Southern Belles In Oriental Gardens

“These two girls first names were the same “Betty”.  They are shown here in Oriental Gardens, a tourist attraction for many years.  I used them in many of my pictures.”  LS

What started out as a botanical collector’s location to plant his expanding accumulation of greenery in the 1920’s became Jacksonville’s prime attraction from the late 1930’s until 1954 when George Clark opened his property to the public as Oriental Gardens.  It was Jacksonville’s version of Cypress Gardens with exotic plants, Asian inspired sculpture and buildings and costume clad models who posed for photographs.  Loyd Sandgren used the location to photograph a number of models before the location was bought by a developer and turned into home sites.  The Northern edge of the attraction remains as a wetland area just to the West of the split of San Jose Blvd. and Hendricks Ave. in Jacksonville’s San Marco neighborhood.  Does anyone recognize either of these Betty’s?

Tags: azaleas, costume, dress, Flowers, George Clark, historic photograph, model, oriental gardens, San Marco, Southern Belle, tourist attraction, vintage photography, women