Olcott Park Greenhouse

Olcott Park, named after the mining executive W. J. Olcott, occupies land that the Oliver Iron Mining Company leased to the city of Virginia from 1905 and that the city bought at the end of the 1930s. The city's published history of the park dates the first greenhouse to 1921, built south of the superintendent's house on the eastern edge of the grounds. It was used to prepare plants for the flower beds of Gunnar Peterson, a Swedish-born horticulturist who had worked in his father's greenhouses in Sweden, then in Germany and Chicago (hired in 1923 according to the city, in 1926 according to the historical society's brochure). When the superintendent asked for more room, a northern addition followed in 1926.

During the Depression the city secured CWA and ERA relief assistance to build a much larger wing, intended for exhibiting plants rather than only raising them. Its open house in November 1933 coincided with the first chrysanthemum show, which became a fixture alongside the begonia shows held every August. After the Second World War the greenhouse went on offering tropical greenery through the long northern Minnesota winters.

Staff cuts later slowed its activity. When the city's last full-time horticulturist retired in 1998, residents set up the Friends of the Greenhouse to raise funds and supply volunteers. Sources differ on the reference date: the city's greenhouse page speaks of a local attraction since 1935, Wikipedia of a building from the 1930s.

The greenhouse stands on the eastern side of Olcott Park, at the corner of 9th Avenue West and 7th Street North, beside the former superintendent's house, moved to this spot in 1916 and home since 1994 to the Virginia Area Historical Society's museum. It covers about 4,500 square feet (420 m²) divided into three rooms. The central room, now called the Botanical Garden, is the display house; the north and south houses were used to raise bedding plants for the park and the town.

The layout reflects growth by successive additions: the 1921 house, the 1926 northern extension and the large exhibition wing of 1933. The sources consulted do not say which parts of the present structure belong to each campaign, nor do they describe the frame or glazing. One detail explains the orientation: 9th Avenue, now the park's eastern boundary, did not exist until the 1940s, so the greenhouse and the superintendent's house originally faced west, into the park. Three of the four cherubs from the memorial fountain given in 1929 by Katherine Roman in memory of her husband are kept inside.

The central room holds the tropical and exotic collection: specimens of every size, from small pot plants to mature Ponderosa lemon trees that bear fruit, cacti and succulents, a large agave, palms and ficus. The historical society's brochure adds ferns, hanging baskets and flowering pots.

In its heyday the greenhouse was known for seasonal shows: chrysanthemums, displayed in hundreds of varieties from the first show of November 1933 onwards, and begonias every August, which drew thousands of visitors. According to the same brochure, some 12,000 plants were on view in winter and 40,000 in summer, and each spring the houses produced 35,000 to 40,000 annuals for the planters of the park and the town. The Friends of the Greenhouse now help with the long-term care of the plants.

The greenhouse is at 711 9th Avenue West, on the edge of Olcott Park, a 40-acre municipal park on the north side of Virginia. Opening hours depend on volunteers, so the city's page is worth checking before a visit; the building can also be booked for small gatherings.

A visit combines easily with the historical society's museum next door, the electric fountain and rock garden built with WPA workers and first lit in 1937 (the fountain was restored in 2019), and the bandstand where the Virginia City Band gives its summer concerts. The Land of the Loon festival fills the park on the third weekend of June.