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McKee Botanical Garden

United States historic place From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McKee Botanical Gardenmap
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The McKee Botanical Garden (area of 18 acres (7.3 hectares)) is a non-profit, subtropical botanical garden in Vero Beach, Florida.[1][2] It is located at 350 U.S. Highway 1, Vero Beach, Florida.

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History

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Hall of Giants, c. 1970. Built in 1941, would later be rebuilt in 1997.

The garden was founded in 1929, when Waldo E. Sexton and Arthur G. McKee, a millionaire engineer, purchased an 80-acre (32 ha) tropical hammock along the Indian River.[3][4][5] Famous plant explorer Dr. David Fairchild was consulted and Tropical landscape architect William Lyman Phillips was hired to design its streams, ponds, and trails.[6] Its indigenous vegetation was augmented with ornamental plants and seeds from around the world. In 1932, they proceeded to open the garden, then known as McKee Jungle Gardens, as a tourist attraction.

Although the Garden was successful for several decades, it shut down in 1976, and most of its land was sold for development. The site remained vacant for twenty years until the Indian River Land Trust purchased it in 1995. The current Garden was formally dedicated in 2001.[7] It is now a Florida landmark and on January 7, 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places under its former name of McKee Jungle Gardens.[1] Currently, there are several buildings on the garden including the office, gift shop, education center and a restaurant.

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Flora

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The Garden's collections currently include:

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See also

References

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