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In 1969, Harold and Josephine Hatcher retired to Spartanburg,
South Carolina with the dream of creating a  public
greenspace for the Spartanburg community. They bought a home within
the city limits - an acre of land with running water on it and room
for expansion into neighboring lots. Once dominated by cotton fields,
the land had long since been abandoned. Weeds and trash had replaced
the cotton bolls, and the Hatchers looked out into their backyard
to see a red clay land robbed of its fertility by the cotton and
eroded into deep gullies for lack of topsoil. Undeterred, they began
turning their dream of a community greenspace into a reality: amending
soil, building paths and ponds, and planting over 10,000 trees,
shrubs and flowers. They welcomed the public to their backyard garden
and expanded it over the years by buying the properties around and
behind them.
As the garden grew, members of the Spartanburg Men's Garden Club,
the Spartanburg Garden Club Council, Spartanburg Technical College,
the City of Spartanburg, and the Spartanburg Master Gardener program
became intrigued with the Hatchers and with their vision for the
Garden. These community members joined as volunteers alongside the
Hatchers, providing labor as well as financial support for the Garden's
development. The result is what Garden visitors experience today:
10 acres of greenspace in the center of the city of Spartanburg
hosting a diversity of flora and fauna and complemented by water
ponds, walking paths and a variety of garden spaces for large gatherings
or solitary meditation.
The Hatchers' vision of creating a public garden in their backyard
was not in and of itself unique. There are, in fact, thousands of
public gardens and arboreta around the world that originated as
private family estates. However, what differentiates Hatcher Garden
and Woodland Preserve from other private estates turned public is
the fact that the Hatchers were not wealthy landowners. Humble people
dedicated to a rich spiritual and intellectual life, they were unconcerned
with material gain. Thus, when they embarked together upon the  journey
that ultimately led to Hatcher Garden & Woodland Preserve, they
were limited in resources but not in creative vision. And when they
chose to donate the Garden to the community for perpetuity, what
they gave was their life savings.
The Garden now stands as a testament to the power of partnerships
and to the integrity of the Hatcher's vision and of the community
that gathered around them
Please help us grow the garden by becoming
a member.
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