Collection number: MC 371
Size:
(27 boxes)
(9.00 cu.ft.)
About the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill
The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has 171 acres of gardens and orchards and supports over 140,000 visitors per year. It was founded as the Worchester County Horticultural Society in 1842, providing exhibitions and programming throughout the summer. A library was founded by 1851 to support the educational work. In 1986 the organization moved to Tower Hill Farm in Boylston and became the Tower Hill Botanic Gardens, later changing to the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in 2022.
About the Worcester County Horticultural Society, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill Collection, 1849-1990
The Worcester County Horticultural Society, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill Collection consists of 8 cubic feet of historical and contemporary seed catalogs, as well as approximately one cubic foot of pressed flower samples from Switzerland, South Africa, and New England. A related library of several thousand published volumes is also housed at UNH's Special Collections.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Folder number], [Box number], Worcester County Horticultural Society, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill Collection, 1849-1990, MC 371, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Donation of the creating organization, 2022
Related Material
UNH Special Collections also maintains a collection of several thousand books donated by the New England Botanic Gardens at Tower Hill.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series: Series 1 is seed catalogs dated 1883-1990 and arranged alphabetically by creator; Series 2 is scrapbooks of pressed plants and colored plates dated 1849-1904 and arranged by size.
Collection Contents
Series 1: Seed Catalogs, 1883-1990
(25 boxes)This series contains the seed and nursery catalogs of organizations across the United States. A full list of names and dates is contained in box 1.
Box 1 | ||
---|---|---|
Ackerman Nurseries - Blackthorne Gardens, 1909-1986 and undated
Note: This box contains a listing of each catalog in this series. | ||
Box 2 | ||
Blanchette Gardens - Bristol Nurseries, Inc, 1888-1896 | ||
Box 3 | ||
Brittingham Plant Farms - W. Atlee Burpee Co., 1915-1987 | ||
Box 4 | ||
California Nursry Company - Cherry Hill Nurseries inc., 1885-1989 | ||
Box 5 | ||
John Lewis Childs, 1893-1897 | ||
Box 6 | ||
John Lewis Childs, 1900-1987 | ||
Box 7 | ||
Clapper's - Peter B. Dow and Company, 1890-1986 | ||
Box 8 | ||
Dreer's - TJ Dwyer & Son, 1902-1987 | ||
Box 9 | ||
Edelweiss Gardens - Maurice Fuld, 1903-1984 and undated | ||
Box 10 | ||
AE Wohlert Garden Nurseries - Joseph Harris Co. Inc., 1896-1989 and undated | ||
Box 11 | ||
Alexander Irving Heimlich - Peter Henderson & Co., 1895-1981 | ||
Box 12 | ||
Herbst Brothers Seedmen Inc. - Johnson Cactus Gardens, 1900-1984 and undated | ||
Box 13 | ||
Jones and Scully Inc. - Krider's Nurseries, 1915-1987 and undated | ||
Box 14 | ||
AE Kunderd - Lovett's Nursery Inc., 1989-1987 and undated | ||
Box 15 | ||
Maloney Bros. & Wells Co. - Merry Gardens, 1885-1984 and undated | ||
Box 16 | ||
Heinrich Mette - Musser Forests Inc., 1904-1987 and undated | ||
Box 17 | ||
New England Nut Tree Farms - Quality Dutch Bulbs Inc., 1905-1989 | ||
Box 18 | ||
Rakestraw's Perennial Gardens & Nursery - Roslyn Nursery, 1896-1989 and undated | ||
Box 19 | ||
Ross Brothers - Ross Brothers Co., 1906-1938 | ||
Box 20 | ||
Rowan Wholesale Nurseries - John Scheepers Inc., 1904-1985 | ||
Box 21 | ||
Seed World - Strahm's Lilies Inc., 1910-1989 | ||
Box 22 | ||
Sunnyslope Gardens - Will Tillotson's Roses, 1895-1987 | ||
Box 23 | ||
Charles H. Totty Company - Vermont Bean Seed Co., 1883-1990 and undated | ||
Box 24 | ||
James Vick P. Vos & Sons Inc., 1884-1927 and undated | ||
Box 25 | ||
Ward Gardens - Zuma Canyon Orchids Inc., xxxx-xxxx |
Series 2: Pressed Botanical Samples and Plates, 1849-1904
(2 boxes)This series contains scrapbooks of pressed plants and colored plates dated 1849-1904 and arranged by size. Oversized items are located at the end of the series.
Box 26 | ||
---|---|---|
Box 26, Folder 1 | “Flora Helvetica”, 1889
Ca. 25 pressed flowers from Switzerland. Inscription in case reads “Alpine flowers. Set no. III. Purchased in [no location given] by Mrs. H.M K. Brownell and presented to G. Goading July 15, 1889.” | |
Box 26, Folder 2 | American Algae or Marine Plants, 1849
Bound book of algae samples. Inscription reads “Sarah H. Bliss from her brother William Jan. 1st 1849.” | |
Box 26, Folder 3 | Stecher Lithograph plates, Undated
Color plates of grapes, stonefruits, apples, and pears bound in leather volume. All plates marked Stecher Lith & Co., Rochester, New York, which published under that name from 1887-1936. | |
Box 26, Folder 4 | Apline flowers album, 1871-1872
“Alpine Flowers, Set. No. V. Collected, pressed, and mounted by Mrs. H.M.K. Brownell, in 1871 & 1872. Presented to Gertrude Goading, July 15 [18]89.” Samples pasted into a reused Landers Frary & Clark cutlery viewbook. The company was based in Connecticut. | |
Box 27 | ||
Box 27, Folder 1-4 | Gillet's Les Hymenomycetes, 1874-1891
Rebound plates of mushrooms. Believed to be from C.C. Gillet’s “Les Hymenomycetes” (Paris: Alencon: Charles Thomas, 1874-1891). | |
Box 28 | ||
Box 28, Folder 1-3 | Les Hymenomycetes (cont.), 1874-1891 | |
Box 28, Folder 4 | Botanical specimens from Switzerland1870
Believed to be a copy of J. Brunner’s “Plantes de l'herbier de J. Brunner : comprenant principalement la flore des environs de la Schynigen Platte, Faulhorn, Grimsel & Furca” (place of publication not listed, ca. 1870). | |
Oversize Box 1 | ||
Oversize Box 1, Folder 1 | South African Wildflowers, 1904
Leatherbound volume of watercolors of South African wildflowers, painted by artist “Kaby” and sold/bound by Darter Bros. & Co., Cape Town. Included correspondence addressed from Darter Bros. to Admiral Chatwick, M.S. Cruiser Brooklyn, Cape Town Docks, 1904. | |
Oversize Box 1, Folder 2 | "Herbarium of M.E. Cook," 1894
“Herbarium of M.E. Cook.” Ca. 50 pressed samples collected in western Massachusetts in 1894 by M.E. Cook. Grasses, mosses, ferns, lilies, shrubs, wildflowers. | |
Oversize Box 2 | ||
Oversize Box 2, Folder 1 | Photograph album depicting ornamental gardens, location unidentified, 1914-1917 | |
Oversize Box 3 | ||
Oversize Box 3, Folder 1 | "Begonia Photographs and Descriptions, John Coulson, Worcester Mass," ca. 1890s
Album of cyanotype photographs of begonias with extensive descriptions. |