Goodell Gardens & Homestead

Description

Goodell Gardens & Homestead is a non-profit botanical garden and arboretum located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. A part of The Goodell Project, the purpose of Goodell Gardens & Homestead is to create an education-oriented botanical garden and arboretum on the 78-acre Goodell family farm by emulating the Goodell family passion for gardening and horticulture.

Goodell Gardens & Homestead was begun initially by the sole-remaining heirs to the Goodell family, Carrie and Margaret Goodell. The Goodell Sisters arranged for the creation of a small endowment, to be held at the Erie Community Foundation, which would afford the initial budget whereby the newly-formed Goodell Gardens would implement the sisters' wish that the site become a public garden. Eventually Goodell Gardens & Homestead, under its original name - The Goodell Project - attained non-profit status and has since operated as a stand-alone entity, with no formal ties to either the Erie Community Foundation or Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

The Garden's historic relevance is derived from the farmstead property belonging to the Goodell family since 1876 (originally purchased by the sisters' grandfather George Goodell). The Goodell family is also interlaced with the early beginnings of Edinboro, as they were involved in the early business, political and educational developments. From a horticultural perspective, Carrie's Heritage Garden is historically significant in the diversity of cultivated plant species held, along with its being a representative of American old-fashioned or heirloom gardening in general.