Powell Gardens

Powell Gardens is a 970-acre botanical garden in Kingsville, Missouri, about 30 miles east of Kansas City on US 50. Founded as a not-for-profit botanical garden in 1988 on former farmland assembled by Kansas City businessman George E. Powell, Sr. in 1948, it holds 6,000 varieties of plants and 225,000 plants in seasonal displays, and includes the Heartland Harvest Garden — a 12-acre edible landscape billed as one of the largest in North America — and the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel (1996), designed by architect E. Fay Jones.¹

Overview

Location	Kingsville, Missouri, ~30 mi east of Kansas City on US 501
Size	970 acres1
Plants	6,000 varieties; 225,000 plants in seasonal displays1
Land assembled	1948, by George E. Powell, Sr.1
Boy Scout use	1969–1984 — 640-acre farm donated to Boy Scouts, operated as regional camp1
Botanical garden founded	1988 — Powell Gardens Inc., nonprofit1
Heartland Harvest Garden	12-acre edible landscape; “one of the largest edible landscapes in North America”1
Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel	Opened 1996; architect E. Fay Jones; mostly wood and glass1

History

George E. Powell, Sr., a prominent Kansas City businessman, purchased the land in 1948. In 1969, Powell donated the 640-acre farm to the Boy Scouts of America, which operated it as a regional camp until 1984. The botanical garden was officially established in 1988, when Powell Gardens Inc. — a not-for-profit organization — was formed to manage the site.¹

Signature areas

• Pavilion and Meadow — native prairie grasses and flowers, burned each spring.¹
• Heartland Harvest Garden — a 12-acre edible landscape with fruits, vegetables, greenhouses, vineyards, and educational spaces; billed as one of the largest edible landscapes in North America.¹
• Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel — a nondenominational chapel opened in 1996, designed by architect E. Fay Jones, and constructed mostly of wood and glass.¹

Sources

See also

• jackson-county-mo
• donald-j-hall-sculpture-park
• george-kessler
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Powell Gardens.” — asserts: location in Kingsville, Missouri, ~30 miles east of Kansas City; 970-acre property with 6,000 plant varieties and 225,000 plants in seasonal displays; George E. Powell Sr. purchased the land in 1948; 1969 donation of 640-acre farm to Boy Scouts operated as regional camp until 1984; Powell Gardens Inc. founded 1988 as a not-for-profit; Pavilion and Meadow featuring native prairie grasses and flowers burned each spring; Heartland Harvest Garden as a 12-acre edible landscape described as one of the largest in North America, with greenhouses, vineyards, and educational spaces; Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel opened 1996, designed by E. Fay Jones, primarily wood and glass. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³