The Olcott Park Greenhouse 4,500 square feet (420 m²) is a city-operated greenhouse located in the 40 acre (162,000 m²) Olcott Park at 9th Avenue W. and 7th Street N. in Virginia, Minnesota. It is open to the public year-round without charge.
Olcott Park was named after W. J. Olcott, an officer of the Great Northern Mining Company. The company first leased the land to the city in 1905 for $1 per year if the city would pay taxes. In 1939 the city purchased the land for $9,015.
This three-room greenhouse dates from the 1930s. Its central room contains a good collection of exotic plants, ranging in size from small specimens to mature Ponderosa Lemon trees bearing fruit, with cactus and succulents, large agave, ficus, and screw pine specimens.
Famous quotes containing the words olcott, park and/or greenhouse:
“My wild Irish Rose,
The sweetest flow’r that grows.”
—Chauncey Olcott (1858–1932)
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is not enough exercise in this way of life. I try to make up by active gymnastics before I dress when I get up, by walking rapidly in the lower hall and the greenhouse after each meal for perhaps five to ten minutes, and a good hand rubbing before going to bed. I eat moderately; drink one cup of coffee at breakfast and one cup of tea at lunch and no other stimulant. My health is now, and usually, excellent.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)