Reader Rock Garden National Historic Site of Canada

Reader Rock Garden was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2018. It is recognized because:

• established in 1913 and developed until 1942, this horticultural garden is a showcase for the horticultural, ecological, and aesthetic possibilities of gardening in the harsh climate of Calgary, and the need to illustrate the potential of gardening in Western Canada;
• in its heyday, it was regarded as one of the most beautiful and successful gardens in Western Canada, combining the informal aesthetics of the Edwardian Arts and Crafts movement with the structure and content of the highly popular alpine rock garden typology;
• its founder, William Roland Reader was one of a small number of municipal parks superintendents in Canada who significantly shaped the open space systems of their cities through professional skill and knowledge, personal energy, dedication and long-service. This garden supported horticultural work in the larger urban parks system, including the adjacent cemeteries developed by Reader

The century-old garden can be appreciated for the beauty of its plantings and ingenuity of design. Its importance to Canadian history is as an example of the promotion of horticultural possibilities of the Canadian Prairies when European settlement in Western Canada was in its infancy. The garden was laid out between 1913 and 1943 by William Roland Reader, Calgary’s most influential parks superintendent. Reader created one of the few significant gardens in Western Canada in an environment believed to be hostile to agriculture. Undaunted by desert-like conditions, chinook winds, and extremes temperatures, his personal garden became a vehicle for promoting settlement and a successful experiment in civic beautification. The creation of the garden was driven by two factors: the encouragement of European settlement at a time when southern Alberta’s climate was considered hostile to agricultural and horticultural development, and the City Beautiful movement, which linked civic beauty with social progress. Reader drew from British gardening influences popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and adapted them to the Canadian prairies. The resulting garden was well appreciated in its day for its beauty and design, and inspired private citizens to follow Reader’s example in their own gardens.