North Carolina Botanical Garden

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Garden has been a leader in native plant conservation and education in the southeastern United States for more than 40 years.

From the description of North Carolina Botanical Garden photographic collection, 1966-circa 1980 (bulk 1971-1973). WorldCat record id: 43026536

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is an administrative unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a regional center for the conservation, study, and interpretation of plants. It was established in 1952 on a 72-acre tract of university land south of Chapel Hill; since that time it has been considerably augmented. In 1988 the garden administered approximately 598 acres. In addition, the North Carolina Botanical Garden manages several natural areas around the state and works with other conservation agencies and organizations to preserve lands of botanical value. The garden was part of the Department of Botany until 1982, when it became a separate unit. The director of the garden now reports to the university's provost. The North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation, an independent support organization, raises money and acquires and holds lands for the garden.

From the description of North Carolina Botanical Garden records, 1952-1989. WorldCat record id: 26707567

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is an administrative unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Botanical Garden has been a leader in native plant conservation and education in the southeastern United States for more than 40 years. Researchers who are interested in a more detailed history of the North Carolina Botanical Garden are encouraged to visit the Garden's website at http://www.ncbg.unc.edu/ .

From the guide to the North Carolina Botanical Garden Photographic Collection, 1966-circa 1980, (bulk 1971-1973), (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.)

The North Carolina Botanical Garden, an administrative unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a regional center for the conservation, study, and interpretation of plants native to the southeastern United States. The garden also features exotic plants suitable for horticultural use in the North Carolina Piedmont. In 1988 the North Carolina Botanical Garden administered approximately 598 acres in three major units: the North Carolina Botanical Garden proper (including Coker Pinetum, the Hubbard Herb Garden, the William L. Hunt Arboretum, and Gray Bluff Garden), the Mason Farm Biological Reserve, and the Coker Arboretum. It also manages several preserves, or natural areas, owned by the Botanical Garden Foundation, Inc.

The garden was officially established in 1952, but its heritage traces back to the early 1900s. In 1903 Dr. William C. Coker, the university's first professor of botany, began planting a teaching collection adjacent to New East, which then housed the Department of Biology. This collection was to become the Coker Arboretum. Dr. Coker also participated in planning for the entire Chapel Hill campus, seeking to create an attractive setting for scholarship through horticulture and landscape design. In part because of the interests of Dr. Henry Roland Totten, a student of Dr. Coker, new collections were added to the Arboretum, including a diverse array of gymnosperms and a drug garden.

In the late 1920s, Coker and Totten, realizing that the Arboretum site was limited, proposed to build a more complete botanical garden with extensive plantings of southeastern trees and shrubs on university lands south of the main campus. Some research materials were planted in the 1930s and 1940s, but it was not until 1952 that the university's Board of Trustees officially allocated approximately 72 acres of the university's Mason Farm property, located along Morgan Creek, for botanical garden development. In 1961 William L. Hunt, a local horticulturist and former student of Coker and Totten, donated the first of several parcels, also along Morgan Creek and comprising an area of dramatic creek gorge and rhododendron bluffs. In 1965 the trustees set aside an additional 96 acres of Mason Farm for inclusion in the garden. William L. Hunt also helped found the garden's membership support organization, the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation, in 1966. The foundation receives funds and acquires and holds lands for the garden, thus assisting its conservation and research objectives.

Dr. C. Ritchie Bell was named acting director of the garden in 1961. In January 1966, Bell was officially appointed director. Also in 1966, the garden's first nature trails were opened to the public. In 1971 Ken Moore, the superintendent of the garden, became its first full-time, permanent state employee. In 1976 the garden's administrative and interpretive facility, the Totten Center, opened. This building was made possible by a bequest to the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation from the estate of Henry Roland Totten and Adelaide Totten.

After the merger of the Departments of Botany and Zoology in 1982 to form the Department of Biology, the administration of the garden, which had been located in the Department of Botany, was transferred to the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and subsequently to the Office of Provost. In addition, the Garden has an Administrative Board with authority to establish policy and approve procedures. Also in 1982, Coker Arboretum, which had been administered by the Department of Botany, was made a unit of the garden. In 1984 the Board of Trustees committed additional lands to the Garden to form a unified Mason Farm Biological Reserve, bringing the total number of acres allocated from Mason Farm to 367.

Dr. Bell retired as director in 1986 and was succeeded by Peter S. White. At that time the garden had a permanent staff of twelve, foundation membership had reached nearly 2000, and a diverse array of programs was going on in the garden.

From the guide to the North Carolina Botanical Garden of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1952-1997, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives.)