Cypress Gardens

Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida.

History

Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie. Over the years it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its water ski shows, gardens, and Southern Belles.

It became known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because it was the site of many of the sport's landmark firsts and over 50 world records were broken there. During World War II, soldiers visited and waterskiing was introduced for their entertainment. Numerous movies were filmed at the park, including portions of This is Cinerama, the first feature filmed in the wide-screen format, and a string of Esther Williams films and TV specials in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1950s the Southern Belles attraction was introduced, in which young women dressed in the crinolines reminiscent of the Antebellum South. During the American Civil War Centennial young men dressed in Confederate uniforms would be photographed with the Southern Belles. In the early 1960s a custom photography boat named Miss Cover Girl was introduced, and the park became a popular site for the filming of television commercials.

Cypress Gardens (South Carolina)

Cypress Gardens is a 170-acre (69 ha) preserve and gardens located at 3030 Cypress Gardens Road, Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States. The centerpiece of the garden is the 80 acres (32 ha) blackwater bald cypress/tupelo swamp, surrounded with both boat and foot trails.

History

The gardens were originally part of the 1750 Dean Hall rice plantation, which depended on fresh water from the Cooper River. The area that is now a swamp was dug out and fitted with water gates to become a fresh water reservoir. It had fallen into disuse when the property was purchased by Benjamin Kittredge for a duck hunting reserve. During the depression, over 200 men built out the 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of trails around the swamp. It was opened to the public in 1932. Kittredge's son donated the property to the City of Charleston on June 1, 1963.Hurricane Hugo in 1989 severely affected the park, causing it to close for a year.Berkeley County took over ownership when the City of Charleston no longer wanted to support the garden.