Charles Willis Ward’s residence and experimental garden, 2301 C St., Eureka. Photos via the Humboldt Historian.
The story of the establishment of the Cottage Gardens
Nurseries in Humboldt County
reads like a romance, one where
things first happen by accident
but all turns out well for all concerned in the end.
In 1888 Charles Willis Ward, a New
York businessman, was ordered by his
physicians to close his business in the
city and seek “pure fresh air and quiet
and rest of a country life.” He was a
sufferer from nervous prostration, an
ailment common to those bearing the
heavy responsibilities of the business
world.
Ward closed his office to seek a life in
the open, close to nature. He camped
during the summer in Northern Michigan; winters, he camped in Mississippi
and, briefly, in Florida. He spent a few
years pursuing this life but eventually
settled in East Moriches, Long Island.
He soon tired of having nothing to do, so
he built a small hothouse and started
growing many beautiful plants, mostly
carnations. It was a hobby at first, but in
due time his interest was so aroused that
he entered into the business of “nursery
man.” He purchased a large farm near
Queens, Long Island, which proved to be
the very beginning of the Cottage Nurseries. His initial venture proved very
successful and in 1915, it ranked as the
leading nursery in the United States.
In April 1913 he was summoned to
Eureka to contest important legal proceedings affecting redwood timbered
lands of the David Ward estate (of which
he was part owner). He was quite ill at
the time but managed the westward
trip. By the time he arrived in Eureka,
he was a very sick man. However, the
climate of Humboldt County worked
wonders and within 10 days he had a
strong desire to go to work. Within another 10 days, he was hard at work in a
garden. He so enjoyed Eureka, and
Humboldt County in general, that he
remained for over a year.
In January 1915 he made a business
trip to New Orleans. While there he
became sick and his return to Eureka
was delayed for two months. Though he
lost a lot of his strength, within four days
after his return to Eureka he began to
recover and, in a few days, he was back
at work.
Rows of hyacinth line the “experimental garden” in the backyard of Ward’s C Street house.
He decided to make Eureka his home
and soon made considerable investments there and elsewhere in the county. His first step was to buy a block of
ground on C Street where he erected a
large home (this home, located at 2301 C
St., is still standing). His business operations came under the heading “Ward-Perkins-Gill Co., Inc.,” with Ward serving as president (the company also sold
real estate). He built an experimental
plant on the site to determine the possibilities of Humboldt County’s climate
and soil. The results were very good. At
the end of two years it became Cottage
Gardens Nurseries, Inc.
Bird’s-eye view of the Nursery’s Eden Tract (Eureka Slough in the background).
Ward added to this a 232-acre farm at
Carlotta and a commodious nursery in
the Eden Tract on Myrtle Avenue just
outside the Eureka city limits. This
“Garden of Eden” was bounded on the
west by Myrtle Avenue, on the north by
Trinity Street, on the east by Frank
Street and on the south by Pennsylvania
Street. Bela C. Wing and his son Cecil,
carpenters and builders, were in charge
of the construction of these buildings.
The millwork was done by the Cottrell
Moulding Mill, the acres of glass were
furnished by the D.C. McDonald Company (all local people).
The operations at Eden had electric
lights, a steam plant, its own water
works, several automobiles, tractors
and other equipment. Ward later installed overhead sprinklers over the
garden area which saved a great deal of
labor.
In 1916 the Cottage Gardens Nursery
at Eden near Eureka was considered a
show place. The plant cost $80,000 to
construct and covered 81 acres (all of
which were either under glass, slats or
cultivation). The great slat houses covered tens of thousands of Indian azaleas
and carnations. Thousands of baby trees
had a snug, warm home under acres of
glass. Rows and rows of rhododendrons,
roses, broad-leaved and coniferous evergreen and ornamental shrubs stood in
never-ending variety. Some plants were
imported, others were native to the
area.
The experiments carried on by Ward
proved that evergreens, along with other plants and bulbs, could be grown in
Humboldt County and sold on the open
market in competition with Japanese
growers. He met with railroad and
steamship magnates to secure an equitable freight rate to the Atlantic and
mid-West points to sell his goods. He
finally won.
Ward demonstrated that the climate
and soil of Humboldt County was ideal
for growing hyacinths, narcissus, tulips
and other bulb flowers. Through his efforts, Humboldt County became known
throughout the nation as the “Holland of
America.”
Indian azaleas were just one of the many flowering shrubs which flourished under Charles Willis Ward’s care.
The propagating department had the
capacity of 3 million plants per annum
and a selling capacity of $150,000 per
annum. The list of stock for sale included 50,000 azalea indica; 50,000
rhododendrons; 25,000 berried hollies;
10,000 Irish yews; 10,000 umbrella
palms; 10,000 fancy Japanese evergreens; 25,000 broadleafed evergreens;
200,000 various coniferous evergreens;
50,000 florist special forcing plants;
100,000 heathers; and 150,000 roses.
It was largely through the efforts of
Ward that the first annual sweet pea
carnival was held in Eureka. During the
three-day celebration, the Cottage Gardens gave away millions of sweet peas,
along with instructions on how to grow
them. Humboldt County remains great
sweet pea country.
The Cottage Gardens Nurseries employed hundreds of local people over the
years and taught them how to graft different plants and how to grow and take
care of them in general. During summer
school vacations many students worked
there. There are many of these former
employees still living here.
In the beginning, a Mr. Van Abelis
was the superintendent of the Eureka
branch of Cottage Gardens Nurseries. In
1918 Konrad Weirup served as manager
of the many acres under glass. Another employee, Ronald Kausen, was in
charge of the office accounts for 43 years
and also traveled around the country
selling the nursery plants and produce.
Otto Kausen served as general manager
of the nursery until his retirement in
1963. His brother, Ronald Kausen, then
became manager until 1969 when John
Wahlund took over.
