Urban Harvest Community Gardens Program

Directory of Gardens

San Jacinto Community Garden

Location	East end of Galveston island
Main Purpose	Gardening plots for the San Jacinto community
Established	1998
To Visit or to Volunteer	Call Urban Harvest for contact information

San Jacinto is a small neighborhood on the east end of Galveston Island bounded by Broadway on the North, the Seawall on the South, 6th Street on the East, and 21st Street on the West. It is a modest neighborhood with some restored historic homes, many of which survived the 1900 storm. San Jacinto is best known for its dynamic neighborhood association that supports its community and political activism and its community spirit.

In November of 1998, the San Jacinto Neighborhood Association petitioned the Tax Foreclosure Resale Committee to purchase a lot in their neighborhood for less that fair market value ($1.00) with the intent of developing a community garden at the site. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds had already been allocated to the neighborhood association for that purpose. Later that month, with the approval of the various taxing entities, the Galveston City Council approved the sale. A groundbreaking ceremony attended by neighborhood association members, civic leaders and other community supporters on November 21, 1998.

San Jacinto Neighborhood Association member, Kay Sandor, spearheaded the garden project from the beginning and was the Chair of the Community Garden Committee. As the garden project grew to include the re-erection/restoration of a historic fountain in the garden, Kay focused her efforts on the fountain re-erection and Maggie Booth took over the development of the garden site. Together they and a small band of garden enthusiasts (Russell Alexander, Tina Laningham, Kathryn Dawson, Sarah and Patrick Sully, and Gary Delzer) volunteered their time to clear the land, landscape the perimeter, lay the plumbing, build a gazebo and pave the walks. Others who assisted were Bob Duke, landscape architect, with his beautiful, yet functional garden design, the Galveston Historical Foundation which allocated CDGB funds for fountain re-erection/restoration and the Kempner Fund which provided matching funds for the fountain restoration. Clean Galveston, an environmental group, gave the garden committee a grant to assist with paying utilities for the first year of operation, and Sunshine Supportive Employment donated herbs for the herb gardens that grace either side of the fountain.

The mission of the San Jacinto Community Garden is to provide an opportunity for all individuals in the San Jacinto neighborhood to participate in an experience of community gardening. We believe that community gardening can:

educate children about gardening and other aspects of tending the environment
create a sense of community
produce tangible, useful products for one's effort
provide a garden plot for those who may not own property or have space
allow an opportunity to adopt a space and maintain it, thus providing a setting for community spirit to grow
bridge generations, races, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds; bring a diverse neighborhood together for a common purpose
improve a once blighted neighborhood by taking an abandoned lot and creating a productive green space
provide a place for community organizations to meet

One of the many remarkable features of the garden is the Rosenberg Fountain. Even more remarkable is the soothing, healing sound of the tricking water, which originally provided drinking water for humans, horses and dogs in separate basins over 100 years ago. In 1893, Henry Rosenberg's will left instructions to build fountains in various parts of Galveston to provide water for man and beast. The fountain re-erected in the San Jacinto Community Garden is a small round fountain originally produced in triplicate and described by the sculptor, J. Massey Rhind, as design M, N, and O. Over the years, the fountains were dismantled and cast aside. Two horse basins were all that remained of the original granite fountains M, N, and O. Mr. Charles Meek of Santa Fe, Texas generously agreed to donate his services to the San Jacinto neighborhood by assisting with the details of re-erection. He reproduced scale drawings of the fountain from an original photograph and then recast the missing parts. There were originally seventeen fountains donated to Galveston by Henry Rosenberg and placed in every ward of the city. The fountain in the San Jacinto Community Garden is the eighth one to be re-erected.

The notion of community spirit has been with the garden since its inception. As noted above in the mission statement, it is affirmed that the garden provides a setting for community spirit to grow. The members of the community garden consist of volunteers who participate in many aspects of maintaining the garden. So, members may adopt garden plots, but they may also adopt a landscaped plot for maintenance, such as weeding, watering, or clean up. Sunshine Supportive Employment, a vocational training and day habilitation center for developmentally disabled adults in the neighborhood, uses the garden to enhance the day of their participants. They come to the garden at least once a week and maintain the herb beds on either side of the fountain and they also tend their own plot of vegetables. Many of these clients have never worked in a garden or experienced the tranquility such a setting can bring. Early in the garden's history, during the garden groundbreaking ceremony, the neighborhood received the mayor's "Most Spirited Neighborhood" award that day for its efforts in revitalizing the neighborhood. Finally, last year in June when the garden was completed, it was featured on the "Clean Galveston - Back Garden Tour" with the title "Community Spirit." When you visit Galveston Island, stop by the garden at 2005 Avenue N ½.

Photos from the garden:

Marsha Scoggin tending her garden--snow peas and broccoli