The Colonial Revival Garden
Helen Hamilton Shields married Richard the Signer’s great-great-grandson Bayard Stockton in 1894. Intensely proud of the Stockton family’s history, she wished to “restore” the house and gardens to what she perceived as their former glory. Although the property was much reduced in size, she determined to reproduce what she thought Annis and Richard’s garden had been.
Helen claimed to have uncovered a number of plants from that garden, although none could have survived two centuries, In a manner typical of the Colonial Revival, she included not only plants thought to have grown at Morven, but also specimens from various historic sites.
She spoke and wrote extensively to promote Morven’s significance; her garden at Morven was included in the Garden Club of America’s 1930s landmark publication, Gardens of Colony and State. It is her garden that has been restored behind the house.
Marker can be reached from Stockton Street (U.S. 206).
Courtesy hmdb.org
