Perennial Gardens

There were two sets of green houses on the Anna Dean Farm. On Robinson Ave Mr. Barber built the fruit and flower green houses. The Anna Dean Farm, fruit and flower green houses occupied five acres. On Snyder Ave however, he constructed the seven acre Anna Dean Farm Perennial Gardens. Here we see one of the Anna Dean Farm Perennial Garden trucks loaded with produce for market.

This view shows the Perennial Gardens looking toward Snyder Ave. The building with the large smoke stack is the Heating Plant for the Perennial Gardens. Like the Heating House on Robinson Ave, this building contained a large double Stirling Boiler.

Planting and tending to starter plants in the Perennial Gardens. The Anna Dean Farm employed over 250 workers at all times of the year.

Fresh Anna Dean Farm produce being loaded on to a rail car, on a special siding for the Perennial Gardens on the Akron Barberton Belt Line tracks. Although we take fresh produce for granted, at the beginning of the 20th Century fresh fruits and vegetables out of season were considered a real delicacy.

Interior of one of the vegetable areas in the Perennial Gardens. All plants were planted in elevated concrete beds, to make tending the plants easier on the workers.

A view of the Heating Plant at the Perennial Gardens. Here you are looking north with Snyder Ave directly at the bottom of the photo. The Tuscarawas River would be to the left of this photo, just out of view.

Looking east up Snyder Ave with some of the Perennial Garden green houses on your left. The Perennial Gardens were the largest set of the three green house complexes on the Anna Dean Farm.

This is a cutaway view of the nearly two story Stirling Boiler in the Heating Plant of the Anna Dean Farm Perennial Gardens.