Built on the shore of Fowl River in south Mobile County, Bellingrath Gardens and Home has evolved into a major attraction for visitors to the Alabama Gulf Coast. It was built by Walter and Bessie Bellingrath. Walter was Mobile’s first bottler of Coca-Cola.

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The Bellingraths purchased the site, which had been a popular fishing camp for Mobile’s well-to-do gentlemen, in 1917. The gardens began to be developed in 1927 when the Bellingraths hired local architect George B. Rogers to develop the camp into a country estate.

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The gardens offer lush vegetation bordered by bamboo, live oaks, and magnolia trees, and each season brings forth an explosion of colors when seasonal flowers burst forth in bloom.  Springs brings thousands of blooms on azalea bushes.  Throughout the seasons you’ll see lilies and camellias, carnations tulips, roses, and dozens of others. Indeed, there is a distinct Bellingrath Rose Garden, constructed in 1936, with 2,000 plants with 75 varieties, and a fountain. The gardeners have turned the site into a test area for new All-American Rose Selections that visitors can see one year before they are introduced to the general public.

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The gardens are landscaped into several distinct areas, including the rose garden, Live Oak Plaza, Camellia Parterre, the Great Lawn with over 4,000 annuals planted each year, the Asian American Garden, and the Dwight Harrigan

ExxonMobile Bayou Boardwalk to feature the flora and fauna of the Fowl River ecosystem. 

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Adding to the display of blooms is the 15-room home, which was built in 1935, and the Chapel.  The home has historic significance, built with bricks scavenged from old buildings in Mobile dating to the 1860s and ironwork dating from the 1870s.  It is furnished with antiques collected by Mrs. Bellingrath.  The home opened to the public in 1956.

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Also of note at the Gardens is the Delchamps Gallery of Boehm Porcelain, which sits opposite the Bellingrath home. These gallery displays early and rare works of American sculptor Edward Marshall Boehm that include 137 carefully detailed statuettes of wild birds and other wildlife, as well as designer plates. It is the largest public display of Boehm porcelains in the world. Boehm, a Maryland native, lived from 1913 to 1969.  His porcelains are displayed in 134 institutions around the world, including at the White House in Washington, D.C., at the Vatican, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

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Interesting Back Story

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There’s an intriguing back story to the gardens:  The fishing camp that Bellingrath bought for the Gardens was created and operated by a freed black man, Edward Parker of Virginia. Parker arrived in Mobile in the 1830s aboard a ship. When he got off the ship, he was subjected to a Mobile law that prohibited a black person to sail into the port city and then sail back out.  And at the time, Parker, like other freed blacks, wasn’t eager to walk or ride through the slave-owning South to get back home. So, he stayed in Mobile and bought land along Fowl River for 25 cents an acre to establish a fishing camp. He built cabins and a pier that he rented for overnight stays of fishing and partying on the river, with Parker as their host and guide.  After the death of Parker’s son in 1917, his heirs sold the camp to Walter Bellingrath.

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Address & Phone

12401 Bellingrath Gardens Road

Theodore, AL 36582

251-973-2217

 

Café and gift shop on site.

 

Getting There

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From Mobile

Take I-10 W towards Pascagoula, exit 15A toward Theodore. Take US 90 south.  Turn left onto Bellingrath Road  (County Highway 59). Turn left onto Rebel Road (County Highway 18). Stay straight onto Bellingrath Gardens Road.

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From Gulf Shores/Fort Morgan

Take State Highway 59 to I-10 West. Then follow directions above.

Or

Take the Dauphin Island/Fort Morgan Ferry to Dauphin Island. Take State Highway 193 north. Turn left onto State Highway 188.  Turn right onto County Highway 59. Turn left onto Rebel Road (County Highway 18). Stay straight onto Bellingrath Gardens Road.

 

Hours of Operation

8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except when the Magic Christmas Lights are displayed, then open until 9 p.m.

 

Entry Fees                                          

Fees run from $14 to $25 for adults, and less for children. Check website for specific charges depending on events in progress.

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August 6 (Founder’s Day)

Residents of Mobile and Baldwin Counties are admitted free.

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Discounts available on Memorial Day and Veterans Day to military personnel and family.

 

Pets Policy

A free pet motel is available on site.  Pets are not allowed into the gardens or home.