Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park — Tallahassee, Florida

A 1,176-acre Florida State Park and botanical garden shaped by a New York financier's winter vision, now administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Overview

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park occupies 1,176 acres at 3540 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Recreation and Parks. The park encompasses a formal ornamental botanical garden, a historic family residence, two lakes, and an extensive trail network added in later decades. Its 28-acre core garden — centered on camellias and azaleas — was designed by New York financier Alfred Barmore Maclay beginning in 1923 and was intended to reach full bloom during the family's annual winter residency. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as the Killearn Plantation Archeological and Historic District. The American Camellia Society documents the official bloom season as January 1 through April 30, with peak bloom occurring in mid-to-late February.

Total Acreage
1,176 acres
Florida State Parks, 2026
Core Garden
28 acres
Florida State Parks, 2026
NRHP Listing
2002
Florida State Parks, 2026
Bloom Season
Jan 1 – Apr 30
American Camellia Society, 2026
Gardens Opened to Public
1946
Florida Memory / State Archives of Florida, 2026
Governing Agency
FL Dept. of Environmental Protection
Florida State Parks, 2026

Origins and Founding

The land underlying Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park carries a layered antebellum history. The property was originally part of the Lafayette Land Grant and, before the Civil War, formed a portion of the Andalusia Plantation, where cotton was cultivated. Beginning in 1882 a vineyard operated on the site. By the early twentieth century the land functioned as a quail-hunting plantation known as Lac-Cal.

In 1923, Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871–1944), a New York financier, and his wife Louise Fleischman purchased the 1,935-acre Lac-Cal Hunting Plantation along with adjoining parcels, assembling an estate that grew to approximately 4,000 acres by 1930, according to WFSU Public Media. The Maclays renamed the property Killearn — after Maclay's ancestral village in Scotland — and undertook a major remodeling of the estate between 1923 and 1925, as documented by the Friends of Maclay Gardens.

Maclay brought a family tradition of horticultural ambition to the Tallahassee property: his father had been involved in the creation of the New York Botanical Gardens, according to WFSU Public Media. Alfred Maclay directed that botanical inheritance toward designing a formal ornamental garden intended to be in peak flower during the family's winter residence in Florida. In 1924 he hired Fred J. Ferrell as a full-time garden supervisor, and work on the plantings continued until Maclay's death in 1944, as documented by WFSU Public Media. The Florida Memory collection of the State Archives of Florida confirms that camellias formed the backbone of Maclay's garden design, with azaleas joining them as a structural planting throughout the formal grounds.

From Private Estate to State Park

Alfred Barmore Maclay died in 1944. His widow, Louise Fleischman Maclay, opened the gardens to the public in 1946, two years after his death. In 1953 she donated approximately 307 acres — including the gardens and the family residence — to a predecessor agency of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as recorded by the Friends of Maclay Gardens and the Florida Memory State Archives. The park initially carried the name Killearn Gardens State Park. In 1965, the gardens were renamed in Alfred Maclay's honor to distinguish the state park from the adjacent Killearn Estates residential development that had grown up nearby.

The park expanded significantly in 1994 when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection acquired the Lake Overstreet addition — 877 acres including a 144-acre freshwater lake — as documented by Florida State Parks. That addition became part of the Maclay-Phipps Cultural Heritage Greenway. In 2002 the full park complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Killearn Plantation Archeological and Historic District, recognizing both its antebellum agricultural history and its significance as a designed landscape.

A chapter of the park's history with statewide legal consequence involves racial segregation. The Florida State Parks system has documented that Florida A&M University professors who were denied entrance to Maclay Gardens prompted an NAACP lawsuit that ultimately helped integrate the entire Florida State Parks system.

The Gardens and Grounds Today

The 28-acre formal ornamental garden at the park's core includes a walled garden, a reflection pool, a brick pathway, a secret garden, and Black Pond, all as described by the Florida State Parks system. Camellias and azaleas remain the structural plantings Maclay established, and the American Camellia Society identifies the park as part of the American Camellia Trail, with peak bloom documented in mid-to-late February and the full season spanning January 1 through April 30. The Maclay family home remains on the property, furnished as it was during the family's residency, and is open for tours during the blooming season, per Florida State Parks.

Beyond the formal garden, the park encompasses Lake Hall, which offers swimming, fishing — including largemouth bass, bream, and bluegill — as well as canoeing and kayaking, according to the FSU Sustainable Campus program. The Lake Overstreet addition contributes six miles of shared-use trails and five miles of dedicated biking trails, as documented by Florida State Parks. Annual programming documented by Florida State Parks includes Tour of Gardens in May, Moon Over Maclay jazz concerts, a Scarecrows event, and Camellia Christmas in December.

