GARDENS & LANDSCAPES
Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park
Leon County · Panhandle & Emerald Coast
A hundred and seventy acres of state park at 3540 Thomasville Road, built around a garden a New York financier planted for his own pleasure.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Alfred B. Maclay bought a quail hunting plantation of nineteen hundred and thirty-five acres here in 1923 and called the estate Killearn. He laid out the garden around the house and went on planting it until he died in 1944. His widow Louise opened it to the public in 1946 and gave about three hundred and seven acres to the state in 1953. The planting is built on camellias and azaleas, which is deliberate: they flower from January through April, so the garden peaks in the months when most of the country has nothing in bloom. A reflection pool built in 1935 sits at the heart of it, with brick walks, a walled garden and long views laid out between the beds. The Maclay House of 1909 is furnished as the family had it and opens during the flowering season. Beyond the garden there are miles of trail through pine and hardwood, and Lake Hall for swimming, fishing and paddling. The park is open all year from eight until sundown
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