Major Changes Ahead for Tryon Palace's Famed Entrance Avenue
By Dwayne W. Pickett and Dean Knight
In her progress report about the
restoration of Tryon Palace,
Gertrude Carraway, Tryon Palace’s
which plant materials to use.
Landscape designer Morley Williams
suggested broad- leaf evergreens, which
were similar to indigenous plants in
first director, wrote, “Two
rows of oak trees have
been planted by the main
driveway.” That was in
1958, and today those
Darlington Oaks, whose
canopy shades the
entrance avenue, have
reached the end of their
natural lifespan. Plans are
currently under way to
take down the oaks and
possibly replace them with
new trees as part of Tryon
Palace's overall reinterpre¬
tation initiative.
When the Palace and
its grounds were being
restored during the 1950s,
it appears that there was
no plan in place to plant
trees along the entrance
avenue until shortly
before the opening of the
Palace in 1959. In 1955
there was an executive
committee meeting which
focused oir landscaping the
Palace grounds. There was
division between those who wanted to
make certain the grounds were histori¬
cally accurate and those who desired
the grounds to be merely aesthetically
pleasing. A compromise was placed
forth to combine the two general con¬
cepts by planting formal gardens at the
east and west boundaries, keeping the
front and back of the Palace free of
plantings. Therefore, by 1955, no plan
was in place to plant on the north side
of the Palace where the entrance
avenue is located.
At a 1956 meeting of the Tryon
Palace Commission, the lirst tentative
design for the Palace gardens was pre¬
sented. Later that year the garden
committee raised the question of
sufficiently developed to allow him to
count the number plantings needed for
the entrance avenue. 1 le was asked to
develop such a plan immediately. He
agreed to do this and stat¬
ed, “The selection of the
plant material would
depend largely on what
might be found avail¬
able.” Again (his suggests
that no specific plan
existed at this time to
plant Darlington oaks
along the entrance
avenue to the Palace.
At a Tryon Palace
Commission meet ing in
1958, updates on projects
for the public opening of
the Palace were discussed.
Again, there was no men¬
tion of oak trees along the
ent rance avenue. I lowever,
by 1958 Darlington Oaks
were planted, as stated by
Carraway in her progress
report. These oaks appear to
have been an afterthought
based on what plant materi¬
al was available.
At that time there seems
to have been no research
into what the entrance
avenue originally looked like. As the
oaks are reaching the end of their nat¬
ural lifespan, additional historical and
archaeological research is attempting
to answer questions about the configu¬
ration of (he entrance avenue in the
18th century and what species of tree,
it any, lined the approach to the
Palace. The results of this research will
be one factor in determining the future
look of the entrance avenue. But the
investigations are not stopping there.
As part of a larger initiative to reinter¬
pret Tryon Palace and its landscape,
other areas in and around the Palace
are currently being studied in order to
interpret the site more accurately to
the public,
ф
The Darlington Oak trees leading to Tryon Palace . planted in
the hue 1950s, have reached the etui of their lifespan.
southern England. A year later, in a
13 -page report, Carraway wrote, “Trees
will be planted later." That report did
not refer to any landscaping north of
the Palace and did not make clear
where those trees would be planted or
what variety would be used.
During a special garden committee
meeting in 1957, Morley Williams
reported that he had located a number
of yaupon bushes that would be suit¬
able for the entrance avenue. He asked
permission to purchase these bushes,
but since he could not provide the
committee with an exact number, his
request was denied. It appears
Williams did not have a landscape
design for the north area of the Palace
Fa i,i 2003
TxA^ace 9
