Highlights from our Past
Highlights from our Past
Embedded Files
1940-1949
1940-1949
1946 Garden Club Members and Children
1940 Program Booklet Cover Art: Lilac
1940s: Introduction
1940s: Introduction
This timeline highlights key moments from the Garden Club’s history in the 1940s, a decade of growth, reflection, and community impact. From honoring local garden history to launching lasting beautification projects, the club deepened its roots in Northborough’s landscape and legacy.
1940: 15th Anniversary Celebration
1940: 15th Anniversary Celebration
The Garden Club marked its 15th anniversary during the May meeting with a celebratory cake, commemorating a decade and a half of shared horticultural interest and community service. During this meeting, it was also decided that annual dues would be raised to 50 cents, likely to support the club's expanding activities and modest financial needs.
1945: Member Amy Maynard's Wildflower Collection.
1945: Member Amy Maynard's Wildflower Collection.
In a touching reflection of how gardening adapts to different stages of life, Mrs. Amy Maynard shared her personal story of cultivating a wildflower collection near her home. Her intent was deeply personal and practical — by bringing the beauty of nature closer to her doorstep, she could continue to enjoy the plants she loved even as age made it difficult for her to wander through woods and fields as she once had. This sentiment captured the club’s enduring appreciation for the accessibility and healing qualities of nature.
1940s Program Booklet Covers
1945: Presentation Highlights Northborough’s First Documented Flower Garden, Established in 1817
1945: Presentation Highlights Northborough’s First Documented Flower Garden, Established in 1817
At the May meeting, Miss Valentine gave a presentation about a significant piece of local horticultural history: the early 19th-century garden associated with the Rev. Joseph Allen home at 49 Church Street. Believed to be the first flower garden documented in Northboro in 1817, this site held historical value not only as a garden but also as a cultural landmark. At the time of the presentation, the home was owned by Sally Johnson. The mention of this garden served as a reminder of the town's deep-rooted connection to ornamental and purposeful planting. View location on Google maps.
1941 Program Booklet Inside Page
1949: Church and Main Streets Triangle Plot Created
This year brought changes both logistical and botanical. The regular meeting time was adjusted from 3:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., perhaps in consideration of members’ schedules or availability. More significantly, 1949 marked the beginning of the club's work on the triangle plot at the intersection of Church and Main Streets. What began as a modest community beautification effort would become one of the club’s most visible and enduring contributions to the town landscape.
The traffic island at Church and Main quickly became a colorful landmark. Over the years, it was carefully tended and seasonally planted by volunteers who took pride in enhancing the appearance of this central public space. In 1975, after more than two decades of stewardship, the island was redesigned and bricked in with a colonial-style aesthetic.
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