitation | 100,000+ per year |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000676 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 9, 1960 |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
Bartram's Garden is a huge 50-acre public garden in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It sits right by the Schuylkill River. This garden is super special because it's the oldest botanical garden in North America! It was started in 1728 by a plant expert named John Bartram. Today, a group called the John Bartram Association helps run the garden with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
The garden is the only place where you can easily get to the Tidal Schuylkill River and its wetlands for fun activities. Its walking and biking paths are even part of the longer East Coast Greenway trail. Bartram's Garden is like an outdoor classroom. Here, you can learn all about plants and the history of Southwest Philadelphia. It also has a special library with lots of old documents about the garden and the study of plants. Plus, it's a cool spot for art events!
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Discovering Bartram's Garden
John Bartram, a famous plant expert from colonial America, started this garden on his farm. It was in a place called Kingsessing, which was outside Philadelphia back then. He built his stone house between 1728 and 1731. Later, he added a kitchen and some cool carvings to the house. His original garden and a greenhouse from 1760 are still there today! Three generations of the Bartram family kept the garden going. It became known as the best collection of North American plants in the world. The family sold the garden in 1850.
Today, the garden has many different kinds of plants, both native and from other countries. Most of these plants were listed in the Bartrams' old plant catalogs from the 1700s.
Special Trees at the Garden
The garden is home to some truly unique and historic trees:
- Franklinia alatamaha (Franklin Tree): John Bartram's son, William Bartram, found a small group of these trees in Georgia in 1765. William brought seeds back to the garden and planted them in 1777. This tree was named after John Bartram's friend, Benjamin Franklin. The last time anyone saw this tree growing wild was in 1803. This means that all Franklinia trees alive today came from the seeds the Bartrams planted! They are famous for saving this tree from disappearing forever. You can see several Franklinia trees at Bartram's Garden, including a large one near the Bartram House.
- Cladrastis kentukea (Yellowwood): This is a very old tree. It might have been collected by a French plant explorer named André Michaux in Tennessee in 1796. He then sent it to William Bartram. This tree is located near the Kitchen Garden, east of the Bartram House.
- Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo): This male ginkgo tree is thought to be the oldest ginkgo in North America. It's one of three original ginkgo trees brought to the United States from China in 1785. You can find it east of the Bartram Barn.
History of Bartram's Garden
Bartram's Garden is the oldest botanical garden still around in the United States. John Bartram (1699–1777) was a well-known plant expert, explorer, and collector. He started the garden in September 1728 after buying a 102-acre farm.
John Bartram loved plants his whole life. He made his farm into a special collection of plants. He spent more and more time exploring and finding new plants in North America. He made many important scientific discoveries. John Bartram also traded plants and information with other plant experts around the world. By the mid-1700s, Bartram's Garden had "the most varied collection of North American plants in the world."
After the American Revolution and John Bartram's death in 1777, his sons William Bartram and John Bartram Jr. continued the family's plant business. They made the garden and plant nursery even bigger. William became a respected naturalist, artist, and writer. He used the garden to teach new explorers and scientists. When Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the new United States, important visitors came to the garden. These included members of the Continental Congress and President George Washington.
William Bartram's travel book, published in 1791, described his explorations in the southern United States. It's still considered a classic book about nature writing.
After John Bartram Jr. died in 1812, his daughter Ann Bartram Carr took over the farm and business. She ran it with her husband and later their son. They kept trading native North American plants all over the world. They even shipped as many as 2,000 different kinds of plants! More people in America also wanted their plants. They created another garden area to show off popular new flowering plants. Ann Bartram Carr was the first Bartram to open the garden to the public. She planted a half-circle garden for everyone to enjoy. It was a green, peaceful place in a world that was becoming more industrial.
In 1850, the family had money problems and sold the garden to Andrew M. Eastwick. He used it as a private park for his home. After Eastwick died in 1879, a plant expert named Thomas Meehan started a campaign in Philadelphia to save the garden. Others helped raise money from all over the country.
The City of Philadelphia took control of the garden in 1891. They protected it as a city park. The John Bartram Association was officially formed in 1893. Their job was to protect and share the garden, house, and other buildings. The garden was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Sadly, between 1879 and 1891, the garden wasn't well cared for. Many plants were stolen, died, or got damaged. Even though some parts of the landscape disappeared, the main design that John Bartram created in the 1700s can still be seen.
The John Bowman Bartram Special Collections Library has a huge collection of documents about the garden's history. Only a few plants in the garden today are from the Bartram family's time. But there are many records of what used to grow there. This has helped with projects like restoring the Ann Bartram Carr Garden. This 19th-century garden area was reopened in 2016.
In 2011, four acres along the garden's southern edge became the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden. This farm focuses on crops from the African Diaspora.
Bartram's Garden has been a living plant space for a very long time. It focuses on native plants and is connected to the history of the area. This makes it a unique place to learn about plant studies, farming, and the plant business in North America. You can also learn about the lives of John Bartram and his family, and what daily life was like in Philadelphia long ago.
Rambo's Rock
Rambo's Rock was a large rock on the eastern side of the Schuylkill River. It was right across from Bartram's Garden, near Grays Ferry. This rock was on the land of Swedish immigrants Peter and Brita Rambo. The rock is no longer there. It has been replaced by a dock. 39°55′48″N 75°12′29″W / 39.93°N 75.208°W
See also
In Spanish: Jardín de Bartram para niños
