Beautiful Baldwin Garden

Springfield-Greene County Park Board members cut the ribbon Nov. 9 on the Baldwin Memorial Garden, 425 E. Trafficway, at the entrance to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The garden honors longtime Springfield resident Fanny Baldwin, who was instrumental in the installation of hundreds of hanging flower baskets displayed and maintained on light poles throughout the city in the 1920s. The Baldwin family, represented at the event by great-grandson David Stevens and great-great-granddaughter Amy Peebles, donated more than $20,000 toward the project.

At right is an ornamental light pole with two hanging baskets created by Jim Faulkner of Encore Gallery; the baskets represent Baldwin’s beautification work throughout the city, as well as her work to augment the city food supply during the Great Depression by supervising the planting of more than 1,500 county gardens.