#5468
2020 55¢ American Gardens: Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park
Value: 55¢ 1-ounce First-class rate (Forever)
Issue Date: May 13, 2020
First Day City: Winterthur, DE
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 50,000,000
The Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park is a botanical garden and historic site in Tallahassee, Florida. It includes 1,176 acres and is part of Killearn Plantation Archaeological and Historic District. The gardens were once part of the Lac-Cal quail hunting estate owned by Alfred Barmore Maclay.
Maclay and his wife, Louise, bought Lac-Cal in 1923, and created a 3,760-acre estate. They named their new home “Killearn” after Maclay’s great-grandfather’s hometown in Scotland. The estate’s gardens were a point of pride for Maclay, and he worked on them from the time he bought the land until his death in 1944. Two years later, Louise opened them to the public.
In 1953, Louise donated 307 acres of Killearn Estate, including the gardens, to an early version of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The gardens became a new state park and were named in Maclay’s honor in 1965.
Today, the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park is known for their native plant arboretum. This special area of the gardens is managed by the Florida Native Plant Society and grows species like Piedmont azaleas, Florida flame azaleas, eastern red columbine, white wild indigo, English dogwood, and Florida anise. These native plants make the gardens a particularly special place to visit.