One of my relatives had a steady job
hauling redwood leaf-mould to the nursery. He had an agreement with the
McKay Lumber Company which allowed him to go into its timberland and
rake up leaf-mould, a natural food
which rhododendrons thrive in, from
under the old redwood trees. This man
was kept busy for many years hauling
tons of leaf-mould to the nursery.
In the early 1920s, my mother got a
job at the Cottage Gardens Nurseries
where she learned to transplant begonias, gloxinias and graft many other
plants; she became an expert at this. She
transplanted all of the very small eucalyptus trees which were eventually
planted along the northwest side of 101
Highway between Eureka and Arcata
(this highway was built in the early
1920s). Every time I drive past those
trees, I think of them as a monument to
my dear mother, Jessie M. Nash.
During years 1914-15, a McKinleyville branch of the Cottage Gardens was
started, with roughly 520 acres located
on Central Avenue and Sutter Road; this
section was devoted to raising assorted
bulbs. Ward purchased this land, then
overgrown with trees and brush, from
Jason Wagoner. The land was cleared
by Cecil Carr and his sons, using gas
farm tractors and one team of horses.
This process consisted of felling the
trees, then dynamiting the stumps. The
horses or tractors would then pull out
the stumps, which were then sometimes
burned. The McKinleyville branch was
managed by a Dutchman, Von Alse, and
later by Vanden Volch.
In 1917 Ward published a catalog,
California Grown Holland Bulbs, which
described the many types of bulbs
grown on the Pacific Coast and included
beautiful pictures of their flowers along
with prices and instructions on how to
grow them. One bulb, the new Giant
White Trumpet Narcissus Imperator (a
daffodil), sold for $200 each! Ward ordered tens of thousands of Dutch,
French and Japanese bulbs to be grown
at his McKinleyville branch.
Cottage Gardens Nurseries, Inc. owned a 232-acre ranch in the beautiful valley of Yager Creek, extending from the
highway far up into the most attractive
valley in the county. When Ward purchased this land it had recently been
logged over and was covered with giant
redwood stumps. These were removed
and the land leveled, ploughed and
planted in alfalfa and corn. More than
1,000 assorted fruit and nut trees were
planted.
A model dairy ranch was established
at this Carlotta ranch and was stocked
with a herd of thoroughbred registered
Jerseys, some of which were selected
from Dr. Rae Felt’s herd. A model dairy
barn was built with concrete floors, a
water system, electric lights, swinging
stanchions, manure carriers and all the
latest known appliances. These beautiful ranch buildings are still there for all
to see as they head east down the hill
leaving Hydesville.
Rumor had it he would play music
his cows at the Carlotta ranch to help
them give more milk. This practice is
still being carried out today by many
dairy ranchers who have found it to be
practical.
an advertisement in the July 6, 1918, issue of the Humboldt Standard.
In July 1918, Ward advertised capital stock for sale at $100 each.
He said, “Liberty Bonds, War Saving
Stamps sales, and Red Cross contributions have rendered available funds exceedingly difficult to secure and it has
been almost impossible at times to secure enough cash to meet fixed expenses. Collections have been slow and
for many good customers ask for long extensions.” He went to explain in the advertisement how many of the best young
men had been drafted or had enlisted in
the armed services and how the “book
value” of Cottage Garden stock was well
above par and stockholders were advised not to part with their holdings.
In 1922 Cottage Gardens Nurseries,
Inc. started having some difficulty in
making its payroll. For several months
Konrad Weirup put up the money to
make the payroll, a sign that the nursery
business was slowly going downhill.
Weirup was repaid by receiving the
acres in bulbs at McKinleyville. Charles
Willis Ward finally went broke in Humboldt County, and Cottage Gardens Nurseries fell into the hands of the receivers.
Ward had been a millionaire, but was
convinced the sky was the limit. A brilliant and affectionate man, he had wonderful dreams for Humboldt County
and everything he did was for the betterment of the area.
Ward raised one son, David Ward,
and four daughters. Little is known
about his wife, other than she was Jewish and never came to live with him in
Humboldt County. David finally bought
back Cottage Gardens Nurseries and
soon leased it out. In 1925 David lived at
2333 E St., Eureka.
The nursery was sold in the early
1970s to the Westbrook Bulb Farms of
Smith River in Del Norte County. Robert D. Herrick served as manager of the
Cottage Gardens Nurseries until 1985
when it was closed and the land sold off
to various developers and builders. This
beautiful land, once filled with flowers,
has been built over with streets and
houses.
Charles Willis Ward lived in Eureka
until his death. Ward loved Humboldt
County and gave much to promote it
around the world. Many beautiful plants
and trees now stand as monuments to his
hard work and commitment.
In 1915 Ward wrote a book, Humboldt
County: The Land of Unrivaled Undeveloped Natural Resources, on the Westernmost Rim of the American Continent. In
it he promoted the climate of this county
and gave this entire county a real boost.
He was far ahead of the times.
Some 22,000 acres of fine redwood
timberland, bordering the Klamath
River on the south for a distance of 17
miles, was owned primarily by the
Ward Estate, along with some smaller
parcels. This land was put on the market
and Ward proposed that the U.S. Government purchase it for a national redwood park. His suggestion is today a
reality.
One Sunday in February 1989, my wife and I went for a ride to see the new houses built in the Eden Tract and to see just what was left of the old Cottage Gardens Nurseries. We arrived just in time to snap a picture of the last remaining building (the beautiful old office) being torn down and demolished.
The end of a man’s dream …
Top: Cottage Gardens Nurseries’ Eden Tract office building during the 1920s; Below, Glen Nash happened to drive by as it was being demolished in February 1989.
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The story above is from the November-December 1992 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.
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