Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens, Dunsmuir

The City of Dunsmuir, a historic railroad town, had depended on the railroad for its economic fortunes from its inception in 1887. Its strategic location made it possible to add extra engines to the back of the trains heading north to move up the steep grade. In the 1990’s Dunsmuir found itself dealing with the declining presence of the industry that had created it. With the modernization and consolidation of the railroad’s facilities and the advent of the interstate highway bypassing the community, Dunsmuir’s population had slowly dwindled from over 4000 to just over 2000 people. At a Town Hall Meeting, the citizens identified Dunsmuir’s assets and liabilities and set a course of action. A Community Revitalization Committee was formed in order to develop projects and programs that would strengthen the community’s economic base.

In 1992 the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Committee was formed by a small group of Garden Club and community volunteers and began making improvements in the City Park and the Gardens in earnest. The locust trees were removed from the eastern hillside by the Public Works Department of the City of Dunsmuir, an automated irrigation system was installed and the planting of the new lawn in the meadow was completed. Because the funding from the 1991 concert had been allocated for other projects in the Gardens, the Botanical Gardens Committee sought donations from individuals and service groups to fund plant purchases and additional improvements in the Gardens. Lucy Depoli stated in an April 1992 newspaper article, “A person can even offer a donation for the planting of a rhododendron in memorial for a loved one”. The Dunsmuir Rotary Club purchased and planted rhododendrons to adorn the newly cleared hillside. The Dunsmuir Lions Club held a band concert with the proceeds funding a 16’x16’ expansion to the stage.

In 2003 the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens organization was incorporated and received its 501(c)(3) designation as a non profit corporation in the State of California. That same year, the Botanical Gardens’ Board of Directors, along with the Rotary Club of Dunsmuir and the City of Dunsmuir, took on the project of renovating the historic Alexander Dunsmuir Fountain at the entrance to the City Park.

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