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Arasapha Garden Club Historic New Castle, Delaware |
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Early in 1931 Mrs. Caleb Layton, President of the Brandywine Garden Club, was asked at a card party in New Castle, if her Club might consider as a project planting the garden at the Amstel House. This was an historic site where George Washington had paid a well-authenticated visit in 1784, and which the New Castle Historical Society had recently acquired as a museum. The Brandywine Garden Club accepted the idea with enthusiasm, though the garden was in deplorable condition, and agreed to plant it if some reliable group could be found to maintain it. Three New Castle ladies, Mrs. Francis deH. Janvier, Miss Mary E. Shaw, and Mrs. Henry G. Cavenaugh rose to the challenge and for three years worked side by side with the Brandywine ladies on the restoration. At the same time they nurtured the idea of a garden club in New Castle, and on January 25, 1934 the first meeting was held at the Amstel House, with 27 members present. The original purpose of the club was the maintenance of the Amstel House Garden and the beautification of the town. By 1938 the Araspha Garden Club was a flourishing presence in New Castle, and the Brandywine Garden Club, by now amalgamated with the Wilmington Garden Club, had completed their work. On May 2nd 1938, in an official ceremony at the Amstel House, the key to the garden was formally handed over to the New Castle Historical Society, owner of the property, and the Arasapha Garden Club assumed responsibility for maintaining the garden. Our mailing address is: Arasapha Garden Club P.O. Box 185 New Castle, DE 19720
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Contact us at: webmaster@arasapha.com |