Brookgreen Gardens
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Brookgreen Gardens
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Fighting Stallions – by Anna Hyatt Huntington at garden park entrance.
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| Nearest city | Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 33°31′14″N 79°5′59″W / 33.52056°N 79.09972°WCoordinates: 33°31′14″N 79°5′59″W / 33.52056°N 79.09972°W |
| Area | 9,100 acres (37 km2) |
| Architect | Anna Hyatt Huntington |
| Architectural style | Sculpture gardens |
| Part of | Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens (#84002045) |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002510 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 15, 1978 |
| Designated NHLDCP | October 5, 1992 |
Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The 9,100-acre (37 km2) property includes several themed gardens with American figurative sculptures placed in them, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails through several ecosystems in nature reserves on the property. It was founded by Archer Milton Huntington, stepson of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and his wife Anna Hyatt Huntington to feature sculptures by Anna and her sister Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor along with other American sculptors. Brookgreen Gardens was opened in 1932, and is built on four former rice plantations, taking its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation.
Originally, what is now Brookgreen Gardens was four rice plantations. The plantations from south to north were The Oaks, Brookgreen, Springfield, and Laurel Hill. The current gardens and surrounding facilities lie completely on the former Brookgreen Plantation, which was owned by Joshua John Ward, the largest American slaveholder.
Only a handful of relics survive on the former plantations. The Alston (or Allston) cemetery survives on the grounds of The Oaks plantation. Gov. Joseph Alston and his child are buried in the cemetery. The same grave is a memorial to the governor's wife Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Vice President Aaron Burr, who was lost at sea. Her ghost is said to haunt the Grand Strand, looking for her father. The rice mill at Laurel Hill is all that remains of the plantation today. During the American Civil War, Confederates built an earthen structure on the grounds to block Union Navy ships from coming into the tidal rivers.
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