In 1936, the Garden Club of Georgia began a fund to create a living memorial to the twelve founders of the Ladies' Garden Club of Athens, the first garden club in America, organized in 1891.

Founders Memorial Garden

Dean Hubert B. Owens, his staff, and students of the Landscape Architecture Department, working with funds contributed by Garden Club of Georgia members, designed and developed the nationally acclaimed Founders Memorial Garden, completing the project in 1946. This garden not only serves as a museum of landscape design, but as a natural laboratory for botany, forestry, and related disciplines.

	RENTAL INFORMATION For information or rental reservations for the Founders Memorial Garden, please call 706-542-4776.

The layout of the two and one-half acre series of gardens, the grounds of our former Headquarters House, consists of a formal boxwood garden, two courtyards, a retrace, a perennial garden, and an arboretum.

After the establishment of the Founders Garden it was only a matter of time before the garden club acquired the old smokehouse for a living museum to the twelve original garden club ladies. It was restored and furnished in keeping with the period of the house. Historical mementos, pictures, and a painting depicting the historical first meeting of a garden club are among the most treasured items in the museum.

The Garden Club of Georgia has been privileged to be a part of the fascinating historical tapestry of our former Headquarters House. This charming old rose-brick, Federal-style house was built in 1857 and was restored by the Garden Club to pristine splendor. Prior to our taking possession in 1961, the house had served as a residence for University of Georgia professors, a dining hall, quarters for the biological sciences department, a residence for the first Dean of Women, a chapter house for the Phi Mu Sorority, and an office for the School of Landscape Architecture beginning in 1938.

The stone pavers in the front courtyard (facing Lumpkin Street) were rescued by the late Hubert Bond Owens, Dean of the University of Georgia School of Landscape Architecture. The irrepressible Dean Owens brought the cobblestones to the Headquarters House as they were removed from an Athens street resurfacing project. The ancient Belgian blocks were ship ballast from European sailing vessels that came to the New World. In 1991, to celebrate their Centenary, The Ladies Garden Club of Athens placed a time capsule under a circular design of pavers in the front courtyard. Founded in 1891, The Ladies Garden Club was the first garden club organized in America. This capsule will be unearthed and opened in the year 2091!

Now that we have relocated to our new Headquarters House, our former facility will be utilized once again by the School of Environmental Design of the University of Georgia. How pleased our beloved Dean Hubert B. Owens would be! Leaving behind a legacy for the future, Garden Club of Georgia members will always maintain an involved presence and love for the House and surrounding gardens which were our home for so many years.

Take a Founders Garden mini-tour! Select any of the pictures below to visit the Garden: