Peirce's Park

Peirce's Park. An Arboretum and Pleasure Ground. , The property that became Longwood Gardens was originally owned by Quaker farmer George Peirce, who purchased the land from William Penn in 1700. , George Peirce's great-grandsons loved botany and began a collection of trees near the original farmstead. Later generations of the Peirce family added to the growing - and celebrated - arboretum, widely known as Peirce's Park. Pierre S. du Pont purchased the Peirce farm and arboretum in 1906 to save its trees from being cut for lumber. , A highlight of Peirce's Park was its conifer collection laid out in densely planted allees, or avenues. , The Peirce family maintained their working farm while turning the arboretum into a pleasure ground with rowboats and croquet courts. , Some of the trees in Peirce's Park are over 200 years old. , "No tree, dead or alive, is to be removed or trimmed, unless by special permission of the owner. The preservation and care of trees is considered of first importance, as their injury is irreparable while time or money (or both) will rectify other mistakes...." - Excerpt from P.S. du Pont's 174-page instruction manual for his farm manager, 1912.