Spring Flowertown Festival
Jan 06, 2022
…the azleas are having a party and everyone is invited.
Let’s time travel back to when a group of ladies called the "Civic League" raised funds to buy 16 acres of land in the heart of Summerville for their garden club (known as the Flowertown Garden Club today). The 16 acres was the start of our now beautiful Azalea Park.
Right in the middle of The Great Depression, add in a flower enthusiast- Mayor Grange Cuthbert, looking to draw visitors to Summerville by taking those 16 acres to create a park. With a Works Progress Administration grant and paying workers (including his own son) 10 cents an hour, the rugged land was turned into a beauty. Filled with our famous pine trees, it just needed flowers.
Cuthbert called upon his friend, Mr. George Segelken, a local nurseryman who donated 33,000 azaleas. He planted most himself, including a salmon-colored flower known as the “Pride of Summerville”.
During that same time, The Chamber of Commerce held a contest and adopted the slogan "Flower Town in the Pines”.
Around Spring of 1930, bus loads of folks traveled from Charleston to Summerville to visit this small town with its acres of blooming azalea bushes- some 6-8 feet tall. The colorful display was not only in the park, but throughout the beautiful gardens and yards of the town.
In 1972, the Young Women's Christian Organization (now known as the YMCA) visualized a springtime celebration surrounded by these gorgeous flowers just as they were beginning to bloom. This event, now hosted by the Summerville Family YMCA, was later named the "Flowertown Festival”.
The Flowertown Festival became such a massive success that every Spring it is a celebrated tradition drawing in thousands of visitors. A local merchant with a big heart for Summerville coined the slogan, “The azaleas are having a party, and everyone is invited…”
A BREAK FROM TRADITION
In 2020, the Spring festival was canceled due to Covid, and the 2021 was moved to the Fall.
The azaleas’ blooms will return in Spring 2022, along with the tradition of a Spring Flowertown Festival.
A big thanks to the Summerville Family YMCA for continuing a tradition born in the hearts of a Mayor/Garden Club, Nurseryman, Chamber of Commerce, and celebrated by all who have ever visited.
The festival supports the improvement of, and access to health + wellness programs to over 5,000 local members, including military families, children, + cancer survivors.
For complete details go to Flowertown Festival
Experience the aptly named "Flower Town in the Pines"
"At the Heart of Summerville" is a blog series dedicated to exploring the vibrant community of Summerville, South Carolina. From the historic downtown area to the surrounding districts, we showcase the people and places that make Summerville such a special destination. An interview with The Flowertown Players at the James F. Dean Theater in Downtown Summerville
Unveiling some of Summerville's most iconic historic homes.
Sweet tea is more than just a refreshing beverage - it's a symbol of Southern hospitality and tradition. For many years, this iconic drink has been a staple of Southern cuisine, and nowhere is its history more celebrated than in Summerville, South Carolina, the Birthplace of Sweet Tea. The History of Tea Tea has a rich history in America, with its roots dating back to the late 1700s when French explorer and botanist Andre Michaux first planted tea at Middleton Place Plantation, which is in modern-day Summerville. Beginning in 1880, despite two failed attempts to grow tea in South Carolina, the federal government became interested in this new tea experiment. It established an experimental tea farm at the former Newington Plantation, leasing 200 acres from Henry Middleton. In 1888, Dr. Charles Shepard, a philanthropist and professor at the Medical College of SC acquired 600 acres of the Newington Plantation property. He established the Pinehurst Tea Plantation using plants from the government’s farm. He cultivated about 100 acres, built a factory, and began to sell his tea commercially, becoming the first successful commercial tea farm operation in the United States. After Dr. Shepard's passing in 1915, his plantation became deserted and remained so for over four decades until the Lipton Company purchased it in 1960. They salvaged the remaining plants from Pinehurst and utilized them to open a research facility spanning 127 acres on Wadmalaw Island. In 1987, an expert third-generation tea taster trained in London named William B. Hall, purchased the tea farm to establish what is now the Charleston Tea Garden. In 2003, Bigelow Tea Co. purchased the farm and partnered with Hall. The tea from the Charleston Tea Garden, all derivatives of Dr. Shepard's Camellia sinensis, is still growing there today and has earned the honor of the Official White House Tea and the Official Hospitality Beverage of South Carolina. You can also see specimens of the tea plants from the Pinehurst Tea Gardens in the garden of the Summerville Museum .
Exploring the After-Hours Charm of Summerville's Nightlife
There’s a reason our town is called Summerville. Aside from its rich history and unwavering Southern hospitality, Summerville is also a mecca of outdoor activities.
"At the Heart of Summerville" is a blog series dedicated to exploring the vibrant community of Summerville, South Carolina. From the historic downtown area to the surrounding districts, we showcase the people and places that make Summerville such a special destination. This ongoing blog series will feature interviews with local business owners, residents, and community leaders, as well as highlight the top attractions, events, and hidden gems in town.
A rich history, beautiful parks, and plenty of free things to do.
Making you feel right at home is exactly what Summerville's hosts do best because they understand that where you stay is just as important as where you go.
Summerville is typically known as the place to be in the spring due to the flowering azaleas and warm weather… but make no mistake that this charming town debuts its own unique beauty this time of year.