Civic and Historical Significance

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park occupies an unusual position in Tallahassee's civic fabric, functioning simultaneously as a designed botanical landscape, an antebellum archaeological site, a recreational destination, and a documented site of civil rights history. The property's layered timeline — from cotton cultivation and vineyard operations through a Scottish-named quail-hunting estate, a privately designed winter garden, and finally a publicly accessible state park — reflects broader patterns of land use transformation in Florida's panhandle.

The National Register of Historic Places listing in 2002 as the Killearn Plantation Archeological and Historic District recognized the depth of that layering. The park's role in the desegregation of Florida's state parks system, as documented by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection itself, places it within the legal and social history of the mid-twentieth century South. The Friends of Maclay Gardens, a nonprofit support organization, continues to document and promote the park's heritage. Within Tallahassee's cultural calendar, the park contributes programming across the winter and spring seasons that the Florida State Parks system documents as recurring annual events, anchoring the blooming season — January through April — as a period of particular public engagement with the gardens Alfred Barmore Maclay began designing more than a century ago.

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs Used for: Population (199,696), median age (28), median household income ($55,931), median home value ($276,000), median gross rent ($1,238), poverty rate (23.2%), unemployment rate (6.4%), renter/owner-occupied percentages, bachelor's degree attainment, total housing units and households
  2. Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park — Florida State Parks (official) https://www.floridastateparks.org/MaclayGardens Used for: Park features (walled garden, reflection pool, Black Pond, brick pathway, secret garden), Lake Hall recreational uses, Lake Overstreet trail mileage (6 miles shared-use, 5 miles biking), annual events (Tour of Gardens, Moon Over Maclay, Scarecrows, Camellia Christmas), recent volunteer invasive plant removal, upcoming full-moon hike programming
  3. Historic Garden at Maclay — Florida State Parks (official) https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/historic-garden-maclay Used for: Gardens designed to bloom during winter/early spring; Maclay worked on gardens until death in 1944; family home open for tours January–April blooming season
  4. Lake Overstreet Trails — Florida State Parks (official) https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/lake-overstreet-trails-0 Used for: Lake Overstreet addition acquired 1994; 877 acres; 144-acre freshwater lake; part of Maclay-Phipps Cultural Heritage Greenway
  5. The Vision and History behind the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park — WFSU Public Media https://wfsu.org/local-routes/2023-04-13/the-vision-and-history-behind-the-alfred-b-maclay-gardens-state-park/ Used for: Maclay's father's involvement in New York Botanical Gardens; Maclay hired Fred J. Ferrell as full-time supervisor in 1924; Maclays renamed the property Killearn Plantation; estate grew to approximately 4,000 acres by 1930
  6. About Friends of Maclay Gardens — Friends of Maclay Gardens, Inc. https://friendsofmaclaygardens.org/about/ Used for: 1923 purchase of 1,935-acre Lac-Cal Hunting Plantation; estate renamed Killearn after ancestral village in Scotland; Maclays remodeled 1923–1925; widow donated gardens to State of Florida in 1953
  7. State Parks Preserve African-American History, Untold Stories — Florida State Parks (official) https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/state-parks-preserve-african-american-history-untold-stories Used for: FAMU professors denied entrance to Maclay Gardens prompted NAACP lawsuit that helped integrate entire Florida State Parks system
  8. Alfred B. Maclay house in Killearn Gardens (Maclay Gardens) State Park — Florida Memory (State Archives of Florida) https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/150106 Used for: Gardens planted and designed by Alfred Barmore Maclay starting 1923; camellias as backbone of garden design; name Killearn from Scottish village; Maclay died 1944; gardens opened to public 1946; park renamed Maclay Gardens after 1965
  9. Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park — American Camellia Society https://www.americancamellias.com/gardens-nurseries/american-camellia-trail-gardens/camellia-trail-gardens-by-state/florida/alfred-b-maclay-gardens-state-park---tallahas Used for: Bloom season January 1–April 30; floral peak in mid-to-late February; historic house open during bloom season
