Heritage Museums & Gardens

Description

Heritage Museums & Gardens celebrates the American spirit. Its collections encompass the history, industry, art and horticulture of America. Visitors can discover over 25 antique motorcars in the JK Lilly Automobile Museum and explore flags, antique toys, hand-painted miniature soldiers and Native American artifacts displayed in the American History Museum. Folk and fine art paintings, shop signs, weathervanes, Nantucket baskets and scrimshaw are highlights of the Art Museum. A spin on a 1912 Looff carousel and a stroll through 100 acres of botanical treasures are part of the adventure. The museum was co-founded in 1969 by Josiah Kirby Lilly, III and his wife Josephine, in memory of his father. The property of Heritage Museums & Gardens is the former estate of Charles O. Dexter, an amateur horticulturist famous for the hardy varieties of rhododendrons he hybridized. Over 100 varieties of rhododendron are featured on the grounds along with a wide array of trees, shrubs, flowers and herbs.