Near the heart of the University of Georgia’s old north campus is a special memorial that honors 12 prominent Athens women who in 1891 began a national phenomenon by forming the first garden club.
On a cold January morning the women held their first meeting in the E.K. Lumpkin home on Prince Avenue. The restored house built, in 1859, is now part of the facilities of the Young Harris Methodist Church.
In 1936 the National Council of State Garden Clubs acknowledged the Athens Ladies Garden Club as the first garden club. To commemorate the achievement and honor the founders, in 1939 the Founders’ Memorial Garden was dedicated.
In their book, “Athens: the Columned City,” Kenneth and Blanche Marsh describe the garden layout, “Below a boxwood garden area is a large sunken garden surrounded by a serpentine brick wall. Its statuary and pool were given as memorials by various garden clubs. The central figure located between double steps leading down into the garden was presented by the National Council of Garden Clubs in 1954, the 25th anniversary of the National Council of State Garden Clubs.”
The impressive garden resulted from the State Garden Club of Georgia teaming up with the Landscape Architecture Department at UGA and was designed by UGA Professor Hubert B.Owens, former head of the School of Environmental Design. The extensive botanical plantings and shrubs surround a refurbished faculty residence built in 1857 with a separate kitchen and smoke house.
The refurbished residence, featuring period furnishings and décor, served as the headquarters for the Garden Clubs of Georgia until 1998 when the club moved into its new spacious headquarters building at the UGA State Botanical Garden.
The Garden and old faculty residence are used often for functions such as receptions, weddings and concerts. The facilities are maintained coordinated by the School of Environmental Design.
Today there are 13 garden clubs in Athens with 517 members. In Georgia there are 521 clubs with a membership of 13,519 and in the United States 264,440 members belong to 8,488 clubs.
The Lumpkin House, the faculty residence and the garden are all listed on the National Register of Historic Homes and Places.