  10. Tallahassee officially became the capital of the territory of Florida — Florida Historical Society https://myfloridahistory.org/date-in-history/march-04-1824/tallahassee-officially-became-capital-territory-florida Used for: March 4, 1824 designation as Florida territorial capital; Tallahassee as county seat and largest city in Leon County
  11. The Capitol — Florida Department of State https://dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-history/the-capitol/ Used for: Tallahassee chosen as capital in 1824 as midway point between St. Augustine and Pensacola; first Capitol log cabins; two-story masonry building 1826; travel between sessions took nearly twenty days
  12. About the Historic Capitol — Florida Historic Capitol Museum https://www.flhistoriccapitol.gov/Pages/About/Index.aspx Used for: Capitol building constructed 1826, torn down 1839; present structure completed 1845; Florida's entry into the Union as 27th state
  13. Tallahassee, Florida — Ballotpedia https://ballotpedia.org/Tallahassee,_Florida Used for: Council-manager government structure; mayor's role (vote on commission, no veto power, ceremonial); city manager as chief executive; Mayor John Dailey as current mayor
  14. Mayor John E. Dailey — City of Tallahassee (official) https://www.talgov.com/cityleadership/dailey Used for: Mayor John E. Dailey, Seat 4, current mayor of Tallahassee
  15. 'Not a forever job': Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey announces he will not seek re-election — WCTV https://www.wctv.tv/2025/08/11/not-forever-job-tallahassee-mayor-john-dailey-announces-he-will-not-seek-re-election/ Used for: Mayor Dailey announced August 2025 he will not seek re-election; first elected 2018; quote 'elected office should not be a forever job'
  16. Breaking News: Dailey Changes Course, Will Not Seek Re-election — Tallahassee Reports https://tallahasseereports.com/2025/08/11/breaking-news-dailey-changes-course-will-not-seek-re-election/ Used for: Corroborating Dailey's announcement not to seek re-election; context of 2026 mayoral race
  17. Breaking News: Mayor John Dailey to Seek Third Term — Tallahassee Reports https://tallahasseereports.com/2025/06/25/mayor-john-dailey-to-seek-third-term/ Used for: City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow confirmed plans to run for mayor in 2026
  18. Florida State University Economic Impact — FSU (official) https://economic-impact.fsu.edu/ Used for: City of Tallahassee FY2024 operating budget ($826.8 million); FSU FY2023 operating budget ($2.36 billion); FSU average bi-weekly payroll ($34,944,881); FSU operating revenues and expenses 2022–2023
  19. Twelve Tallahassee-based Companies Make Florida Trend's 2025 'Best Companies to Work for in Florida' — Office of Economic Vitality https://oevforbusiness.org/twelve-tallahassee-based-companies-make-florida-trends-2025-best-companies-to-work-for-in-florida-ranking/ Used for: 2025 Florida Trend recognition of twelve Tallahassee-Leon County companies; Tallahassee-Leon County MSA economic strength
  20. 2022 Tallahassee-Leon County Major Employers List — Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce https://www.talchamber.com/2020-tallahassee-leon-county-major-employers-list/ Used for: Diverse industries in Tallahassee including healthcare, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, technology; major employers in the region
  21. About Tallahassee — FSU College of Fine Arts (official) https://cfa.fsu.edu/tallahassee/ Used for: Tallahassee as regional center for higher education; FSU, FAMU, Tallahassee State College
  22. FSU College of Fine Arts — Florida State University (official) https://cfa.fsu.edu/ Used for: FSU Museum of Fine Arts permanent collection of over 7,000 objects; FSU College of Fine Arts oversees John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
  23. The Arts at Florida State University — FSU College of Fine Arts (official) https://cfa.fsu.edu/the-arts-at-florida-state-university/ Used for: Railroad Square hosting more than 50 studios, galleries, and small shops as creative arts district
  24. About the Festival — Chain of Parks Art Festival (official) https://chainofparks.org/about-the-festival/ Used for: Chain of Parks Art Festival established 2001; outdoor juried fine arts festival in downtown Tallahassee; artist-focused, blind jury process
  25. FY25 State of Florida Arts & Culture Funding — Tallahassee Arts (COCA) https://tallahasseearts.org/classified/fy25-state-of-florida-arts-culture-funding/ Used for: Tallahassee cultural organizations receiving state arts funding: Tallahassee Community Chorus, Tallahassee Ballet, Tallahassee Bach Parley, Tallahassee-Leon County Cultural Resources Commission
  26. Tallahassee Outside: Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park — FSU Sustainable Campus (official) https://sustainablecampus.fsu.edu/blog/tallahassee-outside-alfred-b-maclay-gardens-state-park Used for: Lake Hall recreational fishing (largemouth bass, bream, bluegill); Lake Overstreet acquisition in 1994 adding 877 acres and 144-acre freshwater lake; multi-use trails
Last updated: May 4, 2026