The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens is a popular destination for tourists and residents of Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens collection will give insight into the history of the organization. We obtained this collection in 2019 when State Archives staff were contacted about our interest in adding historical materials from the Botanic Gardens. Arriving at the Gardens’ storage areas we found boxes of scrapbooks, annual reports, newspaper clippings, volunteer guides, newsletters and more paper documents. There were also artifacts like t-shirts and plaques which were offered to the Wyoming State Museum as the State Archives doesn’t collect objects, only records. This wonderful collection also provides information about the clubs and volunteer projects that inspired the Botanic Gardens we enjoy today.
A particular highlight of this collection are the scrapbooks made by The Cheyenne Garden Club, formed in 1936. These scrapbooks show Cheyenne’s gardening culture through the years, including pictures, newspaper articles, competition brochures, and gardening tips and ideas.
Other exciting aspects of this collection are the records about the Cheyenne Community Solar Greenhouse, the Botanic Gardens’ predecessor. If you’re interested in the greenhouse, you can read the Cheyenne Community Solar Greenhouse Annual reports from the project’s short window of operation.
You can find the online finding aid on the Rocky Mountain Online Archive to learn more about the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens collection. If you are interested in exploring the contents of this collection further, you may come into the Wyoming State Archive and request to see the collection. As of right now, the only thing digitized in this collection is the paper finding aid, but you can make copies while you’re here!
Wyoming Postscripts 