America’s first sculpture garden grows out of old rice fields near Myrtle Beach, SC

America’s first public sculpture garden

Brookgreen Gardens sits just south of Myrtle Beach near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and it holds a title no other place in the country can claim.

This was the first public sculpture garden ever created in the United States, and it still has the largest collection of American figurative sculpture displayed outdoors anywhere in the world.

The whole property covers about 9,100 acres of gardens, woods and marsh, and it carries a National Historic Landmark designation. You could spend days here and still miss something.

Two visionaries bought four rice plantations in 1930

Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington purchased the land in 1930 and turned it into a nonprofit the very next year. Anna was an accomplished sculptor at a time when few women built thriving art careers.

The property sits on four former rice plantations, and the grounds still preserve the history of the Gullah Geechee people and the enslaved Africans who once worked these fields.

That history runs deep here, and you can feel it in the landscape itself.

Over 2,000 sculptures line the walkways and fountains

The collection now holds more than 2,000 works by about 430 artists, and you walk right past them along garden paths, beside fountains and under canopies of shade.

Most of the pieces show human and animal figures drawn from nature, history and myth. Three indoor galleries display smaller works, paintings and etchings when you want a break from the sun.

Names like Daniel Chester French and Frederic Remington are in the mix, so you’re looking at serious American art history.

Two rearing stallions greet you at the front gate

Before you even step inside, a massive sculpture called Fighting Stallions stops you at the main entrance. Anna Hyatt Huntington created the piece herself, and it has welcomed visitors at the gate for decades.

The two horses rear up with their legs locked, bold and full of motion. Nearly everyone pauses here for a photo, and it sets the tone for what comes next.

You know right away this place takes its sculpture seriously.

250-year-old live oaks arch over a shaded allée

A path cuts through a row of grand live oaks, and some of these trees have been standing for about 250 years. Spanish moss hangs from the wide branches overhead, swaying just enough that the light shifts as you walk.

The whole stretch feels cooler than the rest of the grounds, and the quiet is hard to explain until you’re in it. If you need a slow moment between sculptures and gardens, this is the spot to find it.

Something blooms here every single month

The Southeast’s mild weather keeps flowers going nearly year-round, so no matter when you visit, color is everywhere. The Carolina Terrace Garden fills with perennials and roses.

The Palmetto Garden puts South Carolina’s state tree front and center. A children’s garden gives younger visitors their own space to dig around and explore.

Ponds and fountains tie the whole layout together, connecting the plantings and statues so the place flows like one long walk instead of separate stops.

Diana stands on a globe beside a reflecting pool

One of Anna Hyatt Huntington’s most celebrated works sits right here at Brookgreen. Diana of the Chase shows the Roman goddess of the hunt standing atop a globe, bow in hand, ready to let an arrow fly.

Several casts of the statue exist, but the original stays at this garden.

A reflecting pool mirrors the figure, and on still mornings the water doubles the image so cleanly you have to look twice to find the real one.

Alligators and bald eagles live at the Lowcountry Zoo

The zoo on the grounds focuses on animals native to South Carolina’s swamps and marshes, and it holds accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the only zoo on the Carolina coast with that distinction.

You follow a winding boardwalk past alligators, red foxes, river otters, bald eagles and white-tailed deer.

An interpreter-led feeding program lets you watch the animals eat up close, and the guides know enough about each species to keep you standing there longer than you planned.

Milkweed still grows where butterflies once gathered

Brookgreen once ran a seasonal butterfly exhibit called Whispering Wings, but a storm on June 10, 2024, damaged the structure.

You may still spot milkweed plantings near the former butterfly house area, a reminder of what drew the monarchs and swallowtails in the first place.

Guides on the grounds can help you learn to tell species apart by their markings, and the whole effort doubles as a hands-on lesson in conservation that connects the gardens to the wider ecosystem around them.

A pontoon boat glides through old rice field creeks

A 45-minute pontoon boat tour takes you along creeks and through the old rice fields that once defined this land.

You float past alligators, waterfowl and osprey while a guide explains how enslaved Africans built and worked the rice plantations that made this region wealthy.

The rides run during the warmer months and sell out often, so ask about availability early if you want a seat. The water-level view of the property gives you a perspective the walking paths simply can’t.

Back roads lead to cemeteries and Civil War-era sites

Guided land tours take you down back roads that most visitors never find on their own. Some routes pass old plantation sites, cemeteries and spots tied to the Civil War.

A pine forest tour brings you face to face with towering longleaf pines that have watched over this land for generations.

These trips dig deeper into the property’s long history, and the guides fill in the gaps between what you see and what happened here long before the first sculpture arrived.

Thousands of hand-lit candles glow across the winter gardens

Each winter, Brookgreen transforms for Nights of a Thousand Candles.

Workers light thousands of candles by hand, and countless twinkling lights fill the spaces between them. Candles float in the ponds and fountains while the statues take on a warm glow you won’t see during the day.

The event ranks among South Carolina’s premier holiday lights festivals, and it runs rain or shine. Tickets sell separately from regular admission, so plan ahead if you want to walk the gardens after dark.

Visit Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina

You can find Brookgreen Gardens at 1931 Brookgreen Drive in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, just off U.S. Highway 17. It sits a short drive south of Myrtle Beach, so you can pair it with a beach trip if you want.

A general admission ticket covers seven straight days, which means you don’t have to rush through 9,100 acres in a single afternoon.

Check the official website before you go for current hours, pricing and seasonal tour availability.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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