E. Gurney Hill (1847-1933) |
In 1881, Gurney Hill and his father, Joseph, started a new business called Hill and Company with two greenhouses near their home in what was then known as Linden Hill. That house still exists at 2037 East Main in the midst of "Millionaire's Row." This was the start of a company that would grow to become a leader in the worldwide floricultural industry. Hill, and later his son, Joseph H., would build greenhouses near Glen Miller Park, then move the entire operation to the west side of town near Richmond State Hospital and still further to Peacock Road. Over the course of his more than fifty year career, E. G. Hill was a leader in hybridizing roses, winning internationsl awards and medals often. He was also one of the founders and third president of the Society of American Florists, and he served as a president of the American Rose Society, the American Carnation Society, and the American Chysanthemum Society. Locally he was one of Richmond's first Park Commissioners, and he supervised early plantings at Earlham College and Earlham Cemetery. He died in 1933, and in 1937 the city dedicated a fountain in his honor in the Rose Garden at Glen Miller Park. |
For more information see: A Century of Beauty 1881-1981: The Hill Companies, Richmond, Indiana. Richmond, Ind..: Hill Companies, 1981. [Richmond Collection 635.93 R81ew] |
Return to the Local History Home
©Morrisson-Reeves Library, Richmond,
Indiana U.S.A.
https://mrlinfo.org
E-mail our Archivist archive@mrlinfo.org