The Founding

"When six garden clubs (Bay Colony, Birdneck, Cavalier, Linkhorn Park, Princess Anne and Virginia Beach) organized the Council of Garden Clubs of Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach on July 31, 1950, they had a vision of "improving and beautifying" our area. They could never have dreamed what a far-reaching impact their small beginning would have.

When the Council was born, Virginia Beach, as we know it today, did not exist, and Princess Anne County was largely farmland. Middle Plantation, Cypress Point, Green Run and countless other places we now recognize as garden club locales were not yet a gleam in a real estate agent's eyes."

(Taken from The First Fifty Years of the Virginia Beach Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. by Virginia Gayle, Council Historian, and presented October 11, 2000.)

The Continuing Legacy

Today, the Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach has more than forty garden clubs in its membership.  The founders' vision of improving and beautifying our area continues through Council's support of beautification through its ABC (Home and Neighborhood Development Sponsors) Program, conservation and recycling programs, preservation of garden landmarks like the Francis Land House, and education through Nature Camp awards for children and other special educational programs.