The Humboldt Park Trial Rose Garden   By Martha Neri October 2019 Reprint Compass newsletter of  Explore Buffalo, April 2020 In 1932, the “Beauty Feature” of City of Buffalo’s Centennial Celebration was the creation of the Humboldt Park Rose Garden. It was located in what is now known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. There was a nation-wide campaign for establishing rose gardens then and Buffalo wanted to do its part to “make everyone rose-conscious,” according to the Niagara Frontier Rose Society that sponsored the event. Carl A. Johnson, one of the first presidents of the Rose Society was also superintendent ofHumboldt Gardens at this time. The garden was located on the east side of the Museum of Science and was about 1⁄2 acre in size. In 1939 the garden became a trial location for the American Rose Society when it received nearly 100 test plants from several of America’s outstanding rose growers. During World War II the Humboldt Park Rose Garden was the site of the annual Flag Day Celebration sponsored by the North Fillmore Businessmen’s Association. There was a metal fence that surrounded the garden but it was taken down because it was needed for the scrap metal collection during the war. After the war city architect and landscaper John Brent was asked to design a new wall, gates and a planting plan for the garden. Brent was a licensed architect who had worked for the Oakley and Schallmo architectural firm, among others, before going to into private practice in 1926. That was the year that Brent received the commission for Michigan Avenue Branch Y. M. C. A. (demolished). Brent joined the City of Buffalo’s Department of Works, Parks and Buildings in 1936. He worked on designs for the gates of the Buffalo Zoo and created the animals that sit at the base of each one. In 1951 the Humboldt Park Trial Rose Garden was one of six rose gardens that was added to the American Rose Society’s national list. Henry Dera was the head gardener and had the responsibility of determining the best new rose varieties. The garden had hundreds of varieties of roses in 1962. In 1985, when the City of Buffalo decided that the new magnet school would be built adjacent to the museum, a large amount of parkland was taken for the project. The garden was made smaller known as a‘cottage garden.’ It began to fall into disrepair. It has been rehabilitated a few times but there doesn’t seem to be any interest in restoring a rose garden.

..