Historic Lane Place and Speed Cabin add much significance to the 16th Garden & Art Tour being sponsored by the Flower Lovers Garden Club on June 25.
The eight beautiful residential gardens, Historic Lane Place and the bonus stop at the Athens Art Gallery are featured (rain or shine) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Ticketholders to the event will enjoy local artists, music, a plant sale, refreshments and several added features as you tour the gardens.
Tickets are available for $12; with children under age 12 free. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit community beautification projects.
The historic Lane home at 212 S. Water St. was built in 1845. Henry S. Lane and his wife Joanna appreciated nature preservation, resulting in the existing flower beds and a beautiful arboretum which contains one of every tree native to Indiana. During that time, Joanna Lane tended her rose garden which was then located near the site of the Pattison Pavilion (gazebo).
Also on the grounds is the Speed Cabin built in the mid-1830’s by John Allen Speed, an abolitionist and Irish immigrant. The small one-room cabin originally sat on the corner of North Street and Grant Avenue as a stop on the Underground Railroad for freedom seekers.
The Montgomery County Historical Society maintains the property with the goal for the Lane Place to become a more appealing and
welcoming atmosphere for our community.
Helping to achieve a three-stage plan for the property and to revamp the flower gardens has been Mark Davidson and Davidson Greenhouse/Nursery, who during the past 25 years has made generous donations of plants, bushes, trees and flowers for the project.
Members of the Flower Lovers Garden Club assisted in early spring clean ups and plantings; and in the fall of 2022, assistant director Owen Bennett, a Wabash College senior, reached out to his fellow brothers for assistance in clean up the spring.
Historical society member and Master Gardener Paula S. Furr has a vision for the property to become the place it once was during its glory days with the planning and planting of an assortment of flowers, herbs and vegetables that were more common to that time in Indiana history.
The Lane Place and the Speed Cabin will be open for touring during the Garden & Art tour event between the hours of noon and 4 p.m.
To purchase tour tickets, visit Progreen Garden Center, Davidson Greenhouse, Country Hearts & Flowers, Milligan’s Flowers, Montgomery County Visitors Bureau, Just Because, Athens Art Gallery and Crawfordsville District Public Library. Athens Art Gallery is a bonus stop on the tour. Tickets are $12 per person (cash or check only) and children age 12 and younger admitted free. Proceeds go towards community beautification.
