The seeds of the museum gardens were sown long before the first plant ever touched the soil. For nearly a decade, museum supporters, volunteers, and board members nurtured a dream: a dream of creating a living landscape that would extend the museum’s focus on historic interpretation to the outdoor spaces that were integral to the daily life of the Woodward Family.

We envisioned a space where visitors could step back in time to experience the plants used daily for cooking and medicine by those who lived in the 18th- and 19th centuries.  We also envisioned a quiet space where guests could relax, rest, and reconnect with the beauty of nature.

Initial donations for the garden project came from those who longed to honor and remember Kathy King, a devoted museum volunteer, member of The Friends of the Ashbel Woodward Museum Board, and dear friend of so many connected with the museum and town.  Soon, donations from numerous other supporters helped turn what was once a small seed of a dream into a fully bloomed reality.  The museum board, volunteers, and Friends of the Ashbel Woodward Museum (now the Friends of Franklin Heritage Sites) are forever grateful to each individual, family, business, and community organization that has selflessly given of their time and resources to create the Woodward Gardens.

As you spend time here in the Woodward Gardens, allow yourself to travel back to a time where plants provided nourishment for both body and soul.  To learn more about the individual plants in the garden, and how the Woodwards would have used them, scan the QR codes you find on the various plant markers.  Or, simply take time to just be present among the plants and experience the goodness of the gardens.