Day Tripping in Elizabeth Park

His­to­ry of Eliz­a­beth Park

In 1894, Charles Pond donat­ed his estate to the City of Hartford,CT.  He request­ed the land be used as a pub­lic park, in hon­or of his wife Eliz­a­beth.  Opened to the pub­lic in the Spring of 1897, Eliz­a­beth Park in Hart­ford,  is Amer­i­ca’s old­est pub­lic rose garden.

How­ev­er, by the mid-1970s the park start­ed to wilt and fall in finan­cial despair.  The City of Hart­ford could no longer sus­tain funds for the nec­es­sary main­te­nance.  Sav­ing the park from cer­tain demo­li­tion, the  Eliz­a­beth Park Con­ser­van­cy, found­ed in 1977, worked to main­tain, restore and pro­tect the park for future gen­er­a­tion to use and enjoy.

In 1983, the park was award­ed the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places, fur­ther cement­ing its’ preser­va­tion for the future as fed­er­al­ly pro­tect­ed land.

The Rose Garden

In the cen­ter of the park is the Rose Gar­den.  It is Amer­i­ca’s old­est munic­i­pal rose gar­den and the third largest rose gar­den in the U.S. today.  Home to 15,000 rose bush­es and 800 vari­eties of ros­es, the Con­ser­van­cy must over­see the allo­ca­tion of $100,000 in funds for gar­den­ers, rose experts, fer­til­iz­er and new roses.

In 1912, the park became an exper­i­ment for the Amer­i­can Rose Soci­ety.  They’re pro­pos­al was to test and pro­vide infor­ma­tion about ros­es for the pub­lic.  With the help of the Soci­ety, the park was able to add an addi­tion­al 2.5 acres to the garden.

The gar­den attracts thou­sands of vis­i­tors annu­al­ly, includ­ing artist, poets, locals and tourist.  The gar­den is host to between 15–20 wed­dings a year and a pop­u­lar spot for wed­ding photos.

Rose Blooms Attract Artist

Artist, Frank A. Pol­lifrone Sr., a native of Nau­gatuck, had nev­er heard of Eliz­a­beth Park, until anoth­er artist informed him.  Pol­lifrone rem­i­nisced for a moment in between strokes say­ing, “I’ve always been mys­ti­fied by ros­es. They are enchant­i­ng, they can sym­bol­ize love, pas­sion and even death”.

Rus­tic Sum­mer House

Ros­es, known as Ram­blers grow on the arch­es that illu­mi­nate the gaze­bo, or the Rus­tic Sum­mer House, which receives it cov­er from a vari­ety known as the Vir­ginia creep­er. The gaze­bo was built in 1904, and in 2005, it was recon­struct­ed with the orig­i­nal plans using red cedar.

Plan Your Next Visit

With free admis­sion, park­ing and a sum­mer con­cert series, plan­ning your wed­ding, the next fam­i­ly out­ing, or for any­one sim­ply look­ing to vis­it Amer­i­ca’s old­est rose gar­den, Eliz­a­beth Park is the quin­tes­sen­tial New Eng­land day trip that is sure to amaze your whole family.

Observ­ing the arch­es nat­ur­al beau­ty, artist Dan Graef has been paint­ing at Eliz­a­beth Park for over 17 years. (Pho­to cour­tesy, Daniel Candella) 

Graef rem­i­nisced for a moment in between strokes say­ing, “I’ve always been mys­ti­fied by ros­es. They are enchant­i­ng, they can sym­bol­ize love, pas­sion and even death”. 

The entrance to Eliz­a­beth Park in Hart­ford, CT. Admis­sion is free and open to the pub­lic 365 days a year. (Pho­to cour­tesy, Daniel Candella) 

Hybrid-Tea Ros­es climb a wood­en arch struc­ture, pro­vid­ing walk­ers a beau­ti­ful gate­way to the gar­den beyond. (Pho­to cour­tesy, Daniel Candella) 

The “gaze­bo,” or the Rus­tic Sum­mer House at Eliz­a­beth Park. In 2005, the struc­ture was recon­struct­ed to the orig­i­nal 1904 plan of red cedar. (Pho­to cour­tesy, Daniel Candella) 

Hunched over the easel, artist Dan Graef pre­pares to mix oils for his paint. (Pho­to cour­tesy, Daniel Candella) 

An artist paints the arch­es in Eliz­a­beth Park. The park attracts thou­sand of vis­i­tors every year, includ­ing, artist, poets, fam­i­lies, and tourist.